N. Govindasamy
Singapore
“Sir, in the hope that the Ministry of Finance will release the funds required for the Telok Blangah community centre within the next six months, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Mr J F.”
“Member for Serangoon Gardens, would show that numerous criticisms were made in this Chamber. Some of the pitfalls of the education policies were pointed out and they could have been avoided.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am still a little confused. Would the Minister of State categorically state in this House whether the restructured education scheme is on or off? Even the teachers and the principals are arguing among themselves whether the restructured education scheme is on or off.”
“Sir, I have no intention of joining in. The problem here is riot a question of marrying abroad or in Singapore. The problem is still faced by people who were married in Singapore. There is the case of a woman who has been married here for eight years and has four children all living here in a Housing Board flat.”
“Perhaps when the Minister replies he will want to use it. Sir, the woman has been here for eight years. She was married in the Singapore Registry of Marriages. Four children were born in Singapore and they are now living in a Housing Board flat.”
“Sir, the Minister has set a specific number of hours and he says. "Well, if they do their part-time national service in 12 years they will have to do so many hours of work, and if we reduce it to five years, then they must perform the same number of hours of duties." This would mean that they have to go for duty practically everyday.”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, this Bill which seeks to amend the Architects Act of 1941 is commendable, as it replaces the old Act and updates the provisions dealing with the registration of architects, the qualifications and practice of architects, and so on. My worry is this. I am wondering whether the Ministry has given sufficient thought to this Bill before introducing it. As my Friend, the Hon. Member for Jalan Kayu, has pointed out, some further amendments could be introduced to improve it. I also notice that many amendments will be moved at the Committee stage. This is a Bill to amend an old Act and I am sure the Ministry must have been thinking of amending this Act for quite some time. The Bill contains only 26 clauses, of which eight are to be amended. The total number of amendments that will be moved is 15. Sir, it is becoming a habit of the Government to amend Bills at Committee stage, not in the case of this Bill alone but even in other Bills previously. I can understand if the amendments come from this side of the House or if a Bill is sent to a Select Committee when, as a result of representations received, amendments are introduced. But in this particular case, as in many other previous instances, the Bill has been introduced by the Government and soon after its Second Reading, many, many amendments are to be moved by the Government in Committee. I am just wondering. Sir, whether this is the result of carelessness or insufficient thought given on the part of the Ministry that introduces the Bill, or whether the problem lies with the people who drafted the Bill. Perhaps the Minister would care to explain. I am sure he has a legitimate reason for these amendments. If so, why were they not given sufficient thought before the Bill was introduced? 3.35 p.m.”
“Can the Senior Minister of State assure the House that if names are given, proper action will be taken to discipline those found responsible for discouraging the parents to register their children who wish to offer Tamil as a second language?”
“Sir, is the Senior Minister of State aware that even designated schools have refused to register or have discouraged parents from registering their children who wish to offer Tamil as a second language?”
“Sir, in the hope that the Ministry of Finance will release the funds required for the Telok Blangah community centre within the next six months, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Mr J F. Conceicao (2) That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BAA 1105.”
