Ong Seh Hong
Singapore
“The target groups are often the defenceless youth. We have an obligation to protect them and it is important to raise awareness and educate the public on the threat of all these cyber bullying, cyber crimes and cyber sexual hunting. Close cooperation with the parents is another instrument to combat the scourge.”
“And if the book is published, the writer still has to go through book dealers who will take a 50% cut and the books will be put under consignment, ie, payment once every three to five months. The sale of Chinese books has dropped from more than 10,000 to a few thousand, and now to around 1,000.”
“Therefore, I seek an update from MCYS on the nature and the extent of social problems relating to gambling at the casinos following the full-operations of these two casinos in Singapore. What are the control mechanisms in place and how effective have they been so far? Gambling”
“There is, for me, a simple way to tell if the Budget brings real benefits to the people and the country. If the Budget hinders us, if it taxes so severely or gives too generously that we lose our motivation to work, if it makes onerous administrative demands on us and on businesses, then it cannot be a right budget.”
“Sir, I have a few supplementary questions. First, besides denying employees from taking sick leave which is a very clear infringement of the Employment Act, there could be other forms of exploitation of the workers, such as requiring them to work unnecessarily long hours.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for giving this detailed account of what happened because there were discrepancies in the newspaper reports in the accounts by Mr Goh as well as the Police. However, I would like to ask the Minister how does the Police ascertain whether personal safety is being compromised.”
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Every one of 397 lines we hold for Ong Seh Hong, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 8.
“Sir, one lesson we learned during post-tsunami relief was the diminishing and diluting of Singaporean's ability to converse in Malay, as commented by Minister Mentor. I quote, "Up to the 1970s, in our markets and hawker centres, bazaar Malay was the lingua franca. Everyone could understand and speak some Malay because of our bilingual policy. Today, the lingua franca is English or Singlish. Few non-Malays can understand or speak Bahasa. We must remedy this." Sir, what could we do to bring back some of the warmth of the kampong days when everyone could communicate in a little of each other's language? Sir, one way I think is to learn Malay through TV programmes. However, I was a little surprised when I found out that there is only a free-to-air Malay channel, Suria. My grassroots leaders have pointed out that even if they apply to pay television such as cable TV, there is only one Indonesian and one Malaysian channel, supplying them programmes with a setting and content not entirely familiar to them. The lack of more Malay television channels also undermines the effort of the community to promote Malay language and culture. The call for an additional Malay channel is not to reduce the importance of Suria. On the contrary, it highlights the important role played by television. In the earlier years of Singapore, television shows featuring P Ramlee could be appreciated by almost all Singaporeans. Maybe it is high time to promote the use of the Malay language through more entertaining and easy-to-understand Malay television progammes. The new channel should also focus on bringing in more educational programmes like Discovery and Animal Planet channels dubbed in Malay.”
“On endorsement and recognition, in Malaysia, our neighbour, the Chinese literary circle has been holding the "Hua Zhong Literature Award" for many years, and it has become an international award, attracting literary works from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In comparison, we have not had such an award. I urge the Government to support the holding of a National Literature Contest to encourage and reward local writers. Moreover, distinguished writers could be awarded National Day Awards. There used to be a vibrant Chinese literary scene in the past, with high standards. In fact, Singapore was, at one time, termed as the vanguard of Southeast Asian Chinese literature. National Library”
“Sir, many literary artists or writers in Singapore are having the feeling that the Government has placed too much emphasis on promoting the performing and visual arts, at the expense of the literary arts. I believe writers in the Malay, Tamil and English languages share the same sentiments. I hope the Government would give them help in the following aspects: (1) Financial assistance; (2) Space for activities and promotion of the literary arts; and (3) Endorsement and recognition of literary arts. When Chinese writers publish their works, conduct activities and attend international conferences overseas, they rarely receive any support from the National Arts Council. Invariably, they have to dig from their pockets to pay for participating in these activities. For example, once in a few years, they would organise the ASEAN Literary Camp. They have to raise their own funds to organise such activities. I hope the Government could provide funds for local literary arts bodies, such as the Singapore Literary Society, the Writers' Associations, etc, so that they could organise more local and international activities, and publish more local works. These works can then be promoted in the HDB heartlands, schools, and even exported to foreign markets. On more space to promote literary arts, I hope the Government would consider allowing some disused Government buildings to be used by these literary organisations. We should encourage libraries, schools, community clubs and the media to cooperate with the local literary arts organisations. In addition, more local writings should be included in the curriculum of our school and in the textbooks.”
“For example, I have heard from the ground that such venues in Singapore are usually fully booked long in advance. Moreover, to book a venue, there is a need to place a deposit and, in the case of venues booked through NAC, full payment needs to be made two weeks in advance. Similarly, medium-sized venues, with seating capacity of between 400 and 500, are scarce. If an arts group wants to put together a performance, they would have to compete for the same venues. Sir, next, I would like to ask for more smaller and affordable venues to be provided for arts groups to showcase their talents. For example, in Marine Parade, the Necessary Stage is partnering the Marine Parade Community Library. This provides a focus point for arts group development and performances. I would like to suggest that we expand on such partnerships in other locations around Singapore. In effect, this will bring the arts groups to the community. However, appreciation of the arts can only be nurtured gradually and progressively. So, in order to do so, in the beginning, I suggest that all these programmes must be simple, friendly and easily appreciated by the local folks. This will allow more Singaporeans to appreciate arts better.”
“Sir, whatever earlier doubts we have had when the Esplanade was constructed in meeting its intended objectives have disappeared. Sir, the Esplanade, and subsequently all the other arts venues, have done a wonderful job in promoting the arts in Singapore. We have had the good fortune to enjoy many globally popular performances, such as "Singing in the Rain", "Mamma Mia", world famous orchestras, as well as blockbuster exhibitions, such as "Ju Min" and "Botero" and so on. Sir, however, I am a simple man. I wonder whether all these world-renowned performances and exhibitions can be appreciated by the population at large. What attempts, if any at all, were and would be made to enhance the connection with the average Singaporean? I am concerned that when the artistic venues, such as the Esplanade, bring in internationally-renowned performances, whether there are any audits done on assessing the effects on the larger community. I would also ask if the agencies that bring in such groups can plan an interaction and appreciation programme for the heartlanders. Such interaction could perhaps be worked through with the CDCs or the other grassroots organisations. On the other hand, given that we have a rich cultural heritage, arts groups can play a constructive role in raising the awareness about cultural diversity in Singapore. For example, the Singapore Kairalee Kala Nilayam could perform for the Chinese High School, so that the SAP school students could learn about Malayalam art and culture. Similarly, Malay groups can perform for the other races, etc. However, some provision needs to be in place for the successful promotion of arts at the community level. Firstly, performance venues must be readily available and affordable.”
