Ow Chin Hock
Singapore
“Thirdly, I believe that Mr Simon Tay referred to links with ASEAN+3. Let me say that we do not preclude any such flexibility. Indeed, APEC is an established forum linking Australia and New Zealand with ASEAN and East Asia.”
“Sir, I am not an expert on the Constitution, but I am aware that the Supreme Court's ruling is different from Mr Estrada being impeached and convicted in the Senate. NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES IN SINGAPORE (Facilities) 2. Mr J. B.”
“However, we are mindful that nowadays, Singaporeans who like to experience living and working overseas, have many other attractive career options, in both private and public sectors.”
“Sir, let me thank the Minister on behalf of the 3-room flat dwellers. My supplementary question is: in future, if any rebates are given, will the Minister consider making the amount of the rebates inversely proportional to the size of HDB flats, in other words, the smaller the flat the greater the amount of rebates?”
“Lastly, clause 8 of the Bill also proposes to amend the Banking Act to allow the Singapore branches of foreign banks to transmit information to their head offices or other overseas branches for data processing.”
“These requirements would help to ensure that such businesses are run in a proper manner, and that records are kept to provide an audit trail of transactions, in order to deter illicit transactions from being conducted via such businesses. However, these requirements impose additional costs on the licensees.”
The complete record
Every one of 460 lines we hold for Ow Chin Hock, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 10.
“Here, I would like to ask the Ministry of Education, what is the direction of the bilingual policy? What is its aim? Is the learning of the mother tongue meant to preserve traditional value concepts? Is language a means for the propagation of culture, and has it the effect of conveying the thoughts and teachings in its literary form? If the answer is positive, then the immediate task of the Ministry is to convince those who fear, or even despise mother tongues, to enable them to treat mother tongues with all seriousness and allow their children to receive basic mother tongue education so as to maintain the present standard of mother tongue. The Ministry should not bark at the wrong tree, taking those who are concerned about Chinese education to be indiscriminate sentimentalists who want to be at loggerheads with the Ministry! Mr Liew Kok Pun (Boon Teck): Sir, first of all, I would like to give my support to the views just expressed by the Member for Leng Kee. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss another very controversial subject, and that is, the recently introduced school admission policy. This policy is intended to correct the lopsided procreation pattern in Singapore, and the Ministry of Education has singled out the priority of registration for school scheme as one of the causes of this lopsided procreation pattern in that well-educated parents responded much more to the scheme than those with low education. The question I would like to pose is whether this is, in fact, an over-riding cause or whether there are other more significant causes contributing to well-educated parents having small families. It is a social phenomenon in modern-day living in industrialized societies for the well-educated to have small families. Why do they have small families?”
“Under large family system and through special social organizations (such as villages, clans, extended families, trade associations, etc) heads of families, tribes and villages and mentors played the role of supervisors. Indeed, a similar situation exists in the various Eastern societies. At present, the most economically prosperous areas in Asia have all preserved their own languages and cultural traditions. While they are seeking economic development on the one hand, they are propagating their own cultures on the other hand. Let us look back on ourselves. Ours is an open type of society, subject to the constant blowing of the East wind and the West wind, where there are the small family system, the generation gap, the influence of television and movies, the corrosion of hedonic materialism and the despisal of one's own language and cultural traditions. Under these circumstances, if we want to skim the cream of other people's cultures and preserve the good of our own traditions and value concepts so as to complement each other, do we have the required foundation for it? Do we have the necessary environment conducive to it? For a person of half-baked knowledge of languages to absorb the cream of the cultures of both the East and the West, it would be best to have their form without their substance. Visiting the graveyards on Ching Ming day is a tradition originally meant to remind one of his ancestors so that he will not forget his roots. But it has now been turned into a fine day for picnic and merry-making, even to seek four-digit forecast. Human rights and liberties have become the pretext of roving youths for odd fashions and wild parties. As a result, it becomes very difficult for us to prevent our next generation from turning into dehumanized nondescripts ( )!”
“Reference was also made to China that 90% of its population were illiterate and yet they were able to preserve their own culture, traditions and value concepts, etc. through family teaching. This kind of perplexing talk ( ) makes one begin to doubt the use of mother tongue in preserving culture and tradition. What is worse is that this has given cause to those who look down upon Chinese language to argue thus, "You see, what is the use of learning to write Chinese other than to fill up some forms and signature!" In the context of Eastern societies, everybody endorses the importance of family and family teaching. But the preservation and continuation of the culture, traditions and value concepts of a people are not such simple matters that depend only on the family. The thoughts and value concepts of a people are closely linked with the social structure, social vogue and the historical background of the people. The continuation of the Chinese culture and traditions obviously has been due to many factors: (1) The closed society of China and the unification of the written language. (2) The high social status of scholars; the concept of appointment to public office on one's scholastic achievements ( ) and the high regard for academic reading as being superior to thousands of other occupations ( ). From the Prime Minister and the state officials down to the village scholars and private institution teachers, all had the bounden duty to preserve the culture and traditions. (3) In the community, traditional value concepts were propagated through dramas, stories, poems and songs, legends, festivals, celebrations and the worship of ancestors or gods.”
“In fact, what he referred to was the literacy rate, namely, the ability to read with understanding a newspaper in a specific language. This does not include the ability to write. Does it mean that the Ministry of Education will as from now on only pay attention to %he hearing, speaking and reading abilities of the second language? In that case, would the bilingual policy not degenerate into one and a half (11/2) language policy? This is a question on the contents of bilingual policy. The crux of the other problem is that there is increasing doubt by the people on the use and value of mother tongues. There is a quotable passage from a speech made by the Prime Minister at a gathering of the Historical Society of Nanyang University on 10th February 1978: 'if economics were the only consideration, then there should be no need for concern that nearly all parents are choosing English for their children. But with the study and use of a language, one understands and absorbs its culture, its value systems and the philosophy of the people who speak and write or wrote in that language.' The Minister of State had on 26th November 1982 in a speech made to the NUS students also referred to the learning of the mother tongue to prevent us from falling into a Caribbean type of society. Therefore, the aim of mother tongue education is to absorb one's own cultural traditions and value concepts. But recently when the Leadership made mention of the question of mother tongue, the impression was created that language has no direct relationship with culture, deeming culture and value concepts to be something nurtured by the family.”
