Ong Kian Min
Singapore
“Sir, on the first case, as I said, my resident approached me at the MPS. I wrote to the Traffic Police to appeal for him. I am sure the Traffic Police would look into that appeal and reply to that resident accordingly. The two other cases were not based on hearsay upon hearsay because those were personal encounters by these two friends.”
“My point in raising this is: among the motoring community there is this fear, whether it is real or perceived, that they should not seek medical treatment immediately in case the Police were to issue them with a summons for careless driving.”
“Unless the motorcyclist is so seriously injured that he has no alternative but to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, he would steer clear of the hospital so as to avoid the fate of being reported against and penalised.”
“They are counted as having taken two HDB loans. They are deemed to have had their two bites of the cherry, but is the quantitative number of bites or loans a fair measure of the amount of subsidy enjoyed?”
“Still on the matter of languages, I am of the view that schools should promote more actively the learning of Malay or Bahasa Indonesia by non-Malays, the reason being that Indonesia and Malaysia are our immediate neighbours.”
“And are there more efficient ways of apprehending errant litterbugs? NEA raised the composition fine for first-time minor littering offenders from $200 to $300 last year. I would like to ask: can and do the foreign workers that have been caught littering pay up this fine?”
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“It is undeniable that we need to have good IT education and creative education so that we will be able to participate in the world-wide long-distance economic race and still remain in the leading position. Taking into consideration our present economic strength and our talent pool, there should be no problem. But the key issue is how to make National Education a success, and to ensure better cohesiveness among the people of Singapore in every generation. In this aspect, if we can pay more attention and place greater emphasis on "EQ education", we will be able to achieve double effect with half the effort. What is Emotional Quantum education? It involves our outlook of life, work attitude and integrity. In recent years, the Prime Minister has been promoting team spirit, integrity, moral values, the proper attitude of learning excellent social culture values, arts, and to build up a gracious society. These are actually the main factors of "EQ education". The scope of EQ education is very broad. It is the control centre of our thinking. It controls our conduct and our lifestyle. The quality of EQ education would affect the political and social practice of the country and the quality of our people. It involves the cultivation of our outlook of life, culture and arts, discipline, national character, courtesy, personality, ways of handling things, learning attitude, team spirit. For example, some soldiers are very highly patriotic and are prepared to sacrifice themselves for the nation, while some will betray the country for wealth; many people are disciplined and law-abiding, while some are prone to commit crimes; some people are serious in life, while others are happy-go-lucky; some people are prepared to sacrifice themselves for others while some are self-seeking.”
“I am confident that the people will give full support to the Government to make use of our favourable situation and opportunities now to realise the vision spelt out in Singapore 21. The President's Address has given us confidence for the future, but there are also some points for us to ponder over. For example, the President said that we are much stronger than what we were in 1965 and there is no reason for us to flinch from difficulties. But the problem is, at this time when Singaporeans have almost everything, do we still have the type of unity and high morale like our leaders in the early days who fought against the Japanese, strove for independence, faced the threat from communism, solved the myriad of problems resulting from the separation from Malaysia, racial riots, etc? So, are Singaporeans today able to rise to the occasion to protect and to defend our own country? This is not a question of "able" (yes) or "not able" (no), but a definite "able" (yes). If we want to be first class citizens, we want to be masters of Singapore, we have to make it a strong "yes". Our foreign reserves now stand at $107.7 billion, which ranks among the top ten in the world. We have a better economic structure and infrastructure; we have a better educational system, full employment and advanced national defence capability. But the question is: used to living in much better condition, are our younger generation able to face challenges with the same determination and undaunted fighting spirit of our first generation leaders? I am very happy to note that the Government is now promoting the National Education programme. National Education must succeed. However, I hope that while promoting National Education, we must not forget the human factor, that is "EQ education".”
“We need to know our areas of strength and work in tandem with each other for the benefit of the whole. For such ties to form and work, we must believe that there is a much bigger world out there, and everyone can have more of the pie if we work together, instead of against each other. One negative attitude which runs against the grain of nation building and the building of the team spirit is kiasuism. The war-cry of kiasuism is - "grab as much as you can for yourself, forget about others!" In kiasuism the focus is on "I" and "me". But, survival of our nation has to do with the "we" and "us". Kiasuism concentrates on personal survival but, as a nation, we must focus on the survival of the nation. We are a people with a big heart, not a people who want to grab all we can at the expense of others. There is enough for everyone if you are willing to work in tandem. As individuals and Singaporeans, we must work as a nation and as a team. We must not merely look after our own interest, but the interest of our fellow citizens and nation. In place of kiasuism, let us make caring and sharing important values in our culture. As we move from the "I" orientation to the "we" orientation, we can ensure a legacy that will hold good for generations to come. We have come a long way since independence. Today, we have much more resources than in 1965. With this strong base, we are in a much better position to compete in the increasingly competitive world markets and offer the generation to come a position of positive advantage to succeed in an even tougher millennium. On that note, Sir, I support the motion. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Bukit Timah)( In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, we would like to thank the President for his Address on the Opening of this Parliament.”
