Peh Chin Hua
Singapore
“Secondly, I can see that some hawkers are doing a roaring trade. They live in big houses and drive Mercedes cars. If they are good in their trade and want to expand their stall space, they should be allowed to take over the vacant stalls nearby, so that they can expand their business.”
“The Government has continued to help the low income group by ways of rebates and reduction in rental, utilities, and S&C charges. This means that when we have succeeded in our economic development, we do not neglect those less fortunate and elderly people. We also provide opportunities for them to be trained and retrained.”
“Sir, the annual Primary One registration exercise is something that parents are most concerned about. As a parent, I do not agree with sending my children to the so-called branded school.”
“With Singapore moving very rapidly into a modern IT society, there is bound to be an increase in the number of patients with various eye diseases. This is a matter not to be overlooked.”
“They want to introduce this sort of creative spirit of the Silicon Valley into our public service departments. We encourage our public servants to keep on coming out with new ideas and to cultivate our civil service with this concept of creativity. Only then can we establish a very creative entrepreneurial society.”
“The Prime Minister's emphasis on the use of standard English is not only very timely, but only serves as a warning to our bilingual educational system. Apart from emphasising the use of correct English, we should have a better use of standard language in the media, in the television, radio and the newspapers.”
The complete record
Every one of 176 lines we hold for Peh Chin Hua, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 4.
“RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, with your indulgence, I will respond to Mr Ahmad Magad and Mr Peh, and perhaps ask Mr Peter Chen to respond to Dr Tan on the Fourth University when I have finished. Sir, it is neither practical nor feasible for MOE to regulate or restrict the wide variety of external degree programmes that students in Singapore may wish to subscribe to. MOE is also not in a position to accredit their standards. These courses can take many forms. They might even be conducted by correspondence or over the Internet. The more practical approach is for these programmes and their quality to be subject to the test of the market. The employer is really in the best position to determine which courses and qualifications are most relevant to his needs, and how much value and recognition to give to a person's qualifications. At the same time, prospective students enrolling in these degree programmes should conduct their own careful and thorough evaluation, just like they would for any other investment. And, over time, students and parents would learn that not all degrees are the same, and employers would choose to recognise different degrees and qualifications in different ways. As for Mr Peh's suggestion, I will ask the universities to take that up.”
“Sir, the Ministry of Community Development and Sports, together with the People's Association, has been encouraging the elderly people in Singapore to carry on learning with the slogan "Making a spurt again at 60". I think this is a good campaign. At first, I did not know that there was an Executive MBA course conducted in Chinese by the Business School of NUS. By chance, a friend introduced it to me and I enrolled myself in the course. At that time, I thought I was just embracing the attitude of life-long learning and I hoped to set an example to the younger generation to cultivate the spirit of life-long learning. I was also hoping that I could pick up some business management knowledge in a more systematic manner from the university. To my surprise, after embarking on this course, I discovered that I have not only learnt a lot of new western and oriental business management knowledge but have also got acquainted with a lot of friends who are senior executives in the Asia Pacific region. They come from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. We have therefore established a valuable regional business network which is of great help to me to explore the Asia-Pacific market. I think we should expand this course so that there would be more students coming from the Asia Pacific region to Singapore. I understand that the Business School of the NUS is now ranked first or second in the Asia Pacific region. I think, if more of such courses are conducted, a lot of top executives in the Asia Pacific region would be attracted to come here to study, they will have better understanding of Singapore, and thereby building up better relationship with Singapore. This will be of great advantage to us.”
“I hope the Minister can consider my suggestion.”
“I am talking about the crisis in America because I am worried that the same writing crisis might occur in Singapore. We are now in a very advanced high-tech society. Watching TV and surfing the Internet have replaced the reading of newspapers, and phone calls and email are gradually replacing letter-writing. Going on to the Internet, we can communicate to someone thousands of miles away at the click of the mouse. Jargons and short forms are used unreservedly over the emails, eg, "by the way" is typed as "BTW", "for your information" is "FYI", etc. What worries me is that if our students are not able to use their pen to write, then their writing ability will drop. You may say that we have essay-writing competitions among the students and their results are good, but this happens only to those who are the cream in the schools, the very top students. Those students who are not so good in the languages will never be selected to take part in such competitions. Therefore, we cannot measure the standard of the writing ability of our students in general by looking just at the results of the essay-writing competitions. Therefore, I hope that the Ministry could strengthen the teaching of writing through creative education. We should encourage pupils to read and write more, so that they can write presentable minutes and reports. The class should read all sorts of books, and not just the same old textbook, and that we should make it a rule that every student must read certain articles from the Straits Times and the Lianhe Zaobao and to comment on them. These comments or reports would then be marked and assessed by the teachers. Only through this method will the writing ability of our pupils be raised and satisfaction be derived out of writing.”