“Sir, the point I want to raise is about the purpose and contents of bilingual policy. The Minister of State of Education had on 17th January this year, in answer to a question by the Member for Nee Soon, said that people had two so-called misconceptions about bilingual policy: (1) The mother tongue is not important; (2) The future of Chinese language gives cause for concern. His answer appeared to be evasive, missing the crux of the problem. According to my understanding of the feelings of the people, the crux of the matter can be summed up in two points. First, there is a shaking of confidence (not the so-called misconception). Those who are concerned with Chinese education have, since a series of events such as the merging of Nanyang University with the University of Singapore, the downgrading of Chinese to second language (CL2), the merger of two major Chinese newspapers, the relaxation of the language admission requirements by the National University, and after 1987 Chinese schools will become only a historical term, etc., their confidence in the Government's implementation of the mother tongue policy shaken. At present, what these people who are concerned about Chinese education want is: that the present standard of CL2 in the four aspects of hearing, speaking, reading and writing, should at least be maintained into the future. The standard of Chinese language should not be allowed to be lowered any morel What I want to stress, in particular, is the aspect of writing. The Minister of State mentioned that there are more and more people who are bilingual. He also quoted the 1980 population census to show that there are 29.6% Chinese who are bilingual.”
“What we should be concerned about is the substance, ie, to achieve a high GDP growth, to make our GDP pie bigger and bigger over the years and also ensure that our workers have a fair share of the fruits of our economic development. This is exactly what this PAP Government has been doing over the last 25 years, long before the Member for Anson came in here. We do not need him to tell us what to do. 6.51 pm”
“This shows that the Minister is receptive to ideas and suggestions by the PAP Backbenchers. But this scheme also has a mitigating effect on the resentment and anger of non-graduate mothers caused by the Ministry of Education's admission priority scheme for children of graduate mothers. Now, working mothers with middle level education should feel better. Those working mothers who do not qualify for the enhanced child relief incentive will still be unhappy. However, I believe it is easier for them to accept the enhanced child relief than the priority admission scheme. This is because the enhanced child relief benefits the working mothers themselves based on their own merits and efforts. On the other hand, only a small group of children benefit from Ministry of Education's priority omission scheme, not because of the children's own merits but simply because their mothers happen to be graduates. Sir, you may recall that immediately after the Minister's Statement, we had 20 hours of heavy rain. We had a lot of rain water. Hence we had the headline on the 4th of March, "Dismal Morning After". Sir, I have been associated with the Speak Mandarin Campaign but I do understand Cantonese. "Water" in Cantonese also means money. So it is a good omen. May a lot of money be showered upon our Singaporeans, particularly our workers. The Member for Anson likes to bring up the point about workers' contribution. He repeatedly asked our Minister for Trade and Industry to include this in his Budget Statement. Sir, it is to be expected that the Member for Anson is more concerned about form rather than substance. What is the point of having an acknowledgement or a few sentences in the Budget Statement on workers' contribution if our workers have no jobs?”
“" These questions are related to the central issue of the role of government in economic development. Should the Government confine itself to the provision of social overhead and economic infrastructure and a legal framework for growth? To what extent should Government participate directly in industrial, commercial, transport and even farming activities? Has our Government interfered too much with the market forces? The Minister may like to comment on this. Sir, let me comment on the tax changes. The accelerated depreciation allowance has been extended to cover enterprises outside the manufacturing sector. This will provide a greater incentive for enterprises to purchase newer and more efficient machinery and equipment. Computer and office automation equipment will continue enjoying the 100% depreciation in the first year. I wonder whether the Minister will consider extending a similar tax incentive to encourage automation and mechanization in households. Expenses on labour-saving equipment and appliances such as microwave ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers can be made tax deductible. This will relieve working mothers of some of the labour-intensive household work and thus enable them to devote more time to their children. Sir, child care and education at home have no substitute. Personal income tax rates have been revised three times since 1978. The middle income group normally enjoys greater tax deductions from such revisions than other income groups. This year's tax rate changes are no exception. It seems to me that our Government is moving our society towards a middle income society. In this year's Budget, Sir, the enhanced child relief is extended to benefit working mothers with secondary education.”