“Thus, I suggest that the Government should either make it tax free or at least we should give tax exemption to a certain ceiling, or to guarantee that if the tax rate is higher when the money is withdrawn, then the lower tax rate when the saving is deposited prevails. This would encourage the people to put more money into their retirement funds. On the whole, this is a very good Budget. It takes care of everyone. It is very comprehensive. I am very happy. I therefore support this Budget. ADJOURNMENT OF DEBATE Resolved, That the debate be now adjourned. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan].”
“This is a significiant amount. Another area I would like to bring up is the Supplementary Retirement Scheme. This is a very good scheme because it encourages those with surplus cash to put more money into their retirement nest. But I feel that, at the moment, linking the ceiling that you can put into SRS with CPF contribution cap is not logical. The ceiling for contributions to the CPF has been reduced to $5,000. Prime Minister Lee mentioned that the CPF is the basic retirement fund for every Singaporean. We should encourage the people to put in more into their own retirement fund. I feel that if you reduce the CPF contributions and reduce the SRS contribution, the total amount is actually reduced. So, we should increase the SRS ceiling when we reduce CPF contribution, so that those people who like to save more in the SRS fund can contribute more and save more for their old age. I hope that the Government can relax this rule. After all, the SRS fund is different from the CPF. It is not tax free. It is deferred tax. I feel that this is a disadvantage, especially to the young people. This is not very attractive as the tax rate in Singapore has been falling for the past few decades. It is very difficult for us to ensure that in the future, our tax rates will not go up with an ageing population. If we need to have more taxes to take care of the older population, there might be a possibility that the tax rates may go up in future. For a person in his 30s, a professional, or a high-income earner, if he were to put his money into the SRS and 30 years later, he takes it out and the tax he has to pay later is higher, then it is not to his advantage.”
“However, when HDB counsels the prospective buyers on financial management at the point of sales procedure, it would be too late. I think it is most important that HDB sets a minimum income level for purchase of each type of flat. Presently, the HDB only sets an income ceiling for flat purchase. Perhaps we should limit the buyer to the type of flat they can afford based on the total family income. Below certain level of income, they cannot buy a bigger flat. This will prevent Singaporeans from buying beyond their means and at the same time ensure that they have enough money left in their CPF account for their old age. We should also consider the age of the purchaser. If the prospective buyer is nearing retirement age, HDB should not allow them to purchase the bigger flats unless they have enough cash to pay for the full purchase price, or at least the major part of it. Another way to help our people to build up bigger retirement funds is for the CPF Board to help to earn a higher return for the account holders. At the moment, we let our CPF account holders invest their money at their own discretion. However, many Singaporeans lack the professional knowledge in investing their money. Also, because the amount they invest is small, they attract a higher risk and higher investment cost. I feel that the CPF Board, as the guardian of three million CPF account holders, should help the account holders to earn more returns on their deposits. With huge amounts in the retirement funds, the CPF Board would have more power in negotiating better deals for the CPF members. As at the end of last year, there were some $111 billion of the members' funds deposited with the CPF. If we can get 1% more in return, we will actually create an additional $1.1 billion.”
“The next point is that all these retailers are also very concerned about the foreign workers' levy. One retailer told me that the Government, on the one hand, allows him an exemption of a GeBiz electronic account, saving him $320 a year but, on the other hand, imposes a higher foreign worker levy. For every worker, the levy will be increased from $50 to $80 and then to $100. So, he would have to pay $480 a year more now, and then $600 more later on. Now that the economy is just beginning to pick up, they have to suffer the impact of higher business cost! The business people are hoping that the levy increase could be delayed or the margin of increase be smaller. After talking about the SMEs, now I would like to talk about retirement. Yesterday, Low Seow Chay spoke about Singaporeans who bought properties beyond their means. He gave a very detailed analysis on that. I just like to add some supplementary details. I feel that the Government can help the people who had bought their houses or properties, especially HDB flats, when the property prices were very high. The worst hit are those who sold their HDB flats when the prices were very high and bought another flat from the resale market at even higher prices. They are in the worst position. Many of these people are having difficulties servicing their mortgage loan, and even if they were to sell their flats now, they would not be able to pay off the outstanding loan. Although many of them could be said to have brought about their own misfortunes, we should find some ways to help them. Furthermore, as we help them, we must prevent such a situation from happening again. Dr Low suggested that we must educate the public.”
“Some of the centres are not properly ventilated and there is no proper shelter against rain or sunshine. I wonder whether these shopping centres can be rebuilt or merged into one big shopping mall to become a modern shopping centre with broad passage ways, high ceilings, ample lighting and ample parking spaces. I feel that although people have changed their shopping habits, many people still need such shopping precincts in HDB estates for their shopping convenience. However, the upgrading of the physical facilities is not enough. The HDB should mobilise and organise all shopkeepers, so that these centres can be properly managed and promotion activities organised regularly. Next, I want to touch on the issue of loss carry-back tax provision. On the surface, such provision can help the SMEs who have difficulty in cash flow. However, the actual benefit is not significant for them because many SMEs do not pay corporate taxes. Even if they do pay taxes, their taxes are quite negligible. Even if they can apply for such an allowance, the amount is not big enough. At present, our corporate tax rate is 20%. So the maximum amount of allowance allowed is $20,000. Therefore, what they can get back is very little in amount. According to the Budget, such a rebate can be given to them only in 2006. I wonder how many shops have to close down before we lend them a helping hand. If we want to help them, why do we not allow them to enjoy such a tax exemption with effect from this financial year? Another point is whether the refund by IRAS can be carried out speedily when such a loss carry-back provision is claimed. I hope the tax authority will not drag its feet as far as tax refund is concerned.”