“Having accepted a suitable site in Telok Blangah from the Housing and Development Board, the People's Association approached the Ministry of Finance for the release of funds in order to purchase the site on 29th September, 1975. Since then, six written reminders have been sent to the Ministry of Finance. A number of telephone calls requesting the Ministry to expedite processing have also been made. The latest written reminder was made on 22nd March, 1976. Six months have passed since the first request was made, and still the People's Association is awaiting release of funds which was approved by Parliament last year. Meanwhile, the MP for Telok Blangah is pressing the People's Association to process the plans and to submit the plans to the Planning Department. The Housing Board, on the other hand, is also pressing the People's Association for payment. Cost of building is going up and up and Telok Blangah is without a community centre. I concede that the Ministry of Finance should exercise sufficient checks and balances before releasing public funds but it should never become a bottle-neck for public development.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 1OO4*. (* The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs L. P. Rodrigo, Teong Eng Siong, P. Govindaswamy and Dr Ong Leong Boon.) Sir, the officials of the Ministry of Finance as guardians of public funds are expected to be meticulous in processing proposals for the financing of public projects. But in the process, when the guardians of Government purse become an obstruction to development, then something is really, wrong. Let them process the proposals but let them not sit on them. When querying revotes for a number of items of Development Estimates in the various Ministries, I am told that among other things, some projects could not be proceeded with as a result of the difficulty posed by the Ministry of Finance in respect of releasing funds. Sir, when budgetary provisions are made for any financial year, before parliamentary approval is sought, the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance would have screened the requirements of the various Ministries, queried the needs for such projects and having been satisfied, the provisions would then be tabled in Parliament. Since these provisions have been approved by the Ministry of Finance and consequently approval has been obtained from Parliament, I fail to see the reason for a delay in releasing funds. Having made this general remark, can I now turn to a specific issue where there has been an unnecessary delay in releasing funds for the construction of a community centre in the Telok Blangah constituency? For FY 75, $10.8 million was approved as contribution to the People's Association which included provisions for building community centres.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am still a little confused. Would the Minister of State categorically state in this House whether the restructured education scheme is on or off? Even the teachers and the principals are arguing among themselves whether the restructured education scheme is on or off.”
“Member for Serangoon Gardens, would show that numerous criticisms were made in this Chamber. Some of the pitfalls of the education policies were pointed out and they could have been avoided. If only the gods at Kay Siang Road had genuinely discussed with the organisations representing the teachers and the people who have to implement the policy before proposing any new scheme, many pitfalls could have been avoided. When I say "discussions and consultations". I mean genuine discussions and consultations and not some little dictator from the Ministry of Education calling up principals and organisations representing teachers and giving them a lecture on the latest policies. Is there a moral to be learnt from the past failures? I would say `yes. If the education planners in Kay Siang Road take heed and accept the fact that there are also others outside the Ministry who are also interested in the education of our young, we will not be in the mess that we are in now.”
“Yes, Post Office Savings Bank. I read in the papers that family planning or population education is to be given even in primary schools. Do we seriously expect primary school students to understand family planning concept? The shortage of teachers in our schools is phenomenal, especially graduate teachers in secondary schools. Even from the Government's own statistics, in Division I alone, there is a vacancy position of 45.3%. Secondary school pupils even up to Secondary IV levels are being taught by non-graduate teachers, in some cases, even by those who themselves only have a School Certificate. The Ministry of Education ought to be grateful to these teachers who teach Secondary IV classes far beyond their call of duty. There was some talk earlier on of upgrading these teachers by inservice classes in the Institute of Education. What has happened to this scheme? How does the Ministry hope to recruit graduates for secondary schools? Ordinary teachers, principals and inspectors have now been classified differently. Just as a jaga these days calls himself a Security Officer, and a door-to-door salesman calls himself a Sales Representative, our teachers, principals, inspectors, etc, have become EOs, SEOs, PEOs, EDOs, ADs and DDs. Very soon we may run out of alphabets! This euphemism has become some kind of a status symbol among our educators. The need for promotion prospects for teachers was understandable. In fact, I was one of those who advocated for more promotion posts in our Education Service but never did I dream that the Ministry would be creating so many grades of teachers. It appears as if there are no more teachers in our Education Service. Are all the failures that I have enumerated necessary? Sir, a study of the Hansard, as pointed out by the Hon.”
“Yes. A big boo-ha was made. Special classes for teachers were conducted. Special teaching aids were made. Instruction manuals were printed. Thousands of dollars were spent by individual teachers as well as schools. After a few years' trial, even as late as last year, we were told that the PPP programme has come to stay. Now I hear it is out. Why? Only last year we were debating in this Chamber on another new education policy, namely the Restructured Education System. There were considerable criticisms as well as apprehension about this policy. The Education Minister then, tried to explain the system, not too successfully, I am afraid. He also sang praises for such a system. Sir, now the rumour has it that the Restructured Education System is still-born. Every child was forced to participate in extra-curricular activities. Special record cards were introduced for ECA. The points system was introduced. Parents kicked up a row. Members of Parliament made speeches in this House and ECA cards were withdrawn and insistence on participation in ECA has been relaxed and forgotten. Another change in policy or a failure? Our teachers, while keeping tab of the numerous changes and trying to understand and implement them, have also to be Anti-Narcotics Counsellors and, of late, as has been mentioned earlier by the Member for Jalan Kayu, family planning experts. An Hon. Member: Post Office Savings Bank.”
