P. Govindaswamy
Singapore
“Sir, the purchase of SBS shares should not be made compulsory. It should be voluntary. If a poor man were to use all his $5,000 CPF savings to buy SBS shares, he will not know what will happen to his shares in one or two years' time.”
“Sir, we know that Singapore Government Officers' Cooperative Housing Society has been in trouble for many years. But I fail to understand why when members write in for a refund, they do not even get a reply. Nobody seems to know exactly what is happening with this society.”
“In the past few years and even now, every Malaysia Cup soccer tie that is played at our Stadium, the tickets are sold out within hours and many fans are disappointed. Even ugly scenes have happened, to the extent that one soccer fan fell dead whilst trying to buy tickets.”
“If the Minister approaches the Finance Ministry for extra staff, he must press on with his request. Anyway, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have forgotten one point. Regarding the word "million". can the Minister please give instructions to the RTS staff not to use the English word "million" but to use the Tamil word for it? If they do not know the Tamil word for it, they can ask the people from the higher institutions.”
“The Minister must think it over. Mr Ng Yeow Chong: Sir, can the acting Minister give me an assurance that my request for the re-naming and for the re-location of the creche within the constituency's housing estate will be brought up when his Ministry starts negotiations with the NTUC for the taking over of the creches?”
The complete record
Every one of 1,199 lines we hold for P. Govindaswamy, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 13 of 24.
“Sir, some time back the granting of citizenship was a major problem in our Republic. Today the situation is entirely different. May I know what is the present ruling? I believe that citizenship is not a right but only a privilege. I agree with the ruling that there should be restrictions in granting citizenship, taking into account the social and economic problems of the Republic. However, some time back it was announced that loyal army officials would have special consideration attached to their application for citizenship. With regard to this category of applicants, I would like to ask the Minister a question. There was a Singapore citizen with two Sons who were born abroad. The boys joined him in 1958. The elder boy faithfully joined the army as a regular national serviceman in 1961. He is now a staff sergeant and is married to a Singaporean. They have a child born in Singapore. In 1969 he applied for citizenship and, after going through two interviews, he is still waiting for a reply. Why does it take so long to consider his application? If the Minister wants the particulars of this case, I would not mind giving him the application number for his easy reference. On the other hand, the younger brother, after finishing his studies in Singapore, went abroad to continue his education. He has been returning to the Republic every year to renew his passport. He has every evidence to prove that he went abroad solely for educational purpose. He too had applied for his citizenship and was unsuccessful in his first attempt. Today this poor boy is in Singapore with an academic degree, and is still awaiting anxiously for the result of his second application for citizenship. And because of his non-citizen status he is unable to get a proper job.”
“Sir, in view of the explanation of the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. That the sum to be allocated for Head NA he reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BA ll09. Sir, can we have some facts and figures on drug-taking from the Narcotics Bureau? Recently there has been a spate of drug-taking incidents. Recently, too, there was a report on sex and pot parties in the newspapers. How active is the Bureau? How effective are their sources of information? I believe that long hair is associated with drug-taking. It is observed that we still have the problem of boys sporting long hair, and most of them can be found in coffee houses and along certain streets. What action has this Bureau taken against these people? Again, in many places, you can see groups of youngsters mingling and disturbing the people who are passing by. One would not be surprised to see a drug session going on. Does the Bureau raid all these places to catch and reform the drug addicts?”
“Sir, there is a very long list of amendments yet to be moved and I have so many items to speak on. I may not get the time, and therefore I wonder if I may speak now.”
“Sir, with regard to this matter of delay, the patient is already dead and gone! How is he going to complain against that? Anyway, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendments stood in the name of Mr N. Govindasamy - (2) That the sum to be allocated for Head MB be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BA 3002. (3) That the sum to be allocated for Head MB be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BA 3003.”
“Sir, something is definitely wrong with the billing system in the General Hospital. When patients leave the hospital after treatment, part of the Bill is sent to the employer and part of it to the ex-patient. This brings confusion to the employer and the ex-patient. I am sure the accounting system in the General Hospital is no better either. Why not eliminate all this unnecessary paper work by sending the full bill directly to the employer or the ex-patient? A division of a single bill will thus be avoided. I bring this subject up because there n a case of an employee of a statutory board who was admitted to the hospital some time back and he was faced with this problem.”