“But what people want to see is a warm-hearted Government and hope that the Government will provide an umbrella for them on a rainy day. When the economy is slowing down, what the businessmen want is some compassion from the Government so that they can survive. Therefore, I hope that we can help them to protect their rice bowl and not let them lose their jobs, so that they would not have to join the queue at the CDC for help. Therefore, I would like the Government to reconsider their request for an extension of rental rebates. We should also lower the rentals for those who are paying higher than market rate rental. Sir, I do not have the details of the 3R scheme. I hope that such restructuring should also mean rejuvenation, so that new life could be injected into the neighbourhood shopping precincts. People say that the decline of such shopping precincts is due to the change in people's buying habits. However, HDB as the developer and landlord of HDB shops had failed to restructure them in time and failed in the promotion of HDB shops. We can see that the owners of private shopping centres, having collected rents and conservancy charges, carry out promotion and publicity exercises regularly for the shopping centres, so that these shops could do well. Whenever new shopping centres spring up, old shopping centres would carry out upgrading works to match them. The landlords also benefit as they can enjoy higher rental return if the centres do well. However, HDB has never done anything to help the heartlander retail shops by way of promotion or publicity. The old shopping precincts are not ideal in their design because it does not facilitate a convenient flow of pedestrian traffic and crowd control.”
“However, I hope that when we create such new services and industries, we should make sure that enough jobs are created for our local workers who have been retrenched. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, another point I wish to raise is that when we promote new industries, should we make them part of our enterprises? In the past few decades, in the 70s and 80s, when we developed our industries, we mainly attracted MNCs to Singapore to set up their manufacturing bases. In this way, they created many jobs for Singaporeans and we have benefited from the presence of these MNCs in Singapore. However, we do not seem to see the emergence of our local MNCs. Therefore, I hope that when providing all sorts of incentives for these new industries, we should make sure that our local enterprises also benefit through technology transfers, so that our local people can learn and master such technology. In this way, we can truly say that our economy is restructured. Thirdly, I want to talk about retailers in the HDB estates. Sir, many shops in the HDB estates are facing high business cost and high rental. Many MPs have spoken on this. I am glad to see that the HDB is putting forward this 3R scheme to help them to restructure, relocate and to retire. Before such a scheme is carried out, I hope the Government will allow them to continue enjoying certain rental rebates. Otherwise, before the 3Rs are implemented, they would have the 4th R - "Rest in Peace", and close down their shops. When replying to a Question for Oral Answer, Minister Lim Hng Kiang did not agree that the rentals for existing tenants should be revised downwards when the market rate is lower, unless the tenants could promise to accept an upward revision when the market rate goes up. Theoretically, he is right.”
“I therefore suggest that, in future, the Government should not base its expenditure on the percentage of the nominal GDP alone, but also take into account the margin of GDP increase or decrease. The main theme of the Budget this year is creating opportunities and building an inclusive society. The Budget talks about creating opportunities. It seems that these are limited to the commercial enterprises and financial institutions, so that they can make more money. Like other MPs who have spoken, I have heard certain feedback from the people. These people are worried about the cost of living, their work, and about the cost of healthcare. Many retailers in HDB estates have not benefited from the growth in the economy. Many of them are struggling. Therefore, the Government should make sure that the opportunities we create are also made available to them. The Government announced a slew of measures to stimulate our financial services, wealth management and logistics hubs, and so on. However, can we make sure the prosperity of these sectors also benefit our workers, especially our elderly workers who are worrying about losing their present jobs? When the economy is restructured, workers who are retrenched should be given retraining so that they can find jobs in the new economy, have enough income to support their families and provide better education for their children. What I worry is that when we try to promote financial services, wealth management and so on, would the people who are retrenched benefit from this? Perhaps they are not able to take up such jobs, and we have to resort to getting talents from other countries. I am not opposed to foreign talents.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance tabled the 2005 Budget which takes into account the needs of the whole nation as well as the individuals from every strata of society. On the one hand, it promotes economic growth and, on the other hand, it takes care of the disadvantaged in our society. At the same time, the Prime Minister also explained the need to establish a lean and effective Government. While supporting this Budget, I would like to put forward a number of my views for further improvement to it. For the provision of the expenditure, the Budget lays out that every Ministry's expenditure will be pegged to a certain percentage of the nominal GDP. Therefore, when the economy is expanding, although there is a cut of 5% for every Ministry except MINDEF, every Ministry will, in actual fact, have a greater allocation than last year. I feel that in this way, we will not be able to effectively control the expenditure of the Ministries; neither will it encourage the Ministries to raise their productivity. Although I am not an economist, I feel that from the economic point of view, when the economy is doing well, and public expenditure increases, it will lead to inflation. When the economy is slowing down, public expenditure will decrease. This will magnify the effect of the economic cycle. In my view, when the economy is doing well, the Government should put aside the surpluses, and when the economy is in recession, such surpluses should be used to stimulate our economy, to achieve the counter cyclical effect. It can then mitigate the effect of economic recession.”
“In our society, although our country is quite prosperous, there is still a group of people in Singapore who require our help, particularly those who are handicapped, the sick, the elderly and those who are poor. We keep hearing that they have problems with the cost of living and medical cost. These poor families are also worried about the educational cost of their children. Sir, I am very glad to note in the President's Speech that the Government is concerned with this aspect of society. We hope that all the Government departments will do something about this. I may sound a bit incoherent because I actually thought out the points on the aeroplane. I would also like to thank our parliamentary colleagues in this House for their tolerance and understanding. I support the motion.”
“On the other hand, I had already mentioned how we could encourage the young people to take up social welfare work. Mr Iswaran has also mentioned just now that we should encourage the young to serve the people. I feel that we cannot just offer lip-services. We should actually implement such plans. In Government organisations, we should have a consistent policy whereby the young people could be encouraged. Why do I say this? Because there were some university undergraduates who wanted to join in our work. Being good students, they applied for leave from their faculties. But the faculties told them that though it encouraged them to do so on an individual basis, the university would not support them to undertake the work in the disaster area and their leave was not granted. I feel that this is an inconsistency in the whole set-up. If Singapore wants to be a good world citizen, we must ensure that every Singaporean has this vision to guide others. Of course, we must consider the safety factors so that we can encourage our young people to make their contributions. Of course, the risk in some areas may be higher than others. But we can always look after many other areas which are stable. Hence we should not discourage our youth from going over there. We should consider the circumstances. So long as it is reasonably safe, we should encourage our young people to go there, particularly those who are proactive in wanting to participate. We should not discourage them. Having said how to be a good world citizen, let me talk about domestic affairs. We want to help the unfortunate people from other parts of the world. Of course, this is good. But we must not forget our own people.”