“What attention is going to be paid to them to actually make them useful citizens? Are remedial teaching methods advocated? If so, has any thought been given to remedial education, and are answers available? These are questions for which answers must be found before action could be initiated. Let us take our second language policy. From normal second language teaching, the Ministry of Education advocated additional exposure for the second language. When they found that the children were not effectively bilingual, they decided they could solve the problem by increased exposure to second language for all. Subjects normally taught in the first language had to be :aught in the second language. As a result, we found that many of our pupils who were not effective in the second language earlier became ineffective in both the first as well as the second languages. What we are now, therefore, advocating is back to square one, and that is, an under-exposure for those who are not able to cope up with the two languages. We gave another name for Civics. We did away with History and introduced Education for Living to be taught in the second language. This has really become neither a civics lesson, nor an Education for Living lesson but in many schools, it has bec3me a second language lesson. Again, a failure. Activity method advocated by one of the seven Education Ministers (we have had seven Ministers since 1959) became PPP. For those who are uninitiated in the educational jargon of these days, it means the Primary Pilot Project. An Hon. Member: Play, play, play!”
“Sir, since 1959 our education policy has undergone many and varied changes. Two features stand out for commendation and condemnation. Let us take the commendable feature first. We have diversified the educational structure from a purely academic type of education given to pupils in the past to one with a science and technology bias. Our emphasis on technical schools. vocational institutes, etc, is a complimentable feature. Other than that, we have left a string of failures. Our education policy is still examination-oriented. Let us take the Primary School Leaving Examination first, the six to seven-year primary education controversy. What happens to the thousands of children who have failed the Primary School Leaving Examination? About 10 or 12 years ago, we started post-primary classes for Primary VI failures and advocated the setting lip of post-primary vocational classes for pupils who did not make the grade for a regular secondary education. The Ministry of Education was not prepared nor equipped for the vocational classes and the programme was a failure and the post primary vocational classes closed down. 3.00 p.m. Now we are talking in terms of allowing pupils who failed the PSLE to repeat and to keep them in schools until they are 1 5 years old. What kind of instruction are the 1 5-year old backward pupils going to get? I should not have called them "backward pupils". In the new educational parlance, they are ESN, Educationally Sub-Normal. Are they going to be grouped with the other students who have failed? Are there still going to be 40-odd backward overaged pupils in the same class? Does the Ministry seriously expect the 1 5-year olds who fail year after year to really make good with 40 such pupils in any one class?”
“Perhaps when the Minister replies he will want to use it. Sir, the woman has been here for eight years. She was married in the Singapore Registry of Marriages. Four children were born in Singapore and they are now living in a Housing Board flat. The Minister has said earlier that the Department would have to consider whether the husband would still be able to maintain his wife and children if his circumstances change. My point is even if his circumstances change, his wife is not going to take her four children back to Malaysia or to the country from which she came because she just cannot leave Singapore. Therefore, to all intents and purposes whether or not we give her permanent status, she is here to stay and she will always be here with her family.”
“Sir, I have no intention of joining in. The problem here is riot a question of marrying abroad or in Singapore. The problem is still faced by people who were married in Singapore. There is the case of a woman who has been married here for eight years and has four children all living here in a Housing Board flat. To all intents and purposes, whether the Department charges $15 for three months or $50 for three months, she has got to be here because her family is here. There are many such cases of people who have their roots here. I have written to three different Ministers in charge of Immigration and I have given up hope. I used to talk on this topic but for the last few years I have stopped talking about it. I do not know if the Minister has said earlier on that "the policy is being constantly reviewed". This is another official phrase. I do not know whether or not it has been used today. I am a little uncomfortable when I hear this phrase.”
“Sir, is the Minister not aware that once a youth is called up for national service, he has no choice? Some of our youths do ask for part-time national service, upon being called up for full-time national service. But there are many other youths who have no choice at all. They are just taken in for part-time national service.”