“The number of statutory boards has increased rapidly. The success of statutory boards was partly due to the greater autonomy and flexibility in their operations. However, the question is, "Should greater autonomy mean lesser accountability?" Of course, these statutory boards are accountable to Parliament through their Ministers in charge. Also, they have to submit their annual reports and accounts to Parliament. However, the policies of some large statutory boards, eg, HDB and PUB, have serious effects on the livelihood of our people. These statutory boards should be brought under the closer scrutiny of our Public Accounts Committee. Further, the Government has also directly entered into the productive services through equity participation. The number of Government's fully-owned and partly-owned companies has increased from 47 in 1972 to 52 in 1983. In a small economy like ours, such enterprises may have crowding-out and pre-emptive effects. The Member for Rochore, the Member for Whampoa and the Member for Jalan Kayu have aired their concern over these effects. They suspected that State companies enjoyed certain advantages over private enterprises. It has been pointed out that State companies are subject to the test of market forces. In other words, they are not subsidized. Indeed, I find that some public enterprises which had not done well were liquidated. For example, Saber Air (1973), General Leather (1972) and Singapore Aquarama (1972). However, the failure of these State companies has raised a serious problem, ie "is the Government smarter than the market?" Further, a related question is: "are civil servants appointed to the boards of directors and/or managerial posts in State companies better than entrepreneurs and managers from the private sector?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have no quarrel with the Member for Whampoa that we should revise our economic texts. Probably this can be our second joint research project. In last year's Budget debate, Sir, I observed that the year 1983 would be a decisive year for the recovery of the world economy and our economy. It is fortunate that 1983 turned out to be a year of economic expansion, led by the upturn of the US economy. The US economy grew at a rate of 3.5% per annum in 1983 and is expected to grow at the rate of 4.5% in 1984. If this happens, and with the continuing expansion of our construction sector, financial sector and the business service sector, our economy will be able to perform even better in 1984, with the possibility of attaining a double digit growth rate. However, we cannot be complacent. We have no control over factors which determine the external demand for our goods and services and the inflow of investment. Moreover, we have a serious domestic constraint, namely, labour supply. I have more to say on this in the Committee of Supply on the Ministry of Labour's Budget. Next, let me turn to the first objective of FY 84 Budget, namely, "restraining the increase in Government spending". Every year a huge proportion of the public sector's expenditure goes to statutory boards. In 1983, the seven major statutory boards accounted for 73% of the total development expenditure and 32.9% of the current expenditure of the public sector. Since 1960, our Government has through our statutory boards successfully implemented industrialization and public housing programmes and provided social overheads and economic infrastructure. The success of the statutory boards in the early years has led to an increasing reliance on statutory boards as instruments of growth.”
“Sir, I share the sentiments and feeling of the Member for Boon Teck for one-room tenants. So I am not going to speak.”
“In this way, not only workers will get their fair share of productivity gains but also the average cost per unit and hence the product price will not be increased to impede our competitiveness and to cause inflation.”
“It is partly because of the institutional factors and time lag in wage-price adjustment and partly because employers tend to regard CPF, Skills Development Fund contributions and Payroll Tax as part of labour cost. Hence, changes in wages do not necessarily reflect changes in demand and supply conditions in labour market. Secondly, one must also realize that free collective bargaining between unions and employers without proper guideline and supervision may undermine the stability of labour market and harmony of industrial relations in the long run. I am concerned that some unscrupulous employers may take the opportunities to exploit our workers, while on the other hand, more aggressive union branch officials may try to prove to their fellow workers and demand for unrealistically higher wages regardless of the prevailing economic conditions. 6.15 p.m. I feel that NWC must continue to recommend wage increase as a general guide but the recommendations must be in the form of wage range and not a single wage increase. This, in fact, was implemented in 1981. Wage negotiations then can be conducted at business firms or company levels within the recommended wage range. I do not see the necessity of wage negotiation to be conducted at an industrial or sectoral level. There is no reason why a clerk in a more profitable industry should receive higher wages than her counterpart in a less profitable industry. At a company's or firm's level, wage increase should be linked with productivity increase, and productivity should be measured, as I have mentioned before, in terms of value-added per man hour (and not in terms of output per worker) and productivity must be adjusted by the changes in the company's capital-labour ratio.”
“On 31st December 1982, the Ministry's statement announced that the repatriation of NTS workers can be extended by one to two years beyond 1984 provided that employers take definite measures to upgrade their operations. By 1982, the Ministry of Labour should have known that the economy was on the decline. In fact, the decline began in mid-1981. Recession is the best time for us to repatriate the NTS workers and unskilled foreign workers. I regret that the Ministry of Labour has to give this concession. I would like to know from the Minister that when our economy picks up again in 1984 and when our labour market becomes tight again, will the Ministry compromise once more by allowing more foreign workers, including NTS workers, to come in? I would appreciate it if the Minister could give a statement on this. On wages policy, the National Wages Council was set up in 1972. The main objective is to "secure an orderly and steady increase in wages as part of the overall policy to maintain and consolidate the higher rate of economic advance in recent years." This statement was made by the NWC Chairman to the Prime Minister on 24th April 1972. So far, the NWC has functioned well and ensures an orderly wage increase as well as stability in our labour market. However, it seems that there is a re-thinking on the role of the NWC. It was felt that wages should be determined by market forces, rather than institutionalized at the economy level. Theoretically, there are advantages and benefits for wages to be determined by demand and supply conditions. However, on the other hand, one must realize that the labour market does not behave like the stock exchange or any commodity market. There are many reasons.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I feel that there should be an overall policy on wages, productivity, skills development and immigrant workers. All these economic variables which I have just mentioned are inter-related. Let me illustrate by giving two examples. These examples also serve to underline the importance of having a well-coordinated economic policy on wages, productivity, prices and so on. First example. Suppose wages increase at a faster rate than the rate of productivity increase, it will generate what is called cost-push inflation. This inflation will, in turn, reduce the real wages of workers and impede the competitiveness of our export goods. Trade union officers therefore may demand higher money wages in order to compensate for the decline in real wages and this will lead to second round, third round and so on of wage-cost inflation. Second example. When we increase the supply of labour by allowing more immigrant workers to come in, this will undermine our efforts in improving productivity. This inflow of immigrant workers will also tend to depress wages which would otherwise be received by our workers. Low wages would discourage workers to improve productivity. Let me turn to the work permit policy. The Prime Minister in his 1982 New Year Message announced that "workers from non-traditional sources will leave by the end of 1984 and recruitment of these NTS workers will stop in 1982." I support this policy because it is consistent with our efforts in increasing productivity. By cutting out the cheapest source of labour supply, employers will be forced to invest in automation, computerization, mechanization and training of their workers. However, one year later, the Ministry of Labour found it necessary to compromise on this policy.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood on the Order Paper Supplement -”
“Now this reorganization of the newspapers is just another example, As PAP MPs, particularly backbench MPs, we have a duty to reflect the opinions and feelings of our people and let the Government and the respective Ministries realize the pros and cons of policy formulation and implementation. I hope, when the Minister for Culture gives his reply, he would be able to explain to us more explicitly why we have done this. How could the public be convinced with one single official statement! Now that uncooked rice has been turned into cooked rice and wood into a boat, what is done is done, it is too late for tears. But we do sincerely hope that the Chinese newspapers would not feel despondent or keep reminiscing the past but would get hold of the present and move courageously forward to face the challenges of the future in their perseverance for the preservation of Chinese language and culture.”