“The Government has got its strengths and the civic organisations also have its own. The Government, of course, has connections with the central government of the other countries and it could help to clear some of the channels. Another advantage is that the Government could mobilise a lot of resources like the Army and the Civil Defence Force, etc, at any time to help with the disaster relief. So in emergency circumstances, it is very important. But when the situation is stabilised, we should allow more civic organisations to participate and the Government should coordinate such efforts so that the people would be able to make bigger contributions. On the point of rebuilding the disaster areas, the Government should allow the people to take the lead. The Government should only play a coordinating role. We should also see in what areas Singapore could contribute and the Government should make a clear direction and then coordinate so that the people and the voluntary welfare organisations could do a good job of it. If the Government wants to help with the reconstruction of the disaster area, we should encourage the welfare organisations to make contributions. For example, if the welfare organisations have already raised some funds for a project and the Government has also such a vision, why do we not do a matching contribution by the Government? Then the Government's efforts could be doubled, while the burden of the welfare organisations in fund raising could be reduced. Also, on the other hand, the Government would not have to mobilise such a lot of people to undertake such work while the welfare organisations could do so. I think in this way the resources would not be wasted.”
“We could count on them to help us! The other volunteers, especially the artistes, were also helping the children. They were very good in bringing joy to the children. We could see them dancing, singing and playing with the children, and the children could, for the time being, forget their problems. Although it was a very short trip of just a few days, I have changed my perception on the relevance of these people. I feel that so long as we have compassion and the eagerness we would be able to contribute to this kind of disaster relief work. Why am I saying all this? Because, I feel that this is related to our aim to become worthy citizens of the world. In order to attain this aim, we cannot depend only on the Government. It has to be a total participation by all the people. Just like what Mr Iswaran has said, the Government should play a leading and coordinating role. I feel that the Government should not take upon itself to do everything by itself. The Government should allow more people and more civic organisations to participate and to work towards being worthy world citizens. What the Government should do is something which civic organisations could not do. But civic organisations also have its own strength. It has its network and it could negotiate with the other governments. It should not be just a government-to-government connection, it could also be NGO-to-NGO connection. So, from this experience, we could see that all our people have done a great job. We should take a review. In the event that an unfortunate event should repeat itself, we should know what we could do and what we should do even better. We have now a lot of time to prepare ourselves. We should make full play of our strong points.”
“However, soon after our arrival there, I found to my pleasant surprise that all my worries were unwarranted. These people, medical or non-medical alike, have shown great passion and the genuine intention to help the victims. Two days before we took off, we had specially arranged for some first-aid lessons and basic nursing training for them. They participated very actively. They did not have any experience in helping to treat the injured people. Yet, the moment they reached there, they worked with the medical and nursing officers as a team. They were even helping to move heavy equipment. They had to spend a few hours in the plane, arrived in the middle of the night in Colombo and from there they had to travel by road. It was 6 hours on the road with very uneven surface and it was a rather uncomfortable ride. Upon arrival, they just took a short break and immediately started to work. They worked very hard, from moving the equipment to setting up the tents, and they were willing to do anything. Nobody complained. They did not have decent food to eat. The sanitary condition was not very good. But they were very active and eager to help in whatever they were asked to do. They were also helping the doctors to take the temperature from the patients, their blood pressure, etc, and some of them even helped to clean up the wounds of the injured people. Some of these wounds had become badly infected after a while yet, these people were doing it for the first time. Even in Singapore, many people did not like to do this dirty job which is usually done by the nurses. But over there, nobody complained. Eventually, my Nursing Director commented that these people were so good in the job that they should be enlisted the next time we are short of nurses.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to support the motion in the name of Mr Gan Kim Yong, to thank the President for his speech. There is a special feature in this Presidential Address in that the Government has, for the first time, stressed that Singapore should play the role of a good global citizen in this region. As Mr Iswaran has said, we have already taken a big stride in this aspect. The tsunami incident has aroused the passion of our people, from the Government down to the people. We are all shocked by this event and all sorts of activities have been carried out to raise funds to help the victims. The Government has mobilised the Armed Forces and the Civil Defence Force, and has also set up relief funds to help the victims. Non-government organisations (NGOs) and civic organisations, as well as individuals, have also dispatched relief to the affected areas. I too have been personally involved in these activities. I went to Banda Aceh and spent a few days there doing some relief work, and did a preliminary inspection of the ground. Our Ren Ci Hospital has also sent a medical team and volunteers to Sri Lanka to help the victims. Mr Speaker, Sir, I have just returned from Sri Lanka earlier this morning and that is why I sounded rather incoherent. Please forgive me. Our team to Sri Lanka has a very special characteristic. Apart from doctors and nurses, there are also some non-medical members. We have electrical technicians, workers from the MRT stations, television artistes and people from all walks of life. In fact, before we took off, I was a bit worried because of these non-medical elements in our team. Would they cope with the difficult situation there and would they end up causing more trouble for the team? Would they add on more burdens to our shoulders?”
“After talking a lot about the technicalities of the problem, I would like to remind MOE that language has got two basic functions. All along, we have been stressing the economic function of the language. But mother tongue has its cultural function as well. In the course of reform, we should not belittle the importance of Chinese as a means to transmit culture. We hope that the Education Minister and his officials would make it a point to maintain or transmit the Chinese culture through the Chinese Language. The Chinese language is an "old language." It has a long history of civilisation. The Chinese Language has been evolving over the ages. It has history stretching over a few thousand years. Yet, it remains a living language. It does not stop evolving. Therefore, in our daily lives, we should make use of the language. If we can change our mindset, if we can create the big and small environments for learning the language, we can say that we have succeeded in our bilingual education policy and that we have achieved the objectives set down by the White Paper. Sir, I support the motion.”
“If they sit for only one subject in Chinese, then parents and students who are very pragmatic will not be likely to put in the efforts to learn Chinese. If two or three subjects are taught in Chinese and the students are given the opportunity to sit for examinations conducted in Chinese for more than one subject, then it will encourage more students to learn Chinese. Another point I want to raise is that during the process of reform, we should be flexible. Firstly, we should allow the non-Chinese in our society the opportunity to learn Chinese. Many non-Chinese parents hope that their children can have the opportunity to learn Chinese as well, because they observe the emergence of China's economy and they hope that their children can also benefit by engaging with China. So we should not set any restrictiion for non-Chinese students who want to learn it as a third language. Likewise, for Chinese students, there should not be any restriction that the students must attain a certain standard in English before they can opt for Higher Chinese. This does not help in promoting the taking up of Higher Chinese studies. We need to be flexible so that our students can develop their talent. I heard on radio that one parent complained to the MOE that his son was not allowed to study Higher Chinese because his English marks were not up to the standard required by the school. He scored only 68 marks instead of the hurdle set at 70 by his school. This is unnecessary and unfair. If the student's strong point is in the Chinese Language, then we should allow him to pursue the language and not put him off because of his poor standard in English. He is being deprived of the chance to study Higher Chinese. In this way, he will end up being poor in both his English and Chinese.”