“Though the nature of his illness does not permit him to do normal duties, the doctor nevertheless sent him to work without recommending that he be given light duties because of his limping leg. 6.00 p.m. In the meantime, since the doctor at the General Hospital had taken such a decision, the Board's doctor did not want to overrule the decision of the hospital doctor. I think they have an agreement between them. The patient then got a note from his union leader to appeal. But the letter was ignored. Furthermore, I understand he was advised by his superior to take vacation leave instead. I do not blame the doctor for this decision; probably he could have made a wrong decision due to pressure of work. We take pride in our hospitals and their facilities, yet there are many services left wanting. Some buttons in the medical service have to be pushed. The Paediatric Unit too at the hospital is often overworked. It is believed that there are only a few paediatricians with many children to look after. If more paediatricians are appointed, then our children in the ward and those requiring specialist attention will not be neglected. Sometimes patients are turned away just because the doctors in the section had gone to the University to give lectures to the students. Why is this section understaffed? Sir, I also note that in this unit there is no skin specialist available. The children are also not referred to the skin clinic for treatment. Furthermore, improvements are needed in the non-paying wards. There is often congestion in these wards. Beds are placed all over the corridors and they are so close to each other that there is hardly any space for free movement. This is aggravated when student nurses and housemen are moving around during their lessons.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head MB be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BA 1107. Sir, the Emergency Unit at the Outram Road General Hospital does a good job most of the time. But there are times when this Emergency Unit does not live up to its name. I have received complaints that there are times when some of the doctors and nurses attending to cases brought in to this Unit have been found to be rude and snobbish. The doctors attached to this Unit must do their work only at this Unit but instead they are made to go on ward duty as well. As such, when the doctor goes round checking the patients, sometimes with housemen following him around for lessons, there is no other doctor available at this Unit. The Emergency Unit is meant for emergency cases. Those who are suffering in pain or requiring urgent treatment cannot wait for hours. There was the case of a person who was brought in because of a heart attack. He was attended to only two hours later. By that time he was only good enough to be pronounced dead. A life was lost and it could have been saved only if proper attention was given at the right time. I also understand that often when patients are referred to the X-ray unit by the Emergency Unit, they are not attended to as quickly as possible. This has resulted in an ordinary X-ray taking about two to three hours. Sometimes the doctors are overworked and some of the cases are not thoroughly checked. To quote an example, there was a case of a statutory board employee who fractured his leg in an accident at his place of work. He was referred to the Outram Road General Hospital, and was granted three months' leave, but he is still not fully cured.”
“It is not true to say that their applications are not considered at all. We will be happy to take in a larger number under this scheme. Perhaps the Member for Kim Seng can encourage some of his colleagues to apply for these appointments. 5.45 p.m. Unless I have left out anything else that the Member for Kim Seng has raised, may I just go on to the Member for Anson. The Member for Anson has again brought up the question of the recent amendment to the Medical Registration Act whereby we have in our local List excluded medical schools in India. This does not mean that those who graduated from medical schools in India are not able to practise in Singapore. Under a certain provision of the Act, they can apply to practise. The Singapore Medical Council will judge their competence by invariably setting an examination, and on passing the examination, they will be registered. I have already answered this question when the Member for Anson raised it at the last Budget debate. Of course, the Member may have his own views. But that is the position. It is very important that we guard our standards of medical practice very jealously. Other countries may have other standards, but that is their privilege. As far as Singapore is concerned, human life and health is important and we want to ensure that only competent doctors are allowed to practise independently.”
“With regard to incentives to retain doctors in the service, particularly young doctors, apart from the scheme for Government officers to be eligible for housing, we are also considering building some blocks of flats for medical officers as part of the development of the new hospital that is coming up in Outram Road. I am personally very sympathetic to the need of doctors for houses, especially the young doctors, who have not established their own homes. My Ministry has recently appointed a committee to study this question and to make recommendations. I believe that if our young doctors are given houses they will not only be tied down to their service but they will also have something to lose if they think of emigrating. Before I go on to the Member for Anson, I might as well enlighten the Member for Kim Seng about employing lady doctors part-time. I would like to say straightaway that we have a scheme at the moment to employ lady doctors part-time. It is not that we have no such scheme. In fact, there are two schemes whereby doctors in private practice can be appointed to the medical service. The first Scheme A is based on sessional appointment where we pay $30 for a two-hour session up to a maximum of $400 a month. The second Scheme B is a part-time appointment paid in proportion to the hours of work given each week to a 42 hourly times the last drawn salary. Such appointments would be for those who were previously in Government service. At the moment, in respect of Scheme A we have four appointments. For the information of the Member for Kim Seng, three of them are married women and I think one is a male doctor. With regard to Scheme B, two lady doctors have also been appointed. In other words, they are being utilised for the benefit of the medical service.”