“The fact is that when Chinese newspapers are faced with the problem of a lowering of the standard of Chinese language, they will, even without the intervention of the Government, be flexible for the sake of their own survival and their own interest. So they would try to find a way out and would not just remain in the rut without a change. That is why we say, "When out of recourse, one must change; with change, there will be a way out." ( ) Therefore, had not the Government been over-farsighted or unduly concerned about the whole thing? Is it really a preparation for the rainy days ahead, asking the Chinese papers to reorganize at a time when they are at the peak of their performance? This gives an impression of over-intervention. This impression, whether right or wrong, is not doing any good to our Government's image. The official statement seems to contain some contradictions. The two publishing houses will each, in future, publish a Chinese and an English paper to compete with each other. This clearly indicates that in future the market for these papers and their readership will be sufficient to support two Chinese newspapers and two English papers. The problem is the competition among English newspapers. Chinese papers have been in competition all along, a very keen one at that, but now we have removed it and tell them to merge. We say euphemistically that it is on account of economies of scale. When we want them to separate, we talk of the advantages of competition. The merger of the bus companies sometime ago and the recent separation again, and also the merger and then separation of the Personnel and Administration Departments of the Ministry of Education, are good examples.”
“It is a fact that the standard of Chinese among the younger generation is coming down, But just as Sin Chew Jit Poh had pointed out in an editorial on 22nd April, 1982, "although there is the problem of a lowering of the standard of Chinese among the younger generation, if the Chinese newspapers can adapt to the new situation, overcome difficulties, try to win over such readership and continue to maintain separate publications, we believe there should be no problem." The former Minister for Culture, now the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour, had suggested, at a forum, "Chinese Newspaper Seminar on Professionalism", on 1st January, 1982 the simplification and popularization of Chinese language used in the Chinese newspapers. The two Chinese newspapers had been trying to do this in order to win over the CL2 young readers. Examples are: Xin Yi Dai, Nanyang Student, Sin Chew Youth, etc., all good efforts. Why do we not allow the two newspapers a longer period of time to improve the language? Why must we be in such a hurry? Judging from the statement, the Government had shown farsightedness and deep concern. The logic and deduc- tion of the Government is mainly based on the premises of the lowering of the standard of the Chinese language, leading to a reduction in the readership of Chinese newspapers. Therefore, the merger and reorganization is only a matter of time. This reasoning and logical deduction imply a corollary - an assumption that the Chinese newspapers would remain in the same old rut as a rule, and would never change.”
“" Some people suggested that the two combined Chinese newspapers should change their name to Shang Xin Ri Bao, the sound of which comes from the words "Siang" in Nanyang Siang Pau and "Sin" from Sin Chew Jit Poh. This suggested name literally means "sad heart" or "broken-hearted" newspaper. There is another name suggested but because it is even less refined, I would not and could not mention it here. But from these derisions and the sick jokes, we can gauge the general dissatisfaction among the people. Seriously speaking, the reasons given in the statement for the merger of these two Chinese newspapers are not very convincing to the people, firstly because the total circulation of the Chinese newspapers since 1975 has been increasing every year. Here I have some statistics of their sales. In 1975, the sale was 227,307 copies. Whereas in 1981, it was 320,367 copies. Secondly, these two newspapers have been making a profit of about $6 to $7 million a year. Therefore, these two newspapers were in no financial difficulty at all. 6.30 p.m. Thirdly, there are about 604,374 people above the age of 10 in Singapore who are literate only in Chinese, while 320,416 people are literate only in English. At the same time, there are 377,614 people who are bilingual in English and Chinese. Moreover, the two newspapers have a long history behind them and each has over the years accumulated and widened its own readership. Both have supporting advertising clients. Each of them has established its own separate style and character.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead JA-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, I wonder whether you have read "The Three Kingdoms". The first sentence in this book says that things in the world, when united too long, will tend to divide, and when divided too long will tend to unite. Last year, on 20th April, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement declaring the reorganization of newspapers. Two Chinese newspapers which have a long history of over 50 years would be merged. Three main reasons were given for the reorganization of the newspapers: (1) The standard of Chinese language is coming down. When our students leave school, they have only CL2 standard. Chinese newspapers are therefore faced with a stagnant Chinese readership, and in future the number will decline. (2) There is limited pool of journalistic talent in Singapore. Therefore, there must be a pooling of resources of journalistic talent in order to raise the standard of journalism. (3) The consolidation of human and financial resources will make the two groups of newspapers economically viable, i.e. the Straits Times group and the Nanyang-Sin Chew group which has changed to the new name of Singapore Newspaper and Publishing Company. So in future these two groups will each issue a Chinese and an English newspaper and will be competing with each other. When this statement was issued, there were gossips and murmurs expressing dissatisfaction. The people even made jokes about the merger. One was, "Nanyang and Sin Chew, both over 50 years old, were forced to get married and to adopt a spendthrift red-haired offspring, while the other Chinese newspaper had adopted a rich red-haired father.”
“Sir, in view of the time factor, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister whether the supermarkets or departmental stores with their own house rules include the NTUC supermarkets?”