“I agree with MOE that the Chinese Language should be a living language in the school environment, so that more is being heard and seen in Chinese. We should also consider our Malay and Tamil communities. Apart from encouraging Chinese students to learn Chinese, we should also encourage Malay and Indian students to have the equal opportunity to learn their mother tongue languages. Perhaps we can designate certain "mother tongue days", one or two days a week, to encourage pupils and teachers to make more use of the mother tongue in their communications. But it should be encouraged and not forced. It should not be made compulsory. To do so would achieve the opposite result. Another point is that we should increase the lesson time for Chinese. The White Paper recommends that in secondary schools, Chinese can be used to teach other subjects. I propose that this be extended to the primary school level, so that certain non-examination subjects could be taught in Chinese, eg, Civics, Physical Education, Music, Arts, etc. With Chinese being used in the teaching of more subjects, the students will have more exposure to the language, and will find it easier to learn Chinese. Another point is that we should enhance the standard of Higher Chinese. I think this can be done. In certain secondary schools, the students are not so proficient in the Chinese language. In order to be really proficient in two languages, we should raise their mastery of the Chinese Language. Now that we have bi-cultural programmes, we also have schemes to teach current affairs in China, and general knowledge about China. However, to be fair to the students, these must be packaged in different subjects rather than being bundled together as one subject.”
“How do we create a favourable environment for the learning of Chinese? The "Speak Mandarin" campaign has been very successful and it helps us to create an environment for speaking Mandarin. Every Chinese family should speak Mandarin. Most families now speak English, but this can be reversed. This is not irreversible. We can encourage more Chinese families to use Mandarin when speaking to their children. When children enter school, they are seven years old. The period from one year old to six years old is very important for the learning of languages. If, during this period, they have no opportunity of hearing or speaking in Mandarin, they will find difficulties in learning Chinese later on when they go to school. Therefore, I hope the Government and the grassroots organisations, the Chinese community and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry could make a concerted effort to encourage Chinese families to use Mandarin in their daily conversations. Good TV programmes should be produced. Our radio and television stations do not have high-quality Mandarin programmes. In fact, we can import more educational and entertainment programmes, such as Animal Planet, National Geographic, which are dubbed in Mandarin. Cartoons and Walt Disney programmes can also be dubbed in Mandarin. They can be imported. We can also urge our Chinese families, especially the English-speaking Chinese families, to encourage their children to watch more such programmes in order to gain more exposure to Chinese. If, from the time they start learning the language the children can hear Mandarin being spoken, they would not be averse to the learning of Chinese. [Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Chew Heng Ching) in the Chair] 5.28 pm Let me return to the school environment.”
“Those who are bilingual are not given important positions and their bilingual talent is not put to good use. Therefore, if the Government can set an example, then we will know that people with a good knowledge of Chinese can not only work in the teaching profession and the media, but they can also have good career prospects in other professions and sectors as well. Moreover, the Government should promote those competent Chinese teachers. I fully agree with Mdm Cynthia Phua. Those competent and talented Chinese teachers should be appointed to important positions like principals and vice-principals, or to the higher positions in the MOE. Only when there are many bilingual people given important influential positions throughout the whole Government can we say that we have fully implemented the bilingual policy. And only with bilingual elite within the system, then they can effectively and thoroughly implement the bilingual policy in the Government sector. In order to send out the correct message, I hope the Government leaders can also set an example by making use of Mandarin on suitable occasions. They should use Mandarin more frequently. I also hope that the Government officials would not, under the pretext of administrative convenience, refrain from using other languages for road signs, notice boards, MRT stations, bus stations and other Government notices. We need to create a big environment conducive to the learning and using of the mother tongue languages. Otherwise, mere reform in curriculum and pedagogy will not work. In the school, they learn Chinese, but when they go out of the school, they cannot see any Chinese characters anywhere. What they see is English. What they hear is, "How are you?" They do not hear ni hao ma?”
“I do not know if these so-called English-speaking families include parents who speak in this kind of English. To make the reform a success, we must make sure that all Chinese children are proficient in Chinese. Not only should we make Chinese a living language in the school, as suggested by the White Paper in recommendation No. 8, the language should be used in every strata of society, in every ethnic Chinese family. Only then can we achieve the objectives of the reform. Therefore, I suggest that, apart from the recommendations of the White Paper, we have to consider how to make sure that every Chinese family speak Mandarin, and that every one in the society can use and will use his mother tongue. Therefore, in the first place, the Government should re-adjust its policy. In order to change the mindset of pragmatic Singaporeans, the Government should send out a very clear message that learning the mother tongue is very important, as it has a positive impact on our future. Although I do not agree that a language should be solely linked to a utilitarian purpose, we must not deny that we are living in a realistic society. There is no alternative. Therefore, we should make sure that the mother tongue can bring about tangible benefits before it can make people change their mindset and make them like to learn it. Many parents send their children to English schools because of practical reasons. Therefore, I urge the Government to prove its sincerity by practical measures. The Government should appoint bilingual civil servants and promote them to important positions so that their bilingual talent could be put to optimal use. It has been said that our civil servants are mostly English-speaking.”