“Sir, I would like to talk about creative learning. Just now, Mr Chiam lamented on the degree of difficulties in the Mathematics syllabus and that parents are not able to help their children. We have now entered into the 21st century, and we should not remain in the 19th century. There are changes in the high technologies in the 21st century. Our pupils, I think, rank first in the International Mathematics Competition. What is important is that students should understand the subject, not their parents. When I was young, I could not even read ABC. But my two-year grandson is already able to recognise from A to Z. Therefore, we should not put any restrictions on pupils' might. I would like to talk about the language competence among the "O" level and "A" level students. I have found that their writing ability is far from satisfactory. Therefore, we need to double our efforts in this aspect. If our students have to spend a lot of time on the learning of the language, and yet can only listen and speak in the mother tongue but not able to write it well, I can understand. But when they cannot even write properly in the first language, then something must be seriously wrong somewhere. Recently, I came across many students who could not write a proper letter to apply for a job. This reminds me of the so-called writing ability crisis that took place in the US in the 70s. There were 23 million Americans who were only semi-literate. They could only read simple advertising materials and labels. They were not able to read articles in the newspapers and magazines, and university undergraduates could not even write a proper essay. A highly-qualified manager could not write a proper note. Many Government officers and scientists were therefore asked to attend crash courses in writing.”
“Secondly, I can see that some hawkers are doing a roaring trade. They live in big houses and drive Mercedes cars. If they are good in their trade and want to expand their stall space, they should be allowed to take over the vacant stalls nearby, so that they can expand their business. For these people, if there is more space for them to operate, they will be able to do better business. So we should not restrict them to just one or two stalls, but let them rent as many stalls as they wish, so long as there are vacancies and they can afford them. Sir, I hope these proposals will be considered by the Minister.”
“If we insist on their paying so much, there will be a greater burden for them. Fourthly, make some refinancing arrangement with the bank to lower the monthly instalments payable by the shopkeepers. As business is bad, they have great difficulties paying the high instalments and high interest every month. Apart from those who have bought the shops, some of the retailers are actually renting the shops from the HDB. They have difficulties. I have three proposals. First, HDB should consider lowering the rentals and service charges. Because some of the shops are not doing well and they cannot afford to pay the high rentals. Second, the number of shops in HDB estates should be smaller, whether they are purchased or leased. If there are too many shops, it is very hard for the businesses to survive. If they can reduce the number of shops in the estates or to pay some kind of compensation to buy back the shops, the recovered shops can be turned into void decks, and there will be more space for grassroots activities. Next, consider reducing the floor area of the neighbourhood shops. Some of these shophouses have floor areas of 60, 90 or 120 square metres, but they only need 30 square metres. If they can reduce the size of the shops, the rentals will be correspondingly reduced, and this will be a help to them. As regards hawker stallholders, they have two problems. Firstly, for these people, the Government can consider lowering the rentals of their stalls, especially in the case of the stalls which were originally tendered. When the contracts expire, the rentals are adjusted upwards. In some cases, the tendered rental was already very high, yet you adjust it further upwards. It would be unreasonably high and almost impossible for the stallholder to carry on with his business.”
“Sir, the recent economic recovery and the slowdown of the US economy led us to face uncertainties in our economy. Many retailers, shopkeepers and stallholders in HDB estates do not enjoy the benefit from our economic recovery. All that they feel is that they have bad business, mounting costs and turnover is lower. They are full of complaints and grievances. At the moment, the retailers and hawkers find that the cost is almost unbearable. Although the present situation is not so serious, the moment the US economy gets worse and sends a greater impact on Asia, the situation can be very serious. I hope the Minister can seriously consider the following suggestions: Firstly, those who have already bought their shops on a 99-year lease, we should allow them to reduce the lease from the current 99 years to either 30 or 60 years. Then the surplus money could be refunded to the shopowners, so as to lighten their burden. Secondly, as Dr Teo has mentioned that there are too many shops in the older housing estates, HDB should buy back the shops from those operators who are not able to sustain their business. They may have a problem of sustaining their business, but because they have already bought the shops, they have to pay their instalments to the banks. They are in great financial difficulties. So, if it is possible, HDB should buy back the shops. Thirdly, I would suggest that the Government lower the rentals and the service charges for the shops in the HDB estates. For those who are having MUP, the shopowners do not have much benefit because they have to pay a high amount of renovation or upgrading charges, unlike the residents who only pay 20-40%. I hope the Government will allow them to enjoy the upgrading, but without having to pay so much money.”
“The Government has continued to help the low income group by ways of rebates and reduction in rental, utilities, and S&C charges. This means that when we have succeeded in our economic development, we do not neglect those less fortunate and elderly people. We also provide opportunities for them to be trained and retrained. The Minister has also put forward many measures to stimulate our commercial and business community. These include the employee stock option scheme. From 1st April onwards, the gains made by this scheme will be tax exempt for the first $2,000. Thereafter, a tax of 25% will be levied on the other gains with a cap of $1 million. This measure will stimulate the enterprises and the enterpreneurs. I feel that the Government is still very conservative in this scheme. I hope that the Government will be bolder and faster to approve the entrepreneur's application for such a scheme so that their employees will be able to enjoy the gains under this scheme earlier. I support the motion.”