“May I ask the Minister to consider, under the so-called Prohibition on Smoking in Certain Places Act, whether he will ban smoking in departmental stores and supermarkets. There are many reasons why smoking should be prohibited in these places. First of all, these places are air-conditioned and enclosed. There is no fresh air and smoking will cause air pollution. Secondly, departmental stores carry flammable items like garments, textiles, paper products, furniture and so on. In supermarkets cigarette smoke may get into fresh vegetables, meat and fish, and this is unhealthy and can cause health problems. Thirdly, these places are crowded during weekends and holidays and during the festive seasons. I am rather concerned about smokers, including the Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development, walking around in these places with lighted cigarettes between their fingers, because they may accidentally burn the cute face of young children who are not aware of this danger. May I ask the Minister whether his Ministry could do something about this, or can his Ministry ask the management of supermarkets and departmental stores to do something about it?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head M be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead MB-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, under this amendment, I would like to raise two points. The first is an old issue, a nagging issue. The Minister may recall that in the debate on his Ministry's budget on 18th March, 1982, I asked whether his Ministry would allow coffeeshop owners and operators of small eating houses to make use of the open space, i.e. to put tables and chairs outside their premises. At that time, I suggested to the then Senior Parliamentary Secretary that a compromised scheme could be worked out. The then Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment promised to look into this matter. Sir, may I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the former Senior Parliamentary Secretary and Member for Bukit Timah (he is not here). He has done a lot for the hawkers and stallholders in Singapore for the past 19 years. He was particularly sympathetic with the old, the poor, the underprivileged and widows. No wonder he was nicknamed "Hawker King." I believe many Members of this House also share my feelings and sentiments for him Nevertheless, Sir, I would like to press on with this issue of eating houses and coffeeshops. This time the Minister himself has to reply. Could the Minister inform the House what has happened to the proposed scheme, i.e. that coffeeshop owners and small eating house operators be allowed to put their tables and chairs outside? If so, what are the conditions attached? If not, what are the reasons? Another point concerns anti-smoking. Sir, 1983 seems to be a bad year for smokers. First, the Minister for Trade and Industry raises the duty on cigarettes and tobacco. Then the Member for Whampoa condemns smokers as sinners.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment which stood in the name of Mr Rohan bin Kamis was withdrawn: (7) That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead JD-01 of the Development Estimates. 4.00 p.m.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead JD-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, in view of the time, I just want to raise one question. I understand that recently a number of foreign artistes' contracts with the SBC have been terminated or not renewed. May I ask the Minister what are the reasons for this? I observe that first, it is wasteful for the SBC to recruit foreign artistes and then send them off before their contracts expire and secondly, it is damaging to the image of the SBC. I want to make it very clear that I am not speaking on behalf of these foreign artistes but rather in the interest of the SBC.”
“In view of the satisfactory reply, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I think the Minister has missed one important point, i.e. cultural development plan.”
“I hope these younger journalists are conscious that the political, economic, cultural background and social attitudes of our country are radically different from those in the West, and should not attempt to play the same game in the wrong court. 3.00 p.m. Finally, Sir, the Minister for Communications and Labour suggested on 1st January, 1982, that newspapers and the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation should pool their resources together to provide training for journalists to upgrade performance and quality. I feel there is a need for a training school for journalists and information officers. The Ministry should assist the newspapers and SBC in this regard, perhaps even tapping the financial resources of the Skills Development Fund. Alternatively, the SBC training school may be expanded and extended to include our journalists and information officers.”
“It was implemented in June 1980 and there were 64 posts provided, including some 15 Public Relations Officers who will be posted out to other Ministries. May I know from the Minister the progress of this scheme? Has the Ministry overcome the recruitment problem by now? In my view, a successful Information Officer must not only be good in public relations but he must also be well-informed of the policies of the Ministry or department he is attached to. In this context, may I bring up the issue of the relationship between the press and the Government? Since the newspapers and the mass media have a crucial role to play in informing and explaining Government policies and policy changes to the people, at the same time reflecting the views and reactions from the people, there should be closer co-operation between the mass media and the Government. To achieve this, the journalists themselves must, in the first place, be well-informed of the policies, policy changes and their background and rationale. Of course, sensitive areas such as national security and tax changes should not be touched on. On the other hand, journalists must be worthy of the trust and confidence the Ministry is placing on them. Newspapers must use their discretion and judgment on what to print and what not to print. I need not have to remind our local journalists that they are first and foremost Singaporeans, and secondly journalists. Sir, our more established newspapers are generally responsible as they are able to place our national interest first. However, I am concerned about some of our younger journalists. Because of their educational background, they may be inspired by the Western newspapers and may want to imitate their Western counterparts.”