“With regard to the intake of medical and dental students into our medical schools, I agree entirely that we should do our very best to get our citizens to take up medicine and dentistry. But, unfortunately, it appears that with rapid industrialisation going on in Singapore and the shortage of engineers, architects and accountants, many of our young men now tend to opt for such courses and overlook medicine and dentistry. This is the situation we are now facing. But, in any case, we will give them every encouragement to take up medicine, not only for an under-graduate course but also a post-graduate course for those who have already qualified. In fact, we have devised a very attractive training scheme for young doctors to take up a higher qualification. I do not think there is much complaint as far as that scheme is concerned. Many doctors have taken advantage of that scheme and, as a result, we produce quite a large number of Masters of Medicine in the various specialities each year. With regard to projections for staff requirements, may I say that there are not only new projections but also new services as well. This is based on the criteria determined by actual observation in the ward. For example, in the medical unit, for every 70 beds there should be a staff complement comprising one consultant, two senior registrars, three medical officers and three to four housemen. The figures are higher, for instance, in the surgical, obstetrics and gynaecology wards. Of course, this is the ideal number. We try to project the Ideal, but if we do not have the ideal number we try to make do with what we have.”
“And there are 14 others, five with higher qualifications and nine without higher qualifications. Altogether the number of foreign doctors is 76. As far as our policy is concerned, as I have said, we do not go out of our way to recruit foreign doctors. If they apply and if they are found suitable, we employ them if there are vacancies. We cannot be too choosey in our recruitment. If we have vacancies we fill them up. Of course, we are very concerned about their competence and standards. In fact, as I have said, most of them have higher qualifications. For the information of Members, the vast majority of the Indian and Ceylonese doctors we have recruited have recognised higher medical qualifications from the U.K. Their qualifications include the M.R.C.P. London, or Edinburgh, or F.R.C.S,. London, or Edinburgh. Most of them had hitherto held specialist positions in the U.K, hospitals. On recruitment into our service they were appointed directly to consultant positions, as for example, Senior Registrars. Thus with regard to the policy of appointing doctors from overseas which I have enumerated, the possibility of recruiting incompetent doctors is very much reduced. The majority of them have performed satisfactorily. However, in any group there would be a few who might not perform as satisfactorily as we would have wished. In this respect there has been only one case in which it has been necessary to terminate the contract of a foreign doctor. This was not for lack of competence but because he did not fit well into the service. However, if any one of them is found to be incompetent. We can easily terminate his contract.”
“In fact, as far as the movement of doctors from Government service to private practice is concerned, as Members would know, we have introduced two schemes to get them back to work for at least a few sessions in our hospitals. First, there is the part-time consultant scheme whereby those in private practice who volunteer to work in the hospital will be paid a certain sum per session. This scheme is particularly helpful to those departments which need the specialists concerned. The other scheme, of course, is the appointment of honorary consultants so that their expertise will not be lost in the private sector. In fact, they will see more searching cases in the hospitals and their talents will be more usefully employed there than in the private sector. Now, on the point about foreign doctors having been recruited into the Singapore health service, may I say this? As far as Government policy is concerned, we do not go out of our way, for example, to advertise in the press to recruit doctors from other countries. Any applicant who writes in and is found suitable for recruitment is offered employment. Recruitment of foreign doctors into the service is in the main confined to those with higher qualifications. With regard to the breakdown of figures of foreign doctors which we have employed, may I say that the largest group consists of Malaysians. We have in service today 43 Malaysian doctors, 16 of whom are with higher qualifications and 27 without higher qualifications. The second group consists of 13 Ceylonese, 11 of whom have got higher qualifications, in other words, they are specialists. Only two of them are without higher qualifications. We have also six Indian doctors, two with higher qualifications and four without higher qualifications.”
“Although the rate of resignation has increased, I do not think the way in which the Member for Kim Seng has presented the case is correct, that is, just because there has been a large number of resignations in the first few months of this year, resignations will come up to a very high figure by the end of the year. I do not think that will happen. I would like to assure members of the public that although we are understaffed at the moment we are not badly off. In fact, some years ago doctors had to work longer hours. At the moment, although not in all hospitals but in quite a number of hospitals, doctors have been given a day off following night duty. With regard to the figures about the resignation of doctors in 1970, which the Member for Kim Seng quoted, they are more or less correct. They tally with my figures although there may be a difference of one or two. Then he did ask me how many of these doctors had emigrated to Canada, Australia and so on. I do not have the actual figures, but the figures which I have on migration are obtained from various sources, that is, the Singapore Medical Association, medical colleagues, the Medical Register and so on. I can say that in 1973, out of the 67 resignations, four went to Australia, one to Brunei, one to Canada, one to India, one to New Zealand, one to Sibu, two to the U.K, and 10 joined the University of Singapore. And 41 of them actually resigned for personal reasons, which means that they are probably in private practice earning, as the Member for Kim Seng has said, three or four times more. If they want to earn much more money in private practice, we cannot help it. But we try our best to retain them.”