“Sir, the Minister has set a specific number of hours and he says. "Well, if they do their part-time national service in 12 years they will have to do so many hours of work, and if we reduce it to five years, then they must perform the same number of hours of duties." This would mean that they have to go for duty practically everyday. When the number of years of duty is reduced, it is also possible to reduce the number of hours of duties which a person has to perform during his national service. It does not necessarily mean that the number of hours which the Ministry has specified for part-time national servicemen must be complied with.”
“Well, we will see what plans the Ministry has for them. The Ministry must study the possibility of reducing part-time national service obligation to, say, four to five years or so. After this, just as full-time national servicemen, they could be called up for annual in-camp training, etc., to keep them up to-date.”
“That makes it even worse. As more and more part-time national servicemen join the ranks year after year, the number of part-timers will be so large that the Ministry of Home Affairs will find it difficult to put them to beneficial use.”
“Unfortunately, it appears that not all special constables could be utilised in these special squads. More can be done along this line to make beat duty a more creative one as it is being done to some extent with the special constables who are being taught to operate and use walkie-talkies. In such ways, the Police Force can make more effective use of the enthusiasm of these young men to counteract the adverse influence of regulars who are cynical about special constables doing Police work. I am told that some dental surgeons who are doing national service in the Special Constabulary have contributed financially in setting up a dental clinic with two dental chairs in the Police Academy. As part of their duties, the dental surgeons man this clinic which provides dental treatment to other part-time national servicemen and some regulars as well. The dental surgeons should be commended for their civic responsibility. Their professional training is also put to profitable use. A wider use of professional training amongst our special constables should be encouraged and developed. Limited use is made of doctors and legally trained men amongst the special constables. I suggest a full study of the trained professional manpower available among the ranks of special constables and their training be put to maximum use. I am told there are a number of lawyers whose expertise is very little made use of during their duty hours that they are able to sit in Police stations feeling bored and doing their own studies. Another area of serious discontent is that they are tied to part-time national service for eight years.”
“Sir, beat duty is by its nature monotonous. Many of our national servicemen who are performing their national service obligation as part-time special constables, and Vigilante Corps members as well, look upon such duties as uncreative and unproductive. This kind of attitude is especially evident amongst the so-called educated national servicemen. Some of the so-called educated, amongst whom are included some graduates and professional men, look upon their national service obligations as a way of surveying the streets looking at men and life on the roads with a philosophic eye. Can we really blame them for such an attitude? What programme has the Ministry of Home Affairs instituted to remove such feelings of despondency? What plans does the Ministry of Home Affairs have to instil in most of our part-time constables an awareness that they have an important role to play as special constables and Vigilante Corps members, and not just to let them loose in uniforms because the law requires that all male citizens should do national service? Many part-time special constables, after making a desultory round of their beat areas, sit in back lanes and dark corners of public parks waiting for their four-hour stint to be over so that they can go back to their stations to sign off. This is bad. I was very pleased to hear that some Vigilante Corps members and special constables have been recruited into the Community Security Force which is a special squad performing anti-crime duties Some special constables too, I am told, have been recruited into a Task Force of anti-crime squads to do mobile duties in crime prevention. The vertical policing duties are also a much more interesting activity than doing ordinary beat duties.”
“Sir, in view of the complaint by the Minister that the Central Complaints Bureau is under-staffed, I hope the Bureau will get less and less complaints about the public servants from now onwards. With that hope I beg to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head R be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BAA 1111. Sir, this amendment is moved to seek some information from the Minister. Can the Minister inform the House the type of complaints received and entertained by the Central Complaints Bureau? What happens to the complaints when they are received? What kind of investigations are made, if at all made, on receiving complaints from the public? If the complaint is against a public servant, what follow-up action is taken? And is the head of the department kept informed? Is the complainant advised of the outcome of the complaint that he has made?”