“Apart from the parents, Government leaders, the decision makers in the Government departments and the people at large should also re-adjust their mindset. Only then can the reform be carried out successfully. Due to our special national context, English has become the dominant language of administration, and the Chinese language is in a weakened position. We have accepted this fact. With the emergence of China, the international status of the Chinese Language has become more prominent and important. All over the world, people are cashing in on the learning of the Chinese Language, and this international environment is favourable to the learning of Chinese. Our parents should be aware of this. However, many parents still prefer to use English in the conversation with their children. Why? Because in Singapore we are very pragmatic and realistic. Parents are aware that, as far as the current interest is concerned, English is still the working language, and hence it is more important than the mother tongue language. If you do not know the mother tongue, you can still manage to get along quite well. But if you do not know English, then you are doomed. You cannot find jobs. It is difficult to make a living in Singapore if you do not know the English Language. Therefore, we can understand why some parents who are not too proficient in English, yet choose to speak to the children in English at shopping malls, hawker centres, etc, such as, "Boy, why like that?" "Ask you don't touch, you touch. Now things broken, how?" This is the kind of English spoken. This is a strange phenomenon, uniquely Singapore. From the survey, 50% of Primary 1 students come from English-speaking families.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the White Paper on the reform of Chinese Language teaching makes several recommendations. All these recommendations are very good and they deserve our support. For example, it is recommended that students should be taught according to their abilities so that those who are better can progress further, and that modern technologies such as computer and Information Technology (IT) be deployed in the teaching. The revamp in curriculum and assessment system, favourable environment within and outside the school, are all aimed at enhancing the students' interest in the learning of the mother tongue language. These are all very good, but they must not forget the most important element of all - the people. The mindset of the people is very important. If we want Singaporeans to be successful, we cannot just merely rely on MOE's efforts to revamp the curriculum and the assessment books. It is important that the stakeholders should cooperate with us. Therefore, the mindset of the people is very important. I agree with Mr Ong Ah Heng who raised this point just now. Lim Yi Min, a journalist, in his article titled "Revolution of Mindsets" published in Zaobao on 16th October 2004, said that there should be a revolutionary change in the mindset of the people. I quote: "What the Government should adjust is not just the teaching methods and curriculum but also the parents' mindset. The clear message that many parents are currently sending is that we should be more serious with the learning of English and that the learning of Chinese is not necessary. Therefore, something must be done to correct their mindset." However, I would go further than this.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Senior Minister of State mentioned that actually the prevalence of diabetics is 9%, which means almost one in 10 Singaporeans in the community actually has diabetes. So I am very surprised to hear that there is no demand at the community level for these podiatry services. The reason is that GPs are not referring cases to the polyclinics for diabetic foot care. Then should NHG find out what are the reasons GPs are not referring the cases to them? Is it because GPs are not aware? Or is it because the diabetic patients are not aware of the services? Or is it because GPs are afraid that when they refer cases to the polyclinics, the patients get snatched away by the polyclinics and they lose the patients?”
“So, probably, we would also need to set up a national agency that is tasked to develop and oversee regulations covering these and other permitted activities. The agency shall be tasked to license, register, monitor, audit and regulate all individual scientists, doctors and researchers as well as private and public fertility clinics, research facilities and other institutions whose research or commercial activities involve human embryos or gametes. Sir, with these comments and suggestions, I support the Bill.”
“Fourthly, I would like to talk about a body to oversee this area of research.I notice that while the Director of Medical Services and his officers will be empowered to enforce the Bill when it is passed, there is no provision of an agency or body to oversee and regulate activities relating to research on human embyros, stem cells and so on. Sir, let us look at other countries that have legislated in this area. I would just like to use a few countries for comparison. In Germany, their policies are more restrictive. British policies are the most permissive, while the Australian and Canadian policies are somewhere in between. As German laws ban a wide range of activities involving human gene, gamete or embryo research, as a result, they do not have a regulatory body to oversee these activities. On the other hand, the other few countries I mentioned, in the UK, they have a Human Fertilisation and Embryological Authority (HFEA), whose 18-member board decides what is permitted and what is not. The HFEA, as MrIswaran alluded to, requires that public and private institutions working on human embryos are licensed, and it can suspend or revoke the licence of non-complying institutions. Australia and Canada legislatively ban a number of widely condemned activities, leaving a more limited but still significant set of issues open for further consideration by their regulatory bodies. The Australian regulatory body is the National Health and Medical Research Council Licensing Committee. In Canada, under the newly-approved Act, they will have the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada. Sir, the Bill on the table is somewhere in between. We are not so open, but we are also not as restrictive as in some countries.”
“Therefore, I would likethe Minister to clarify whether it is implied in the Bill that genetic modification would be allowed because you definea human embryo as including those that have their genome altered. By that definition, they can also continue to go into full term. So, I would like this clarification of human genetic modification, because if the Minister intends to permit genetic modifications, then we have to be very cautious and to spell out what are permissible and what are not. Although theoretically we can intervene and modify the chromosomes to treat some hereditary diseases, it also opens up a Pandora's box that we may not be able to handle. On the lighter side, we may say that in future we will allow parents to have designer babies, eg, today I want to have a baby who is tall, blond, with big eyes and an IQ of 150, just tick the options and you have them. But on a more serious note, I think it canbring the world a step closer to that of a brave new world. For example, supposedly, when the gene or genes that determine sexual orientation, if there are such genes, are located, the technology to alter the genome may also be used to either eliminate the zygotes of a particular sexual orientation, or a country or an individual might finance a programme similar to that of Nazi Germany, whereby humans were bred to maximise certain traits. Once the "super human" is developed,embryo cloning can be used to replicate this individual and, conceivably, produce unlimited numbers of the clones. The same approach could also be used to create a genetic underclass for exploitation, such as creating individuals with very sub-normal low IQs but who are good in doing certain tasks and to be exploited.”
“This is also the position of the Council of Europe's Oviedo Convention.We should only allow human embryo research on surplus embryos for IVF procedures because they would otherwise be discarded anyway. Secondly, I would like to comment on the practice of "therapeutic cloning" which has not been explicitly covered by the Bill. Sir, like other speakers have explained, the purpose of therapeutic cloning is to harvest stem cells compatiblewith the recipients so that they can be used to treat certain diseases without the problem of tissue rejection. Although there are promises of medical benefits for treating many diseases like Alzheimer's, diabetes, leukemia, using stem cells, we are still quite far away from the clinical application of these promised cures. My understanding is that in fact the research of stem cells at this stage is still very much focused on learning how to switch on these stem cells for their differentiations into the different types of organs. So therapeutic cloning, although the name implies that it is for therapy purposes, is not really therapeutic in that sense. It is still very much research based. Therefore, I would urge the Ministry to have clear guidelines for what these so-called therapeutic cloning can be used. I feel that we should only allow therapeutic cloning of human embryos strictly for the purpose of treating specific serious medical conditions and only when they are proven clinically. Thirdly, on the issue of genetic modification, the Bill has included in the definition of human embryo that "any life embryo that has an altered human genome as a human embryo".”