“For example, a head of a unit has been promoted to Superscale Grade D, whereas in the past heads of units were limited to Superscale Grade E. That is just for a start. There have been promotion exercises, and it is not true to say nothing has happened. But as far as medical officers are concerned, hon. Members may be aware that the National Wages Council has been given the responsibility of reviewing salaries not only of doctors but also others in the context of the nation as a whole. In fact, to be fair, doctors are not the only professionals working in the Government. There are architects, engineers, and so on. So any increase or revision in salaries must also include the doctors. Of course, as the Health Minister, I would very much urge that their terms and conditions of service are improved. But, before the National Wages Council deliberates over these matters, the medical officer, in the meantime, has benefited from the 13th month payment - there were two 13th month payments in one particular year - and also the 9 per cent wage supplement as recommended by the National Wages Council. So it is not true to say that nothing has been done with regard to their salaries. Something has been done although perhaps not as much as we wish it to be. But it is rather odd - and I am not saying anything in objection - that salaries of doctors have been raised again and again in this august Assembly, but so far I have not heard in this Chamber of any raise in salaries of accountants, engineers and architects employed by the Government. 5.30 p.m. The other point is the resignation of doctors. Let me hasten to assure the public that they should not be alarmed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, according to the Member for Kim Seng a lot of doctors have resigned since 1970. Could it be that there is discrimination in their promotions? There are also some specialists who have resigned. How is it that foreign doctors are promoted whereas our local doctors are not promoted? If they are not promoted they will resign. The Minister must find out why Singapore is short of doctors. Foreign doctors from Australia, U.K., Brunei, and Malaysia, including India, can be accepted. The Minister must reconsider this matter and try to recruit foreign doctors who are able. It is unfair not to accept foreign doctors. Otherwise next year there will be a bigger shortage of doctors. But if the Minister does not care about the shortage, who will suffer? The people will suffer, and therefore he must take into consideration what I have said. Some Members: Hear, hear! Mr Chua Sian Chin: Mr Speaker, Sir, listening to the Member for Anson makes one think that only he is concerned about the shortage of doctors, not the Minister or the Ministry. I think he has made a very far-fetched statement. May I just deal with the Member for Kim Seng now? He spoke about the shortage of doctors last year and also about why they should have their salaries revised and so on, and that nothing has been done to date. That is not strictly true because, as far as our specialist doctors are concerned, their pay has been increased by the recent increase in specialist allowances. Further, they can now be promoted on merit and their promotion will not be dependent upon vacancy in the posts available. In fact, there is no limit to the superscale level to which they can be promoted.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, what measures are being taken to introduce an emergency unit at the Alexandra and the Sembawang Hospitals? The Alexandra Hospital should be expanded to serve the urban population of Alexandra, Queenstown and Telok Blangah. An emergency unit at this hospital would help to relieve strain at the Outram Road General Hospital. At present any emergency treatment in the Sembawang area i5 referred to the Thomson Road Hospital unit. Travelling that distance from Sembawang to the Thomson Road Hospital may quite often be a waste of time, for the narrow roads are reputed to be crawling with traffic. Sir, I understand our hospital wards are crowded, and there is usually a long waiting list. Why not introduce a `Home Care' service in hospitals as introduced in some countries? Patients who have the necessary people to look after them in the home can be discharged from the hospitals early so that their beds can be occupied by those who are really serious. A nursing service that can keep an eye on these discharged patients can be introduced to help those who are looking after their patients at home. Valuable time and money can be saved in this way. Further, patients have a better chance of quick recovery when they are being attended to by their loved ones. Sir, recently there was an outbreak of typhoid fever in isolated areas. May I know what remedial action has been taken to stop the fever from spreading?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, regarding the Minister's reply about uniforms, if a contract is given to a contractor who has quoted the lowest tender, he does not sew properly and the uniforms will be useless. Moreover, the measurements are not taken properly. They just sew the uniforms and supply them to the nurses. I would also like to ask the Minister about the charges of $2 and $3. Why is there this difference in charges between outpatient clinics and hospitals? I do not know the reason. If a person goes to a hospital, he is charged $3, but charged $2 if he goes to a clinic. The Minister has also promised that a person will be charged only once if he goes to an outside clinic and pays $2 and then subsequently he is required to go to the general hospital again on the same day. The Minister has promised that a person will not be charged twice in the same day for the same treatment.”
“As a result I believe that some of them do not diagnose the sickness thoroughly, and thereby patients become worse. Can something be done about these abnormal working conditions, before there is more brain drain towards the private sector or even to other countries? Sometimes offers of money alone will not work. The conditions must be right. Can the Minister give us the rate of resignations per month? Sir, our Medical Service has a restriction on the recruitment of doctors who are trained in certain countries, unless they have passed an examination locally. Can the Minister enlighten the House with facts and figures? Since the introduction of this restriction, how many recruits in this category have applied, and how many have passed the examinations so far? Is it possible to revise these restrictions on some foreign university degrees which have attained worldwide recognition?”