“Sir, it is not the Minister's sympathy that we want, but his money. In any case, we wish him success in his negotiations with the Minister for Finance. If he wants any assistance, I have quite a bit of experience in negotiations and I am willing to give him my support. Sir, with those words. I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $44,760,690 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $14,700,500 for Head Q ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head R --”
“You have not heard the story yet. Four centres have already been demolished and one more is also going in a month's time. The only remaining one is to be demolished in about two years' time. Now to build a key community centre in the constituency, not more than $1 51)000 is forthcoming. For a high density new town what kind of a community centre can a $1 50,000 grant provide that could cater for the needs of the young as well as the old?”
“, then, they should raise the additional funds. The present policy, it appears, is that even for a key community centre in a constituency, the bulk of the funds has to be raised by the constituents with a minimal grant from the People's Association. In Telok Blangah there were six community centres. An Hon. Member: More than enough!”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head Q be reduced by $10 with respect of subhead AAA 8301*. (* The same amendment also stood in the names of Mr Yeo Toon Chia and Dr Chiang Hai Ding.) Sir, not so long ago, community centres were built entirely by the People's Association for the benefit of residents living in the respective areas, I am not making a value judgment of the community centres. Although there have been some criticisms of the role community centres play in a given environment. I am convinced that given proper leadership, community centres can have a tremendous impact on our society. The need for community centres cannot be denied, In fact, community centres of today must be better equipped, well laid out and offering facilities for a variety of activities that would cater for the needs of the young as well as the old. Although community centres used to be built by the Government in the past, in recent years the bulk of the funds for building these community centres have to be raised by the residents themselves. I do not quarrel with the concept of community participation and financial involvement in a project that would serve their own needs. But my complaint is: to what extent should this participation take place? I advocate that the People's Association and the community leaders of an area, where a community centre is to be built, must sit together and decide on the minimum facilities needed in a community centre for any given locality. Once this is decided, then the funds for the building of the centre should be provided by the People's Association. If the community leaders want to improve on the minimum provisions provided, if they want to improve facilities, if they want to make their centre more attractive, etc.”
“The hours of operation should be extended.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I merely want to make a suggestion. When we were speaking on bus services, a lot of bouquets were given to the 585 for the improvement of the bus service. Although the bus service has improved tremendously compared with what it was a few years ago, a large measure of the contribution to this improvement was the result of the utilisation of Scheme B buses as well as the City Shuttle Bus Service. Especially in the housing estates like Telok Blangah, the SBS can improve its services much more. But understandably, perhaps at the moment they cannot do so and. therefore, the complementary transport system provided by the Scheme B buses and the Shuttle Service buses are commendable. But unfortunately some restriction is placed on the Scheme B buses and the City Shuttle Bus Service in respect of the period in which they can operate. I do appreciate that Scheme B buses are mainly meant for transporting school children to and from schools. In spite of this there are other periods in which they can be much more profitably used, especially in housing estates where the SBS is not in a position to provide the sort of service which the residents expect. The Registry of Vehicles should be more flexible and allow the Scheme B buses and the City Shuttle Bus Service to operate even beyond the time that they are allowed at the moment.”