“From my experience, I notice that the people who go round visiting visual art exhibitions or attending concerts are generally from the same group. Efforts should be made to cultivate an interest in the arts among a wider spectrum of the population. (c) There should be a long-term plan in the training of our local artists. We should provide opportunities and avenues in selected areas of the arts for our local artists to become professionals. I believe the Minister is aware of the Report by Neil S. Duncan, who was in Singapore from March to May 1980 to undertake a study under the sponsorship of UNESCO. The Report made many recommendations, some good, some bad, some irrelevant. Many of these recommendations and the views contained in the Report are not original. In fact, they are the views and suggestions of the officials of the Ministry of Culture, National Theatre, People's Association and many local artists who were interviewed by Mr Duncan. However, in spite of this, the Report can still form the basis for a discussion with a view to developing it into a more comprehensive and cohesive cultural development plan. As a matter of fact, I had begun work on this but I was transferred out. Another aspect which the Ministry should look into is the cross-fertilization of cultures of the various ethnic groups. It is an extremely difficult task but nevertheless important. To begin with, the Ministry may want to look into the proposal of a systematic introduction and explanation of the customs and traditions of the various ethnic groups, through TV, radio and publications. The third point I would like to raise concerns the Information Officers Scheme.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead JA-01 of the Main Estimates.* In moving this amendment, I would first like to ask the Minister about the progress of certain projects and activities under the Ministry, just like asking an old friend how he has been getting On in the past 15 months. First, a few specific questions: (i) What is the present status of the proposed Singapore History Gallery in the National Museum? (ii) What is the total amount of the Cultural Foundation at the latest convenient date; what is the amount of donations received last year; how much has been spent, and on what projects? (iii) Whether the Minister is satisfied with the progress made in the promotion of cultural activities by his cultural section in the year 1981? Next, on a more general point. Knowing the Minister is very receptive to ideas, may I take the opportunity to suggest that the Ministry of Culture come up with an over-all cultural development plan for the next 5-10 years. The plan should include several aspects:- (a) Cultural Infrastructure I am aware that there are several buildings for the Arts, such as National Theatre, Victoria Memorial Hall, Singapore Conference Hall and the Kallang Theatre. However, in my view, we still need to proceed with the proposed Cultural Complex in the Marina Centre. The Complex would provide the focal point of all our cultural activities. (b) More importantly, the cultural development plan should include various schemes to increase the so-called "demand" for cultural activities, such as inculcating an appreciation of the fine arts and reading habit among our people, particularly among our youngsters.”
“Sir, with your indulgence, may I make a quick observation before I withdraw my amendment? I seem to have the rare and doubtful honour of being supported by the Member for Anson twice, once yesterday on PARF and again today on the HDB accounting system. Consequently, I have to receive some fire and ammunition meant for the Member for Anson. Reluctantly, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, a point of clarification. May I inform the Minister that I did not mention anything about the ero- sion of the workers' income by their CPF contributions. What I really said was that their CPF balances were being eroded by inflation.”
“On the other hand, I wonder whether the Minister will consider increasing the interest rate on the CPF Special Account which cannot be withdrawn for the purchase of property. 6.00 p.m. The next point is with regard to the use of CPF. This is a good scheme to allow CPF members to withdraw their balances to buy flats and even SBS shares. But a few constituents of mine, who are in their 40's and who belong to the lower-middle income group, have asked me whether I can make a representation on their behalf with regard to the withdrawal of part of their CPF balances to finance their children's education in tertiary educational institutions. According to them, they are not poor enough to qualify for bursary for their children, but their children's academic results are not outstanding enough to qualify them for scholarship. Sir, education is a form of investment, in this case investment in human resources. I feel that the request may deserve some consideration, particularly for those CPF members who do not need to withdraw their CPF balances to purchase property and who have two or more children in tertiary educational institutions. I wonder whether the Minister will seriously consider this request.”
“7% of CPF's long-term investment or 93.9% of its total net assets. The participation of CPF Board in the Government home ownership scheme, and the financing of public development projects are to be commended. However, there were three irregularities in the CPF scheme. The first two - income tax on CPF contribution of more than $5,000 per month and estate duty on CPF balances - will be removed, as announced by the Minister for Trade and Industry in this year's Budget statement. However, the third is a problem on interest rate and it still remains a problem. The CPF interest rate was adjusted several times from 2 1/2% for the period 1955 to 1962 to 6 1/2% for the period 1974 to 1976. Since 1977, the interest rate remains at 6 1/2%, but it is credited quarterly. Compared with the inflation rate during this period, the CPF interest rate was higher than the increase in consumer price index (CPI) during 1975 to 1979. However, in the last two years, as inflation rate exceeded 8%, higher than the interest rate on CPF, the real interest rate on CPF has become negative. With regard to the interest rate problem, I see conflicts between the objectives of the CPF scheme. If the interest rate is raised, it will induce CPF members not to withdraw from the balances, and it will also prevent the CPF balances from being eroded by inflation, hence a better provision for the members' old age. On the other hand, a higher interest rate will raise the interest cost of financing public housing (and other development projects), and hence it would most likely increase the prices of HDB flats. I would like to state categorically that, if a higher interest rate for CPF balances will lead to higher prices of HDB flats, I am not for increasing the interest rate on CPF balances.”
“Yes, Sir, I anticipated that. Sir, the first point I would like to touch upon concerns our work permit policy. In view of our tight labour situation and in view of our efforts to promote productivity, I would like to ask the Minister whether there will be any change in the Ministry's work permit policy vis-a-vis individual work permit, block work permit and day work permit policy? The second question is: What is the use of issuing day work permits as it only frustrates employers? Another question is: will the Ministry be working towards a relaxation of work policies? Next, let me move on to CPF. Sir, as all of us know, the Central Provident Fund was set up in 1955. Apart from the basic objective of providing workers for their old age when they retire, the role of CPF has also extended beyond this basic objective in the past 20-odd years. First, there was the introduction of the approved housing scheme in 1968 under which members are allowed to use their CPF balances to finance the purchase of HDB and JTC flats. This scheme was further extended to URA flats in 1975 and Mindef flats in 1977. This housing scheme has benefited many CPF members. As at February 1981, the cumulative number of CPF members who have benefited from this scheme totalled 362,362 persons and the cumulative total withdrawn for this purpose was $3,211.7 million. It is not an exaggeration to say that without CPF, most of these members will not be able to buy their own flats. This is the major benefit of our CPF scheme. Secondly, the CPF has become an important source of internal financing for the Government's development projects and public investments. As at the end of 1980, CPF investment in Government registered stocks amounted to $9,079.2 million; this accounted for 96.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The time allotted for Head I having expired, the following amendment standing in the name of Mr Eric Cheong Yuen Chee was not proceeded with:- (13) That the total sum to be allocated for Head I of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. The sum of $137,817,360 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates The sum of $234,210,600 for Head I ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. The Chairman: I propose to take the Suspension now. The Ministry of Labour has lost 20 minutes. Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.”