“Sir, since the increase in charges for out-patient treatment, members of the public find that visits to out-patient clinics are extremely costly and a great financial strain at times. I agree with the Government that whoever makes use of the medical services must pay a token share towards the cost, to check abuse in the unnecessary use of these services. A patient visiting the out-patient clinic pays $2 (the fee is $3 at the General Hospital) on his first visit, and quite often the doctor asks the patient to come back for further check-ups or treatment. All these subsequent visits cost $2 each. Such second visits, where the doctor sees whether the prescribed treatment is correct or effective, can last only 5 or 10 seconds. The patient still pays the usual charges. There are also occasions when a doctor refers his patient to another unit on the same day, and yet the patient has to pay at two places, though it is for treatment of the same sickness. Is it possible to waive the charges for these second visits, or at least reduce them in order to reduce the strain on the pockets of the poor? 3.30 p.m. The Medical Service in Singapore must be one of the most unpopular professions for any aspiring young man of Singapore. Despite promotions and other incentives, doctors still continue to resign at an alarming rate. Can it be that this is not so much a problem of finance but rather a problem associated with working conditions? We still hear of doctors on duty for 24 hours. I wonder if any Members of the House have experienced 24-hour duty shifts. How can a doctor perform his best during the second 12-hour shift, when he would have been tired physically and mentally?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, because of the present inflation in Singapore, what steps are being taken to produce and to grow more crops locally? We cannot be self-sufficient in all types of food products; but we can be on some of them. What effort is being made to ensure that we are self-sufficient in poultry, pigs, eggs, fish, etc.? With proper farming, we can be self-sufficient in vegetables too. If those who live in houses with a garden are encouraged to grow vegetables, the inflated price of vegetables in the markets can be lowered considerably. Just to quote an instance, today at the Kandang Kerbau Market, the cost of two red chillies is 10 cents. Normally, you can get about 15 chillies for that price. Imagine the difference in real value. It would appear that our vegetable gardens are gradually being pushed out. What is the possibility of putting up vegetable gardens in flatted farms? Has the Minister thought about that? The roof-top of every housing block can be rented out to farmers to plant vegetables.”
“With the Minister's explanation, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Mr Tay Boon Too - (2) That the sum to be allocated for Head LJ be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 3008.”
“Sir, nobody wants to go to the Kampung Java Park because previously it was a cemetery. We have spent so much money on the Park but nobody goes there because they are afraid of devils. The Minister should find out why people do not go to the Kampung Java Park.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head U be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1107. Sir, we have introduced parks to serve as lungs for the city, but have we considered our children? What is the use of a park if children cannot make use of them? The park in Seletar Reservoir has excellent facilities for children. Most parks for instance, the one opposite the Istana, the MacRitchie Reservoir, the Peirce Reservoir, the park at Newton, are completely devoid of facilities for children. Where can the children go? We must attract our children to healthy places, like parks, by providing facilities for them to play, rather than discourage them, by planting too many bushes everywhere. Further, the Housing and Development Board should ensure that every available vacant ground in the housing estates be made use for the children's benefit. It is an ancient belief - give the children a place to play, and you end up with healthy and robust citizens. An idle mind in an idle body is a devil's workshop. Housing estates with no playgrounds can only be an ideal breeding ground for drug addicts. In some parks stone benches have been provided. What use are these if they have no back rests and arm rests? Must the people suffer even while trying to relax? Planting trees along the road is no doubt good, but I wonder if any effort is being made to check their growth. Some trees are allowed to grow wild along roadsides and buses travelling by the side brush against them. This is a source of danger to passengers travelling in the buses. I quote Napier Road! Holland Road as an example. Further, some trees are so big that their branches obstruct the street lights. This becomes a source of danger to pedestrians and motorised traffic along the road.”
“Can the department give reasons for this kind of spending? With regard to roads, if the Singapore Telephone Board wants to lay the cables or do some other work, they will dig and put in the cables. After they have levelled up the road, the Electricity Department will come in to dig it up again to lay their own cables. After they have levelled up the road, then the Sewerage Department will come iii to dig it up again. What is all this? Why incur unnecessary expenditure? This is a very bad way of expending money.”