“Sir, I am glad that the Civil Aviation Department is looking into the possibility of reorganising the taxi service at Paya Lebar Airport. I remember making this suggestion of trolleys sometime in 1972 and in 1974 50 trolleys were purchased. By the time I used the Arrival lounge last year there were hardly 20 serviceable trolleys around. The very fact that it has been increased by 200 this year, which is more than 200% from what were available, that is a good sign. Perhaps every now and then one ought to check whether these trolleys are serviceable and additional trolleys, should be purchased whenever necessary. With those remarks, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Have we given the allowance that many persons think twice before they travel nowadays? Or is Changi Airport going to he one project that will be little used? Could we not just manage with Paya Lebar Airport for several decades? No doubt certain amount of pollution is involved No doubt reclamation and resettlement of people are involved. But these are unavoidable for an island like Singapore that is too small. For that matter Changi is no better. I also notice that S80 million is to be spent on land reclamation and $15 million for land acquisition for Changi Airport Where does the Government get the money? From tax payers The Government increase taxes but is unnecessarily spending $95 million for reclamation and land acquisition Need we spend this amount of money on a project, when actually we may not receive the number of tourists that was predicted before the oil crisis? After building Changi Airport, what is going to happen to Paya Lebar Airport? Will it he closed down and demolished to make way for multi-storey buildings like Kallang? I do not know what is happening. I hope the Minister could enlighten the House 7.15 pm”
“I believe that the taxi service operating at the airport is a very lucrative one because the taxi drivers have other "fringe benefits" and the extra charge which they sometimes impose on arriving passengers from abroad. Mr P. Govindaswamy: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir,I fully agree with my colleague, the Member for Telok Blangah However, I wish to raise a few points. Sir, in the Development estimates, I notice that quite a big sum of money is going to be spent on the extension of the existing runway, additional parking aprons and navigational aids for Paya Lebar Airport. If Paya Lebar Airport is not going to be the main airport in the future and if Changi is going to become our main international airport, then why are we spending money for the extension of facilities at Paya Lebar Airport? Are these expenditures really necessary? Can we not manage with a reduced amount of expenditure for Paya Lehar and concentrate on Changi Airport instead? Sir, soon Changi will become an international airport. For how long will it remain so, I do not know. We had Kallang at the beginning; then we switched to Paya Lehar, and now we move to Changi, even before the second runway at Paya Lehar and the extensions could be completed Originally, when the Department wanted to expand Paya Lebar Airport, the engineers tested the soil at Changi and they said, at that time, they could not develop an `airport at Changi because the soil was not strong. Therefore, they came back to Paya Lebar Airport Now they say. "Move to Changi". We have spent so many millions of dollars at Paya Lebar and now we are moving to Changi A certain amount of foresight thinking is required. Is Changi Airport really necessary? Are we really going to expect the predicted increase in tourists?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head P he reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CAA 1106*. (* The same amendment also stood in the name Mr P. Govindaswamy.) Sir, this amendment is moved to make some suggestions in respect of the airport services at Paya Lebar Airport. Those who arrive from abroad, especially during congested periods which often occur at night, find that in our Arrival lounge lots of passengers who have two or three pieces of luggage find it difficult to carry their luggages out. There is a shortage of porters. I do not advocate that more porters be employed. Perhaps manpower should be put to better use rather than just allowed to hang around to carry bags. But I do advocate, and I have made this suggestion some years ago, that we provide these arrival passengers with light hand-trolleys for their convenience. They need not wait. As soon as their luggage comes down the conveyor belt, it would make it very convenient for them to get their luggage out with a trolley. Sir, the second suggestion I would like to make is in respect of the taxi service at the airport. Here again, especially at peak hours at night, with large planes arriving these days, there is a shortage of taxis. Sometimes one has to wait for 35 to 40 minutes, without exaggeration, because I myself had to wait for 40 minutes for a taxi. I am told that this is the result of a restriction on the number of taxis that are allowed to go into the airport area. Perhaps the Ministry should look into the possibility of increasing the number of taxis allowed in the airport at the moment. With more taxis, perhaps the waiting period could be reduced.”
“(14) That the sum to be allocated for Head O be reduced by $10 in respect of item (a) (iii) of subhead BBA 8102.”
“Sir, I have a heavy resettlement problem in Telok Blangah and I was never informed of the cut-off date. However, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, one short query in respect of resettlement. We have gone from resettlement to farming, to road widening and so on. Sir, I appreciate that there should be a cut-off date in respect of census of resettlement cases. Keeping it a secret before the cut-off date is understandable so as to prevent the movement of people and so on. But what is the objection of publicising the cut-off date after it has passed?”