“Let me make it clear that I am not speaking on behalf of any of these organizations but on behalf of all the motorists in Singapore. 4.00 p.m. I have taken note of the Minister's reply that it would take some time for the Ministry to review the PARF scheme. However, may I suggest that, as an interim measure, the Ministry may like to consider a scheme whereby, for a given category of motor vehicles, the differential between car price with full ARF and price with PARF can be made inversely proportional to the age of the vehicle. This, of course, will apply to cars more than 10 years old. For example, if the price (inclusive of duty) with 150% full ARF of a specific model and brand of new car (1598 c.c.) is $38,000, the price with 40% PARF is $29,000. Under the present PARF scheme, if a motorist scraps or exports his own old car less than 10 years old he will save $9,000. If he keeps his old car for more than 10 years, he cannot qualify for PARF. What I am proposing is that if the motorist keeps his old car for two more years, this 12-year old car will still qualify for PARF but at a reduced value, say, 80% of $9,000, or $7,200. If he keeps his car up to 14 years, the differential will be reduced to $4,500, i.e. 50% of $9,000, and the differential will be further reduced to only 20% of $9,000 if the old car is between 14 and 16 years. Cars beyond 16 years old will not qualify for PARF. Sir, in view of the compulsory vehicle inspection, we can be assured that cars more than 10 years old will still be well maintained, at least made roadworthy. As an incentive and to discourage wasteful consumption and also to save on foreign exchange, I hope the Hon. Minister will seriously look into this suggestion.”
“On 27th December, 1981, the Member for Khe Bong and myself independently tabled a question asking the Minister whether he would consider extending the PARF to cars more than 10 years old, in view of the compulsory inspection of motor vehicles with effect from 1st January, 1982. The Minister's reply was as follows: 'The question is: what do we do with the PARF? Some have argued that the 10-year age limit for cars to qualify for PARF should be abolished or increased to 15 years as proposed by the hon. Member. Others take this argument to its logical conclusion by suggesting that there should be no age limit, in which case the PARF should also be abolished. I think we ought to evaluate the results of vehicle inspections over a period of time before deciding whether or not to change present policy. Therefore, for the moment I do not intend to change the 10-year limit for PARF.' [Hansard Vol. 41, No. 6, Col. 294). The reply has two implications. One is the possibility that the PARF may be abolished. The second is that the Ministry of Communications will take some time to review the PARF scheme, pending the results of the compulsory inspection of vehicles. The Chinese newspaper, Sin Chew Jit Poh, on 26th February 1982, reported that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry had made a representation to the Ministry of Communications to extend the PARF to cars up to 15 years old. The Nanyang Siang Pau on 8th March, 1982 also reported the views of various representatives from the Automobile Associa- tion, CASE and other motor vehicle trade associations that the age limit for PARF should be extended. Perhaps, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and these associations had anticipated that this matter would be raised again in this year's annual Budget debate.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head I be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead IF-02 of the Main Estimates. Sir, in moving this amendment, I wish to press on with the matter relating to the Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF). PARF, as we all know, was first introduced on the last day of 1975. It was introduced as an incentive to encourage car owners to replace their cars earlier. Car owners who scrap or export their cars less than 10 years old can apply for PARF. PARF rates vary from 35% to 55%, depending on the engine capacity of the new car. At the same time, as a disincentive, a surcharge on road tax of up to 50% was imposed on cars more than seven years old. In the 1977 Budget debate, I commented that the PARF and the surcharge might lead to wasteful consumption, a practice which is inconsistent with our oriental virtue of thriftiness. I suggested then that, among other things: 'all cars which are more than 10 years old should be subjected to an annual roadworthiness test by the Registry of Vehicles. The surcharge should be imposed only if the cars fail the test.' [Hansard, Vol. 36, No. 19, Col. 1578]. I am glad to note that with effect from 1st January, 1982, the surcharge was abolished. Matters concerning PARF and the surcharge have been raised again and again by PAP Members in this House before. Let me just name a few. On 13th March, 1978, by the Member for Punggol; on 21st September, 1979 by the Member for Jalan Kayu; on 23rd March, 1979 by the Member for Toa Payoh; and on 24th March, 1981 by the Member for Telok Blangah.”
“In the new food centres, if the hawker could make some proper arrangement with members of his family, then will the Ministry issue to him the so-called vocational licence? He has mentioned that one person cannot work for too long. Because of this, I made the suggestion that the working hours should be divided into morning session and afternoon session, whereby two separate vocational licences can be issued for the same stall for the two sessions. When I mentioned about the people who were betting on horses and occupying seats in the hawker centres, what I mean is that since the hawker stalls are in a public establishment and are subsidized by way of paying cheap rentals, then they are supposed to render some service. So if these gamblers occupy the seats on Saturdays and Sundays, then the customers in the vicinity who need to be served by the hawkers would not be able to get seats and service. If an HDB flat is found to be used for gambling, the HDB will repossess it under its regulations. We should therefore not leave it to the police to do something about it. Since it is a public place, we should not allow a hawker centre to be occupied by horse-betting gamblers. So the Hawkers Department as well as the HDB, whoever is in charge of the place, should have the right to take the necessary action to deal with this problem.”