“With the high cost of materials and workmanship, with inflation setting in, is this mall really necessary? Are we going into grandiose schemes at great cost, just to serve a few pedestrians, who are quite comfortable walking along the present pedestrian ways? Could not the money be used for more useful projects? We seem to acquire land at great cost for road widening schemes. We cut into the frontage of shops and houses, and what happens after that? Of late, about a quarter o a road lane is taken either for pedestrian use or tree planting. I myself do not understand what it is all about. Now in Stamford Road small flat stone walls have been put, and they are always being knocked down by cars. I do not know for what purpose these small flat stone walls have been put along the road. In Robinson Road trees have been planted on pedestrian walks. They are not only an obstruction but can also damage roads and buildings, besides littering the road with dead leaves. Bus lanes have been introduced to ease traffic congestion in the central areas of the City. Rather than help, they cause traffic congestion, stretching for miles at a time. A better system is, therefore, called for. In certain housing estates, after the Government has taken over the frontage and the surfacing has been done, the owners of the houses have been asked to pay $1,000 each. As the work carried out was simple and did not involve much material and manpower, cannot the Government lower the fees chargeable? At certain junctions, traffic lights are not functioning well. Can the Government do anything about the lights damaged in accidents which are not repaired for weeks at a time. Again some roundabouts have been removed to be replaced by traffic lights.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head LH be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1105*. (*The same amendment also stood in the name of Dr Ong Leong Boon.) Mr Speaker, Sir, it was with great pride that we were able to claim to have the best roads in Asia. That was sometime ago. Now, sad to say, we have acquired a reputation that is the reverse of what was said at that time. The state of some of the roads is deplorable and disgraceful to the tourist. Take, for instance, Victoria Street and North Bridge Road. These roads were dug up by a contractor sometime ago for some purpose, god knows what! With so much digging going on, sometimes one wonders whether they are digging for oil! Anyway the condition of the roads at present is best seen to be believed. The pot-holes have never been repaired. The patch-work type of repairs carried out is so badly done, that they do not last even a few days. Is there any supervision of a road contractor's job? Is there a time limit given to the contractor before payment is made? Are there any penalties imposed for poor workmanship? These are two examples of the condition of main roads, and there are countless others. If one drives along Upper Thomson Road, one will be bumping and bumping all along and will soon be tired out. Upper Thomson Road has been commonly called the shock absorber test road. All we see nowadays is `tax up quality down'. This is Parkinson's law in reverse. The more taxes are imposed on cars, the worse will be the roads for the motorists. In Orchard Road, opposite Lido Cinema, a beautiful pedestrian walk was constructed sometime back purposely for the Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference. The same walk has now been demolished and made into another type of walk called a pedestrian mall.”
“Sir, everyone is talking about roads. But I have an amendment to be moved under the subhead on PWD. May I have permission to speak now?”
“In view of the Minister's explanation, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I wish to raise another two or three points with regard to buildings. There are some old buildings which are going to collapse, but the owners do not want to repair them. It is very dangerous for the subtenants to live in those buildings. The Building Control Division of the PWD must go and check on those buildings to find out whether they will stand for long or not. If they agree that the buildings will not last long, they should ask the owner to repair them. Otherwise, they should demolish the buildings, take the land and put up new buildings. Many tenants have been complaining of leaks here and there, they have no other house to go to, and the owners do not want to carry out repairs. The Minister must look into the matter to see if something could be done about these old houses. 4.00 p.m.”
“Yes, Sir. And I am speaking on that subhead, Sir.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head LG be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AC 1109. Sir, with the acute shortage of housing in Singapore, the private developers are engaged in a new racket. Before an estate is declared open for booking, relatives and associates of developers book the houses in advance. So when the actual advertisement comes out in the papers the property is already three-quarters booked. What little is left open to the public is grabbed by speculators within the first hour or two. The genuine house-buyer who shows interest in any property is told that he has to wait for someone to cancel his booking. This is where the speculators make an instant profit. What measures does the Minister intend to take to stop this racket? Too many members of the public have been made suckers by these unscrupulous capitalists. Can the Minister bring about legislation to fix a ceiling for prices of these private houses?”
“Sir, in view of the Minister's explanation, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I wish to raise two points. Firstly, the hoses should be checked every now and then. Secondly, when there is a fire, vehicles on the road must make way for the fire-engines, because if there is a traffic jam the fire-engines cannot go through. The Minister should ask the Traffic Police to advise the public to make way for the fire-engines.”
“Do we have to have a disaster on a scale larger than the Robinson fire to prove that there is a lack of fire-fighting service in our schools? I wonder whether this Ministry is co-operating with the Ministry of Education over this matter.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head KC be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1109. Sir, within the last few years, Singapore has experienced some tragic fires. The Robinson fire was the worst, where innocent lives were lost. If sufficient safety precautions had been taken, such a monstrous disaster could not have resulted. But that is the past, and from this single fire, we can learn a lesson. May I ask at this time what compulsory measures have been imposed on large departmental stores where many members of the public patronise, so that we may not experience another "Robinson fire"? Sir, there have been complaints of cases where the hoses leak and the fire engines arriving late. Surely we cannot boast of an efficient fire service if the hoses leak when connected to the fire engines or to the hydrants. If that is the case, a four-gallon pail of water is a more efficient fire-fighting equipment than a fire engine which comes late and with hoses that leak. What is being done with the fire service to up-date it with modern equipment? The fire-fighting equipment installed in many establishments serve as very nice decorations in those places. Even though they are there, I wonder whether the Fire Service can insist that all the staff are taught to use the fire-fighting equipment. Nothing is more disastrous than seeing a factory go up in flames, when at the initial stages the flames could have been controlled or stopped from spreading by using the simple fire-fighting equipment installed in the factory. At this point, may I draw attention to the fact that some of our schools are hardly equipped with any fire-fighting equipment. Even if there are fire extinguishers around, the teachers do not even know how to use them.”