“"Find out from the office" or "Go and see your MP" when the MP is completely in the dark. Sir, to do this unpleasant task is not easy. It can be made easier if the officers are, as I said earlier, properly orientated towards their work and the Member of Parliament is taken into confidence and informed of the nature of resettlement and the need for such resettlement before conducting a survey. It is also desirable that the period between taking a census and the resettlement is not dragged on and on. Perhaps it is here that the Member for Moulmein has made his point. Two years after the census has been taken, they are still waiting to be moved out.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir,I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head O be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 4001*. (* The same amendment also stood in the name of Mr Hwang Soo Jin.) Resettlement is very unpleasant, and the task of resettlement is also unpleasant. Nobody likes to be resettled from where they have been staying for many, many years, with the exception of perhaps the slum dwellers in Moulmein. Few officers like to be Resettlement Officers or even to work in the Resettlement Department. By and large, the people with whom these Resettlement Officers have to deal, are antagonistic and feel that they have been aggrieved. It is, therefore, very essential that the officers working in this department are properly orientated and have the right attitude to do this unpleasant work. In their dealings with people who are affected by resettlement, they must be tactful and polite. When resettlement of a locality is decided, the officers of the Department will first go to the area to make a survey and take a census of the residents. The affected residents are concerned about their future and make enquiries from the officers conducting the survey. If, at this initial stage, the officers explain the reasons and the plans that the Department has for resettling the residents, then. not only will their job be made easier, but it will also reduce friction that invariably arises. In many instances, even the Member of Parliament for the constituency in which a census is being taken for resettlement purposes is not aware until a hue and cry is made by the residents. Officers from this Department have been known to tell the affected residents that they are going to be chased out in three months' time. When asked where they were going to be resettled, they were told.”
“Sir, in view of the assurance given by the Minister of State, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“No, Sir, I think other Members would like to speak.”
“Sir, I was very happy to hear that the Housing and Development Board officers will look into the complaints of residents about contractors who do not honocr their obligations in respect of renovation work. I only hope that the Minister will pass the word down to his officers. What I know is that if any complaint is made to the Housing Board, they say, "Look, this is a private arrangement between you and the contractor." This has been so thus far. As from today, if the HDB officers look into it, I think the point has been made. Sir, the other matter that I am quite happy about is that from now onwards perhaps the People's Association can make application to the Building Control Division for approval of the construction of community centres six months before getting the money from the Minister for Finance who is not here nnw. Sometimes the Minister for Finance takes more than six months to approve payment in respect of the land. I said that if the Housing and Development Board as landowner can sign the plans of the community centres even before receiving payment, then I think that community centres can be built at a faster pace than they are being built now.”
“Sir, I am aware of the reply given by the Housing Board on the 26th February, which the Minister of State has referred to. The fact is that the Housing Board was preparing a reply to, perhaps. "my last outburst" as they call it in respect of shoddy Housing Board flats. If they had studied the speech I made last time, they would realise that I had pointed out all the problems that they now have. And if the Minister of State had only listened to me yesterday, he would also know of my appreciation of the pressure the Housing Board is undergoing. We know how many more flats it has to build. What I am asking for is that the Housing Board should be more vigilant in its supervision of the work of contractors. In its reply of the 26th February, the Board said, "More than 90% of the house owners did the floors." In other words, it is saying that since everybody is redoing the floors, why make the floors suitable? They are redoing the floors because they are bad. It is not because they want to do it. Sir, on the other point about the refund of car park charges, I do nbt know what the Minister meant by ``immediate deregistration" because immediate deregistration could be effected within a month, a week or even the next day. I am not too sure whether this particular car has been deregistered or not, but I know that it has been taken away from Telok Blangah estate. This is a special case. In the history of Singapore, when has the Government imposed a tax and then withdrew it? In the case of the latest increase in road taxes, there was a withdrawal and, arising out of this, the man decided to deregister his car.”
“I am told that the Ministry of Finance takes a long time to approve payment for the land to the Housing and Development Board. I will have more to say about this when we come to debate the provisions for the Ministry of Finance. In the meantime, let me say that plans for construction of the community centres could not be submitted to the Planning Department because the Housing and Development Board, as land owner. refuses to endorse such plans. This causes a deadlock and a long delay, and the entire project will be at a standstill because of the Housing Board's refusal to endorse. If the land set aside for a community centre is accepted by the People's Association as a suitable site, then I do not see any difficulty for the Housing Board to endorse such a plan. Surely the HDB is not worried that the Ministry of Finance would not pay for the land. In any case, even if there is a dispute between the Ministry of Finance and the Housing Board in respect of payment, the HDB can always stop its construction. In any case. Sir, the HDB gets money from the Ministry of Finance.”