“If we want to control prices, then we have to control every kind of goods and not just hawker food. Whatever the hawker sells, it will first have to go through the importers, the wholesalers and dealers before he can get his supplies. If we control the prices of a hawker who is doing petty business and yet we do not exercise any control over the prices of the larger concerns, then we are not being fair. Since ours is a free market the prices will have to find their own levels. Only when a hawker does not provide good food or demands a high price, then if someone or some organization comes out and complain it may affect his business. Just a few days ago I read in the Sin Chew Jit Poh an article by a reader about the prices charged by some hawkers. He reasoned that today Singaporeans do not mind paying more pro- vided they could get better quality food, There are such people. So this is a matter also for the customers to decide. 4.15 p.m. The other factor concerning prices depends also on the quality and quantity of food. We cannot tell the hawkers what is the kind of food or how nourishing it should be, or what price they should charge. This we cannot do. If the food lacks nourishment, of course, this will affect the hawker's business. But this is something for the hawker himself to tackle. In our open economy we will leave all this to the people concerned. If he wants to have good business, it will depend mainly on the hawker himself. I think this is the most reasonable and effective way to go about it. Mr Yeo Toon Chia( In Mandarin): Sir, I would like to touch upon the answers given by the Senior Parliamentary Secretary.”
“He also mentioned about the great number of applications for food stalls. At the moment we are short of food stalls. There are now about 2,000-odd back-lane hawkers trading in open spaces who need to be resited in food centres or markets as and when vacancies occur. If these backlane hawkers are not too particular about their trade, such as selling fruits, drinks or similar type of food, they can take up vacancies in the older centres quite soon, because usually empty stalls are available there. But because of their peculiar situation, they want a certain amount of space or they want to trade at certain locations. Of course, this makes it difficult for us to meet their needs. Another problem is about the location of hawkers. They want to move to a place near to their homes. We have always made arrangements with maximum convenience to them so that they can trade near their place of residence. But whether or not they can get the same volume of business in their new site is something which is difficult for us to resolve because the basic income of a hawker depends on many factors. For example, if a hawker is in the cooked food business, much depends on his price and his attitude towards his customers, and there are also other related factors which will determine whether or not his business will be good. If a hawker experiences poor business and asks our Department to help, we can only go so far as to allot a location nearer to his home or choice where possible. This is something that we can do to help. If the hawker's request for help depends on personal factors, we cannot help him. As regards fixing of prices and standardization of prices, we cannot do this because Singapore is an open market.”
“So to avoid such disputes we allow only a maximum of three assistants to each stall. As regards extending the time, the Member should realize that even our labour laws stipulate that every worker is allowed to work for a maximum of eight hours per day. So the maximum number of hours of work per week is not more than 44. In fact, a stallholder will need certain time to prepare the food possibly at home, in addition to the normal eight hours working at the stall. So there is a certain limit to human physical endurance and ability. We have studied these problems before and we have come to the present arrangement based on our experience. The Member also mentioned about the stalls being occupied by people who bet on horses on Saturdays and Sundays resulting in customers not getting seats for themselves. You will agree that betting or gambling is a bad practice. Yet there are people who are fond of it. But this problem is not peculiar to the hawker stalls only. At other public places and eating stalls in coffee houses, the same problem exists, particularly on race days. I think this is a matter for the police and I hope they will pay attention to this problem and will take necessary action to curb this practice of betting and gambling on horses at hawker stalls. In answer to the Member for Kaki Bukit on application for stall licence for reasons of hardship, I would say we define "hardship" as a family receiving an income of less than $500. Sometimes we have to review the circumstances of the applicant and sometimes we are flexible. In the situation which he mentioned, that is, because of inflation the monetary value has been decreased, we may consider this point in our definition of family income and raise the ceiling a bit.”
“I am not speaking, Sir. Mr Chor Yeok Eng( In Mandarin): Sir, first, let me reply to what the Member for Ang Mo Kio has asked. He has requested that hawker licences for two sessions for the same hawker stall be given to the hawkers. I would say that this practice is already in force at the moment to enable the members of their family of the licensee to run the stall. But if a stall is rented to two separate persons, we have learned from our experience that this creates a lot of problems. Generally hawkers who live in village areas need a lot of space to store their goods and trading implements. (At the moment over 70% of our population are living in HDB housing estates.) If we allow two sessions, then the morning session hawker may have to bring home all his trading implements. As it is, the present HDB hawker stall is not able to accommodate all such paraphernalia. This is the first problem. Another problem is that this practice will give rise to disputes about time. For instance, the morning session and the second session hawkers may argue about the division of time. One would ask the other to clear up quickly or to clean up the place before leaving, etc. Therefore, we think it is best to allot such licences to members of the same family in order to avoid such quarrels. He also mentioned about allowing hawker stalls to employ aged people. At the moment we allow each stall to employ three assistants who are acquainted to the stallholder. In the past there have been quarrels among stallholders over the number of assistants because the space for each stall is limited. If a stall should employ many assistants, then quarrels between the assistants as well as between the stallholders will arise.”
“Sir, in view of the Senior Parliamentary Secretary's promise to look into my suggestion, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. 3.45 p.m.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Therefore, I would like to find out from the Minister whether the new budgetary system has narrowed down the gap between budgeted expenditure and actual expenditure, and the gap between estimated revenue and actual revenue since the implementation of the new system in FY 78-79. Next, let me turn to estate duty. In this year's budget presented by the Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry, he announced that CPF balances and a residential house or flat will be fully exempted from estate duty. These concessions are welcomed, although they benefit mainly the middle and upper income groups. The levy of estate duty on CPF balances which is a form of forced saving, and income tax on annual CPF contributions exceeding $5,000 are unfair in principle. I am glad that now the estate duty and income tax on CPF and the estate duty on one residential property have been removed. Revenue from estate duty forms a very small percentage of total revenue. However, I am of the opinion that, after exempting CPF balances and the residential unit, some form of estate duty should still be retained on estates exceeding a certain value. In other words, wealth should not be allowed to accumulate too rapidly from generation to generation. Unfortunately, the Member for Anson is not here. I would like to claim that this is consistent with our socialist principle with regard to the distribution of wealth and income. Perhaps the Minister may like to enlighten me or to explain the rationale for the estate duty exemption.”