“Sir, what is the guideline used by the Social Welfare Department in the issue of permits for the purpose of entertaining inmates of welfare homes? During festive occasions permits are granted to certain organisations to entertain inmates, while certain other organisations are refused, without any reason being given. Since the inmates are being entertained with food, cash, etc., why refuse these organisations from doing their bit during such occasions? There was a report in the press about old inmates in a certain home run by a Buddhist monk. The home, if it can be called one, is in an old condition and the monk stated that the Social Welfare Department had refused to give a helping hand. Why is this so? Does it require publicity in the press before the Social Welfare Department acts, or does the Department think that our old citizens are unproductive to the Republic and, therefore, should be treated as "embarrassing liabilities"? Sir, I would also like to know how much pocket money are the inmates receiving as welfare aid. Is it sufficient to meet their expenditure at this moment?”
“Sir, the Singapore Government Officers' Co-operative Housing Society has been in financial trouble for a long time. What measures have been taken by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies to solve the problems of this Society? Is it true that this society is trying to overcharge its members for payment of houses bought? What action is being taken to solve the problem? How many of the members who have resigned so far have realised their assets? Sir, I would also like to know how many registered co-operative societies are in existence at the moment, how many are active, and how many have been considered as "lost in the wilderness"? What is the Registrar doing to control these societies? I hope they do not become "crocodiles" like some of the chit fund companies. With the present inflation, what part do these co-operative societies play to help the lower income group? Is it possible for the Government to import essential products and channel them through proper co-operative societies so that the middle-men and the big profiteers can be cut off? I would also like to inform the Minister that one of the officials of the Registry of Co-operative Societies used his influence to get benefit in the Singapore Government Officers' Co-operative Housing Society.”
“In view of the Minister's explanation, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister remarked that I was absent at a meeting. That was because I received very short notice of the meeting and therefore I could not attend as I had other engagements. Another point is this: does the Minister agree that the officials of the Singapore Sports Council are snobbish and arrogant as reported in the press?”
“Sir, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education says that there was a good crowd at the sepak takraw tournaments. I do not think so. Perhaps there was a good crowd on certain days but not every day.”
“Sir, please excuse me. This stadium is no better than the Jalan Besar Stadium. Over $100,000 is being spent to maintain the stadium. Is this not a waste? Perhaps a reduction in rentals for the complex may attract the crowd that it badly needs. At the present rate, do not be surprised if the National Stadium is haunted. There are five squash courts but there are no viewing galleries. Something should be done about this. Now let us take a look at the surrounds of the stadium. Even during the period of the SEAP games and after that, the surrounds of the National Stadium are a national disgrace. What we see are good lallang fields and potholes, ideal for mosquito breeding. Surely the Singapore Sports Council is not encouraging the breeding of `sporting' mosquitoes. During the SEAP games because of the poor response on certain days, school children were admitted free. But what a mess the officials created. Children accompanied by parents were segregated. Sir, you can guess what the result was - missing parents and missing children. What an impression we had given to the outside world one can only wonder, and all because of some foolish and childish decision. The stadium complex contains facilities for exhibitions, etc. How far are they being used? Again, are they being under-utilised because of high rentals? With all these snags, there is an exodus of experienced personnel from the Singapore Sports Council. It is time that a reorganisation was made and proper persons placed in office, not publicity seekers, but sportsmen in the real sense of the word. There should be more innovation than control in the betterment of sports.”