“Some of these authorised contractors farm out their work to numerous unauthorised sub-contractors who cheat innocent flat owners by shoddy workmanship or not completing the work in time after having received payment or refusing to hand over the keys until their demand for additional payment is met. Whenever such reports are made to the Housing and Development Board, the Board should not brush them off saying that it was a private arrangement between the contractor and the flat owner. Investigations should be made and recalcitrant contractors should be barred from tendering, and blacklisted. Sir, another area of comment is that the Housing Board lets out parking lots to residents on a six-month basis. Recently, when the Government decided to increase road tax for cars in order to reduce the car population in Singapore, a car owner decided to conform with the Government policy and deregistered his car and so took it off the road. Yet, when he approached the Housing Board for a proportionate refund of the unused parking charges of four months, his request was turned down. Here is a car-owner who has deregistered his car in accordance with Government policy and yet his money was not refunded. If a cash refund cannot be made, the amount of refund could at least be used to set off his monthly payment to HDB for conservancy charges, etc. The Government is setting a good example in this respect by making a refund of unused road tax payments if the cars are deregistered, and the road tax surcharge was also adjusted downwards in respect of cars above seven years old after representations had been made. My third complaint is in respect of land set aside in housing estates for community centres.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker. Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head 0 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (a) of subhead AAA .3020*. (* The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs Yeo Choo Kok, Hwang Soo Jin, Ho See Beng and J.F. Conceicao.) Sir, I had reason to complain once before, outside this Chamber, of shoddy and poorly finished work by contractors which were accepted as "completed work" by the Housing and Development Board. I do appreciate the tremendous pressure on the Housing and Development Board to deliver more and more flats to meet the increasing demand for them. Notwithstanding this pressure, the Housing and Development Board should be more vigilant in ensuring that it will not accept from contractors any flat that is poorly finished. After all, tenders are called for the construction of flats suitable for occupation and are paid for as such. Proper supervision of construction and inspection before acceptance from the contractors will not appreciably increase the cost of flats. Proper finish of the floors, walls and hinges of doors, windows, etc, is not going to delay construction that long either. In any case, poorly finished flats have to be redone before occupation, and that takes time too. I had also previously talked about workers and contractors lacking work ethic, lacking pride in their craftsmanship, etc, which accounted for this sorry state of affairs. What I ask is that the Housing and Development Board should be a little more vigilant in their supervision of contractors. 7.45 p.m. Another area where the HDB can help the new flat owners is to be a little more careful in the selection of authorised contractors for renovation work in HDB flats.”
“Sir, on a point of order. Sir, I think that perhaps the Member for Toa Payoh should bring this matter up under a different subhead relating to the Housing and Development Board, and not under this subhead.”
“(2) That the sum to be allocated for Head N be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 1010.”
“Sir, I am not moving my next two amendments, in deference to the Member for Kim Seng who has got an amendment to move.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendments stood in the name of Mr N. Govindasamy - (7) That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BCA 2532. (8) That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of item (a) of subhead CDA 3011.”
“Mr Speaker. Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of item Ii) of subhead AAA 3020. Sir, having thrown so many brickbats at the Ministry of Health, I now move this amendment to congratulate the Family Planning and Population Board on their excellent performance. If our population growth has been checked and if we have achieved some success in population control, it is due in no small measure to the work of the Family Planning and Population Board. Credit must go to them. Our average annual birth rate was 1.7% for the period 1971-74 and the present birth rate of less than 1 .4% is an achievement better than expected. We in the trade unions have found the officers of the Board most cooperative and helpful in organising educational programmes for our workers as well as in the organisation of regional seminars on family planning and population growth. The Board should also be congratulated for conducting family planning education programmes in community centres and other youth organisations. The two-child norm has its required impact on our society. But I am afraid that all this good work will come to nothing if, in our hospitals, those mothers who go for ligation are not treated with care, consideration and understanding. Let me not say anything more about the hospitals. Dr Toh Chin Chye: Sir, I would like to thank the Member for Telok Blangah for giving a bouquet to the Family Planning and Population Board. I was expecting a brickbat.”
“There is a vote in the Development Estimates for improvement and redevelopment of the Singapore General Hospital. I hope this complaint will be taken care of from this vote”