“While the Bill explicitly bans the practice of "reproductive cloning of human" by the prohibition of placing human embryo clones into any human body or the body of an animal, and the prohibition of developing the human embryo clone for more than 14 days, the Bill does allow cloning of human embryo up to 14 days, I would like to know what is the rationale behind this. I presume that the reason is, as other speakers before me have alluded to,to allow the cloning of human embryo for other uses, such as therapeutic orresearch purposes. At present, only very few countries, like the United Kingdom, allow scientists to create embryos solely for research purposes. Other countries, such as Belgium and Italy, have no laws yet becausethey also find it difficult to reach a consensus. Therefore, in these countries, everything goes. Some scientists can carry out experiments in Italy that would be banned elsewhere. In Canada, the Senate approved the Assisted Human Reproduction Act in March this year, addressing the human genetic and reproductive technologies.The creation of human embryos solely for research is not prohibited in Canada. However, research involving human embryos, including embryonic stem cell research, is permitted using embryos created but not used duringin-vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedures. The practice of using surplus embryos is also allowed in certain other countries, such as Finland and Belgium, and others are adopting the same position. Overall, we can observe a trend towards a certain liberalisation of these practices. Sir, therefore, before the world can reach a consensus on this issue, I strongly urge the Ministry to adopt the middle path and to prohibit the creation of human embryos or human embryo clones solely for research purposes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support theBill and all its prohibitions. Given the current interest on the issue of cloning, it is important to keep in view the various and considerable concerns relating to the prospect of cloning. Ethicists, religious leaders and even Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly, the sheep, believe that we should "reject this proposed use of cloning" in humans. The caution raised to set clear guidelines for prohibition of cloning is understandable. Many a time, due to the limitations of the human mind, great scientists may not foresee the long-term implications of their discoveries and inventions. For example, weapon of mass destruction - in the past, the explosive bomb and, nowadays, nuclear weapons -can be conceived as undesirable outcomes of a great scientific invention. In the area of research involving human embryos and cloning, there are still controversies such as the status of human embryos. Are they live form? Are they potential human? Or are they just a mass of cells? Or issues such asthe point on the beginning of life. I think these would not be resolved easily. And I do not intend to dwell on them because I am not an expert. But in general though I feel that we should take a prudent approach. And we must, on the other hand, balance between an overly conservative approach that will stifle scientific progress and an overly permissive one that will give us undesirable long-term consequences. Sir, I would like to comment on four areas that I think the Billmay not have addressed adequately. Firstly, I would like to talk on the issue of the creation of human embryo solely forresearch purposes.”
“I would like to ask the Minister of State whether she is aware that there is this trend in Singapore in that the male likes to marry down and the female likes to marry up - (上 �?,下 娶 shang jia, xia qu). So, if SDU and SDS are going to merge, would the graduate women who are singlebe further disadvantaged because the graduate men would have more opportunities to meet those with lower educational level and (下 娶 xiaqu) and we may end up with less opportunities for the single graduate women?”
“My second point is, if you do it together, it causes less disruption to the area.”
“Sir, would the Minister not agree that for lift upgrading - for those who have just failed - there will be still some economies of scale when you can tack on the existing project? That would also cause less disruption to the precinct. Because, if you come back later to do stand-alone blocks, you may create the same amount of disruption. Mynextquestion is this. I would like to ask the Minister what is the plan to complete the LUP for all eligible HDB flats in the whole of Singapore and what is his Ministry's plan to speed up the project. My thirdquestion is whether the Ministry will consider this issue. AlthoughLUP adds on a certain facility,this facility is not within the unit. Should it not be considered more like an IUP rather than a MUP and it should not be a co-payment basis? The reason why I say that isthe people who need them most - the elderly families - are the ones who are most likely to be less willing to pay because many of them are retirees, the unemployed orlower-income families.”
“Keeping these older people healthy by letting them work longer and gainfully employed, will also make them reduce their dependency on our future younger population. Therefore, I call upon the Minister to review the concept of retirement and consider removing the pre-determined retirement age. Pension Plans”
“Sir, I have spoken on the concept of retirement in this House and I am raising it again. In this modern economy, the concept of a pre-determined retirement age is probably no longer relevant. This topic and issue I am raising have increased urgency in the light of our falling birth rate. Our limited human resources have just gotten more precious, and we should stretch them and make better use of them. Sir, we need to understand that the chronological age is no indication of a person's psychological, physiological and mental well-being. A person at 62 could still be very healthy in all aspects, and he can expect to live longer if he is actually working. This is because if a person is working, he is still physically active and mentally challenged. So he continues to use his mind more and, socially, he has the opportunity to interact with his co-workers and colleagues so that he has a more fulfilling life, compared to someone who has to retire when he is still healthy, and he really has less to look forward to. And the possibility of the latter's health deteriorating rapidly is much higher. Therefore, Sir, it is to our overall benefit to keep our workforce working for as long as possible. Having a prescribed and pre-determined retirement age is unhelpful and artifically neutralises a person's economic productivity. Sir, our falling birth rate has put another spin on this. By removing the retirement age concept and allowing more Singaporeans to work longer, as long as they are physically and mentally healthy and are willing to continue to work, we can actually compensate for the shrinkage of our workforce due to ageing.”
“The Minister has also not clarified my concern about his comment on the cost of training, and retraining Singaporeans vis-a-vis that of the long-term benefits that we render to Singaporeans.”
“Sir, I would like to speak on the teething problems related to implementing a flexible wage system on the ground. Sir, there is much confusion on the ground regarding how to implement a flexible wage system. There are several different interpretations. I have heard someone interpreting it this way: now, instead of paying a salary of $4,000 to this worker, take away $2,000; then at the end of the year, if the company is doing well, pay the other $24,000 as a lump sum. Another talked about taking straightaway a certain percentage of the monthly salary as a variable component, then adjust it month by month, based on the company's performance. So, there are various forms of interpretations, resulting in low morale among some of these workers. I understand different sectors will have different flexible systems of implementing the wages. For example, the healthcare industry is very different from that of the manufacturing industry. I hope that the Ministry will provide clear guidelines to all these different sectors on what a flexi-wage system will mean for them and how they should implement it. I also echo the calls by other Members here who say that it should not be taken as a wage-cut exercise, otherwise it will further affect the morale of our workers. As the Government is the largest employer, I hope the Government will also take the lead in implementing a flexible wage system. I understand that there are all sorts of monthly variable components, etc, in the civil servants' pay. But I just wonder how the Government has been using all these, and what the KPIs are for the different Ministries when the civil service implements it, and whether they really adjust the salaries accordingly. I hope the Minister will elaborate on these.”