“We are losing the great opportunity to get our young and old folks to share a common interest and attract them to community centres. What incentives has the Sports Council offered in the interest of sports promotion? What sort of motivation has it displayed to the up and coming sportsmen of our country? Let me now come to the wonderful white elephant in Kallang. It was built at great cost to host the SEAP games. What has happened after that? Because of high rentals, clubs and associations are reluctant to use its facilities. To make a joke of the whole thing, the field when wet is no better than a fishing pond. The field has no proper drainage system.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head KA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1004. Sir, what is really happening to sports in Singapore? Sometime back there were complaints against the National Sports Promotion Board. Then the NSPB and the National Stadium Corporation merged and it i5 now known as the Singapore Sports Council. What is the outcome of the merger? Has it helped in any way in promoting sports? Nothing. We still see confusion and poor standards of performance of our sportsmen. It seems that some of the officials of the Singapore Sports Council are snobbish and arrogant as reported in the press. If it is true, can anything be done about this? I understand that there is a weeding exercise being carried out on the former NSPB officials. Is it really necessary? These people are being replaced by inexperienced people who have no particular interest in sports at all. Yet they are being promoted within a short space of time. Of late, because of the introduction of inter-constituency games, soccer is catching up in Singapore and thus manages to attract a fairly reasonable crowd at the Jalan Besar Stadium. But let me warn the Minister: even this crowd will soon melt away from the way things are being done and organised for the inter-constituency games. On this matter, let me ask one simple question. Why was there such a poor response for the inter-constituency table tennis and sepak takraw tournaments? Is it because the officials did not go down to the grass-root level to organise these two games properly? Secondly, why was the organisation of inter-constituency Chinese chess nipped in the bud? It is a popular coffee-shop game.”
“Sir, I want to know from the Minister whether they are going to use the word "million" in the Tamil language or do they want to continue using the English word "million" in the Tamil announcements. I want to be sure that the word "million" is changed to Tamil, which is latcham, so that I do not have to ask this again and again. If the announcement is in Tamil, we want to be sure that this word is in Tamil. We do not want it in Anglo-Tamil.”
“Sir, regarding the word "million", I want to know ---”
“There are some local theatrical groups whose performances are good. Why not televise them and thereby encourage them? How successful has the Broadcasting Department been in attracting people to contribute songs and drama with local colour, or have the miserable prizes it offers not brought in any contributions? Sometime ago, one could view TV documentaries quite often. Documentaries, as one knows, have a very great educational value and for Singapore in particular, where the population is young, these documentaries will enhance the concepts of this world. It is time RTS introduced more documentaries rather than pop singers who were idols sometime ago. Sir, in the last Budget session, I pointed out the wrong pronunciation of the word "million" by the Tamil announcers. The Tamil language is very old. But the Tamil announcers do not seem to know the word "million" in Tamil. They use the English word "million". Last year, I mentioned about this and I told them not to use "million". If they speak Tamil, use purely the Tamil words. Why must they mix English and Tamil together? If there is no such word in the Tamil language, then there is no harm. But there is a word for "million" in Tamil. Up to-date no effort has been made to rectify this error. Why is this so? When a Member of Parliament shouts out his complaints here, is that the end of the matter, closed up and finished? If so, what is the use of talking, talking, and talking again? 3.00 p.m.”
“Sir, the standard of broadcasting is quite poor. Some of the announcers swallow their words. I believe the reason is that broadcasters are chosen from their paper qualifications rather than their broadcasting abilities. This should not be the case. Language proficiency is very important. It does not take a very highly qualified person to be announcers. Therefore, I suggest that fluency and proficiency in the language medium should be considered when selecting candidates for the post. If not, they should be sent for training. Why is the standard of locally produced programmes so poor? Is it because our producers are not properly trained? Most of our programmes are imported since we lack expertise in producing scripts. Why we do not get foreign experts to train our people? I also heard that the payments made to the artistes are very low, but if foreigners come, they pay more money. If an artiste is to sing just a song over TV, he or she has to go through a number of auditions, before the final scene is shot. Surely something could be done about this. After all the fuss, the artiste is paid a miserable mite. How is it that the same faces appear again and again on our local TV programmes? We cannot get other persons -only those persons! Something is definitely wrong somewhere. What efforts are being made to introduce new blood of screen artistes? Is there a clique system in the auditioning section? Probably the system of auditioning artistes has to be reviewed to give more people a chance to come forward to participate. Most of the programmes in the English Section are imported ones. Even the plays are BBC-produced. Surely with a large English-speaking population we should be able to produce some plays over TV and Radio.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I cannot get a correct answer from the Parliamentary Secretary. The Minister for Culture is supposed to be the person who approves these advertisements. Right or wrong, it must be referred to the Ministry concerned before approval is given. Now, is not the Broadcasting Department under the Ministry of Culture? Therefore, the Ministry should take action. But he has said that this matter comes under Broadcasting. Broadcasting - which department, which Ministry? Ministry of Culture, is it not? So why is he confusing the issue? He should not avoid my question, but give a straight answer.”
“Sir, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Culture said that the Publicity Division does not have any control over advertisements. What then is the duty of the Publicity Division? And are advertisements controlled by the Ministry of Culture or some other Ministry? Is the Publicity Division controlled by the Ministry of Culture or some other Ministry? I do not know why the Parliamentary Secretary keeps on mentioning that that is not under his jurisdiction. I do not understand. Mr Speaker, Sir, 1 want my questions answered. The Chairman: Perhaps the Parliamentary Secretary can explain again.”