“This spirit of mutual help and support should not be focused merely on people. Companies, businesses and all other organisations need help and support too. Singapore has only a population of 3 million. If we organise ourselves and work as individuals, we are only a nation of 3 million people. If we work smart, and work as a team, collectively we can be more than the individual parts put together. For a small country like Singapore, the public and private sectors can and should work closer together to forge a trusting and symbiotic relationship. Home-grown businesses need help and support to compete more effectively in the regional and global markets. The public sector and Government-linked corporations can help and support them to focus their energies on competing more effectively overseas. The civil service has started to change its traditional functions as mere regulators. The private sector businesses welcome this. I look forward to the public sector evolving to become facilitators of business and growth. Reciprocating, the private sector can contribute its ideas and expertise in planning for the needs of Singapore in the 21st century. It is heartening to note that at the macro level, the Government has formed the Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness to chart the strategic direction for the country's economic growth. Such brainstorming involving the public and private sectors can be extended to and will be particularly useful in the development of public facilities and the delivery of quality public services. To work as a team, we must learn to share, help each other, dwell deep into our internal strength as a united people so that collectively we can beat all external competition.”
“As we advance into a highly technological 21st century, our concerns should include the building of a value system. This will unite our people and give us a firm base and a powerful platform to face the challenges of the future. Our togetherness and strong convictions will give us our cutting edge. A spirit of stalwart nationalism must accompany our strive for excellence. Recent unrest that occurred in as diverse places such as Xinjiang province in distant China and Kalimantan in Indonesia stems from economic disparity between various segments of the population. Therefore, even at a time of good economic growth and prosperity enjoyed by a wide segment of our population, we must anticipate and address any disparity that may be building up between the successful and those who, relatively speaking, have not done as well. Sir, I would urge the more successful, who are the beneficiaries of this system, to lend a helping hand to those who are less successful and give them hope to break out of their circumstances. Every Singaporean in every segment of our society has a part to play in sharing, building, encouraging and bringing out the best in one another. It is not only the Government helping the less fortunate. It is not merely the most successful at the top of the ladder helping the one at the bottom. But it is every Singaporean at every level helping those around him and it goes on down the line in a caring and sharing chain, right down to the last person. This way we can make Singapore a home where people feel bonded to one another and the country. Such close-knit local communities with dense interlocking relationships will produce a resilient society that can hold its own against the winds of change.”
“This requires that parties engaged in international transactions are confident that the commercial law is clear, predictable, modern, transparent and commercially relevant. All these qualities Singapore law shares with London and New York. This leads to the next question of how Singapore law firms can increase their role in this regional legal hub. We need to assess and examine how Singapore lawyers can widen their regional capacity and role. With an ever-changing global environment, we must be prepared to put aside conventional wisdom in analysing emerging trends and developments and in working out solutions for Singapore. We must be nimble and ready to make swift changes and adjustments when the situation demands it. To quote from Tennessee Williams, the US playwright: `It is almost as if you were frantically constructing another world while the world you live in dissolves beneath your feet, and that your survival depends on completing this construction at least one second before the old habitation collapses.' Mr Speaker, Sir, it must never be said of us that the time for change was yesterday. Sir, I believe, if Singapore is to continue the economic miracle, it requires us to systematically identify our strategic advantages and weaknesses. We must build on our strengths and eradicate areas of weaknesses. I am confident that our fair and open meritocratic system is a sure foundation on which to consolidate the "Singapore Way" of organising ourselves and doing things. We can build a "Singapore Cluster" comparable to successful "clusters" in industries, such as the Silicon Valley in the area of technology, or the City of London in the area of finance, or Hollywood in the movie industry.”
“This has prompted its Prime Minister to call for drastic economic reform in his speech at the opening of the new parliamentary session early this year. Looking at specific industries in Singapore, one area that demands our close attention is our role as a regional hub. An example is telecommunications. At present, we enjoy the position of being a telecommunications hub with signals from the regional countries being routed through Singapore. However, the industry is developing very rapidly and there is no intrinsic reason which dictates the location of a hub in Singapore as exists in the location of a seaport or an airport. Other countries are putting in place huge capacities to carry signals. Telecommunications giants are setting up worldwide alliances, such as Global One. The technology of telecommunications is such that signals which are routed through Singapore can easily be re-routed through other locations that have the carry capacity and offer it at a more competitive price. To enhance Singapore's position as a telecommunications hub, we have to put in place an integrated package of sensitive and appropriate regulations, high quality and time-effective operations and maintenance personnel, as well as being price competitive to promote that Singapore is a total business centre. Closer to myself as a practising lawyer, similar trends are evident. Singapore is a hub for about 55 international law firms providing regional legal services. One issue which we should look into is how we can make Singapore law an "international commercial law" in the same way as English law and New York law function as international commercial law for international transactions.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to participate in this debate. Sir, I rise to speak in support of the motion moved by the hon. Member for Bukit Timah. The President, in his Address to Parliament, has emphasised the importance of strengthening our nation's competitiveness. I believe this is particularly important as we stand at the threshold of the 21st century. The new millennium will be an era of high technology and rapid development. To highlight just how rapidly technology is developing, we would recall that back in the mid-1960s there were only a few hundred transistors on the computer chip. Today, there are 7.5 million for the most powerful computer and that number is doubling every two years. With such exponential increase in processing power, the years ahead promise many exciting challenges. Singapore has risen to the challenge by keeping abreast of this rapid advancement. We are already making a headstart with programmes such as IT 2000 and Singapore One. Even for the young, $2 billion have been set aside in support of the IT programme for schools. We must continue to maintain this headstart using the best available technology for the continued progress of our nation. Although we have done well over the past 30 years, we must not be complacent and take prosperity for granted. We must not delude ourselves into thinking that the tried and tested system that has produced good results in the past will continue to produce good results for the future. There are many examples of this fallacious thinking. A number of East Asian tiger economies which enjoyed high growth in the recent past are already facing rough economic weather. Even Japan, which remains by far the richest country in Asia, has suffered economically over the last few years.”