“Sir, with your indulgence, I would like to seek clarification from the Minister for Manpower before I move my next cut. The Minister just now lamented on the cost of retraining Singaporeans in upgrading themselves. Would the Minister not agree that by retraining Singaporeans, the benefits actually stay in Singapore as it enhances their long-term employability, help them to find jobs, help their families, and reduce their and their families' dependency on the state for social welfare and other assistance. The benefits actually far outweigh the cost we put into retraining Singaporeans. I would like the Minister to clarify on this. Labour Relations Sir, one of the strengths, and hence our attraction to foreign investors is our harmonious and stable labour relations. This is attributed to our strong tripartite effort by our Government, unions and employers. Sir, like the hon. Member, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, commented yesterday, I too have heard concerns from the ground lately, after the incident of SIA involving the union, management and the Senior Minister. Sir, people on the ground wonder if there was something really seriously wrong that the Senior Minister has to intervene personally. They also wonder what has happened to the long-term harmonious industrial relations, a strength that we have been praised for. Sir, this negative speculation should not be allowed to fester on the ground. May I ask the Minister to enlighten the House what his assessment is of current labour relations in Singapore and what his Ministry is doing to foster and strengthen our labour relations further? And how does he ensure that, in doing all these things, the workers' interests are protected and balanced vis-a-vis that of the companies?”
“I urge the Ministry to review and waive the levy for VWOs which depend on public donations and Government subventions for their operations.”
“I am afraid that the message might be wrongly perceived by our unemployed and lower skilled workers that they are untrainable. This negative perspective must not be allowed to be propagated and must be corrected. Otherwise, it might be seen as an admission that WDA is not up to the task. To be fair, nearly a million workers to retrain is a gigantic task for the WDA. We must give them time. Therefore, I propose to date-stamp the S Pass policy. At the same time, we should measure how well WDA has done by the number of Singaporeans that they manage to retrain to fill the posts. Otherwise, they will be filled by the S Pass holders. Next, Sir, I would like to comment on the levy for S Pass holders. S Pass will replace the existing Q2 Pass. However, S Pass attracts a $50 levy while a Q2 Pass does not. Imposing an additional levy will be unfair to existing employers of Q2 pass holders, as this will increase their business costs. Here, I must declare my interest as the Chief Operating Officer of Ren Ci Hospital. In the healthcare sector, hospitals, nursing homes and various step-down care facilities hire significant numbers of nurses and para-medical staff on Q2 Passes. Many of these services are run by Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), such as Ren Ci Hospital.”
“Sir, we understand the need for hiring foreigners to fill in the gaps in our labour market to sustain our economic growth. The Acting Minister for Manpower illustrated this point very well. His Chart 2 brought home the message. Moreover, the statistics presented in this House by DPM Lee during his Budget Statement also showed that the foreign workforce in Singapore actually cushioned Singaporeans during economic downturns. Sir, we welcome the Ministry's move to help our employers overcome their difficulties in filling up positions that require special technical skills where there is a shortage locally. In that aspect, S Pass should be seen as a positive move. However, with the WDA tasked to upgrade our own workers to take up higher skilled jobs, I urge the Ministry to time-stamp S Pass policy. The Acting Minister for Manpower told the House yesterday that by 2009, there will be nearly a million workers with secondary or lower education. At the same time, there will be a shortage of nearly 400,000 workers, the bulk of whom, 230,000, are those with post-secondary education. This will be the gap to be filled by the S Pass holders. Sir, at the same time, the Minister also excited the House yesterday by the various initiatives taken by WDA to retrain jobs in various sectors used to be shunned by Singaporeans, eg, marine and healthcare sectors. There are really plenty of opportunities for WDA to retrain, reskill and upgrade our Singaporean workers. We have a pool of nearly one million workers to be retrained, and our WDA will never be out of jobs for a long time to come. However, based on the numbers revealed, I see that WDA might not have been aggressive enough. For example, the number of mid-career nurses to be trained is only around 100.”
“Madam, the Singapore economy has registered a modest recovery in year 2003. GDP grew by 1.1% and the outlook for this year looks promising. In view of this recovery, I am happy to note that the total employment grew in the fourth quarter of 2003, following a sustained improvement in the Singapore economy in the second half of the year. According to MOM's statistics, total employment increased by 11,500 in the last quarter of 2003 after registering a slight gain of 900 in the third quarter. However, the number of jobs lost in 2003 was estimated at 17,600, with some 16,300 workers retrenched in the same period. Economic prospects ahead look promising. Can the same be said about the employment situation, given that about 600,000 of our workforce have only secondary 2 educational level or below? Perhaps, some of them may not find meaningful or gainful employment again. Will we face the same situation, as what some call jobless recovery? Will the Manpower Minister please comment and elaborate on his Ministry's plans to create more jobs for Singaporeans?”
“Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak. Every year, about 4,000 students with special needs go through the special education system. However, it is alarming to note that fewer teachers are staying on to teach in the special education system. In 2002, the teacher-to-student ratio within special education schools was one to 10. This was a decline from the ratio of one to eight in 2000. If this trend continues, we will place heavier workloads on these teachers. Some of them earn less than their counterparts in the national schools. With fewer teachers to do more work, they will burn out, unless their ranks swell significantly and quickly. Would the Minister comment on his Ministry's efforts to curb this trend? MOE needs to take the lead in addressing the attrition of teachers from special schools. It must consider a review of its "many helping hands" approach. As the lead agency responsible for the education of children in Singapore, should the MOE's ambit of responsibility not include students with special needs? While VWOs are able to help children with the aspect of the special education needs of their life, they are not best placed to educate them. By not bringing these students under its care, MOE may create the wrong perception that these children are a social problem. Where education is concerned, these students have learning disabilities but do not suffer social problems that limit their ability to learn. I urge the Minister to respond with a view to bringing special education under the ambit of MOE officially, so that students with learning difficulties can become contributing members of the society.”
“Sir, the Minister mentioned to us in the last Budget that his Ministry was introducing smaller class size for Primary 1 and Primary 2 cohorts. I would like to ask the Minister for an update on this policy decision, and also how prepared we are for this. It is a dilemma when we ask for a smaller class size. But with a smaller teacher-to-student ratio, actually we require more teachers to do a good job. This should not compromise on the quality of the teachers while reducing the class size. So I would like the Minister to give us an update on the progress of the recruitment of teachers and whether he could assure us that standards will not be compromised. With all the benefits of smaller class sizes, will the Ministry also be considering extending this smaller teacher-to-student ratio to higher primary as well as secondary schools?”
“The later starting hour in the school in London has allowed him to spend quality time with his children in the morning, have sufficient time to send them to school without having to rush and then get to work. Similarly, the kids have time to recover from a day full of activities and spend quality time with their families. This is a pro-family practice that we can adopt easily while not affecting the quality of education received by our children. May I take my next cut, Sir?”