“The same high-tech company, which I mentioned earlier, now receives some 60 to 70 applications for one vacancy of head of department. Among the applicants, many are Ph.D and M.Sc degree holders. As such, I feel that the slowing down of the US economy or the possible recession will have great impact on the world economy, including Singapore's economy. There is one observation which warrants our attention. When I was talking to the entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley, they did not think the conservative economic ideas of the new US administration would be able to solve the present economic crisis faced by the United States of America. That being the case, we should pay more attention to the changes in the US economy, and monitor closely the progress over there. Perhaps, we should consider putting part of our economic development plan on the two major economies in Asia, namely, flourishing China and the potentially viable India. In my view, hitherto, our investments in these two countries and our understanding of their cultural backgrounds are grossly inadequate. I am very pleased with the tax reduction and rebates announced in the Budget. These will benefit Singaporeans from all stations of life as well as the business community. Reduction in corporate tax is the general trend in the whole globalised economy. The biggest piece of good news to the business community is the reduction of corporate tax from 25.5% to 24.5%. To maintain our competitive edge, it would be absolutely necessary to carry on cutting our corporate tax in the next few years. As for the individual tax, with effect from YA 2002, the Government will reduce the rate of individual income tax by 2% to 5% and the top income bracket will be reduced from 28% to 26%. This is a wise move.”
“Fortunately, the vast majority of Singaporeans are sober in realising that we would rather have a good government which is paid well, of high quality, efficient, and works for the benefit of the people than to have a "cheapskate" government to lead Singapore into disasters and chaos. As long as we are able to maintain this national consciousness we will continue to have a peaceful and prosperous Singapore where the people are able to share in the wealth of the nation, year after year. This is our common wish. The Opposition Member, Mr Low Thia Khiang, remarked that the Budget was only seemingly generous but not so substantially. I think such a remark can only come from those who may know a lot about politics but little about economics. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I visited the Silicon Valley in the United States of America in July last year, the US economy was booming. I was told that when a high-technology company wanted to engage a head of department, it had great difficulty in getting a suitable candidate. Very often, it had to offer very attractive salaries and stock option to poach from other high-technology companies for the required talent. Even then, not many people were interested in such attractive offers. However, a few months later, the situation over there underwent some earth-shaking changes. Two weeks ago, I visited the Silicon Valley again. I could vividly feel that the US economy has slowed down. Those dot.com companies which did not have solid foundations saw their share prices falling from US$100 to US$1, some even went down to 60 cents. Even the strong high-tech companies also found their share prices tumbling down from US$100 to between US$16 and US$26. The consumption market was also very hard hit.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this year the Minister for Finance, Dr Richard Hu, has presented a wealth-sharing Budget and this has made Singaporeans think that this is a very generous Budget in an election year. With global economic competition getting more and more intense today, many countries have plunged into economic and political predicament. In certain countries, owing to the quality of political leadership, these leaders are unable to turn around their economic decline, resulting in substantial currency depreciation, outflow of capital, withdrawal of foreign investments and grave unemployment situation. The people there have not been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and there are frequent riots. The whole economy is paralysed. Under these circumstances, even a general election followed by a change of government is unable to solve their national problems. On the other hand, take a look at Singapore. We are able to accumulate budget surpluses year after year. The people are well taken care of. They are well fed and well clothed. People enjoy high wages and stable jobs. Even the low income group and the less fortunate people receive very good care and concern. People are able to share in the prosperity of the country. Our society is stable and peaceful, and our currency strong and stable. People live in safety and prosperity. This is due, to a great extent, to the fact that the people of Singapore have been wise in electing a reliable and good Government which has the people's welfare at heart. I know that some Singaporeans are of the view that the political leaders are overpaid in Singapore.”
“Sir, the annual Primary One registration exercise is something that parents are most concerned about. As a parent, I do not agree with sending my children to the so-called branded school. I can fully understand the eagerness of the parents to send their children to these branded schools, because they have high expectations for their children. Therefore, the number of children seeking admission into these schools has increased over the years. I would like to suggest to the Ministry that "seeded" primary schools be given greater autonomy by allowing them to set their own entrance test for the purpose of admitting Primary One children. Although the prospective students should not be subjected to a written entrance test, they should at least be tested on their conversational and counting skills. This is better than the present system where children are admitted in Phases 2(a), 2(b) and 2(c). The majority of schools, such as neighbourhood schools and non-SAP schools, can retain the existing admission procedures for children who do not want to take such an entrance test. 3.15 pm”
“Of course, we have to avoid letting some teachers pleasing their students by deliberately setting some easy questions so that the students can score higher marks in their examinations or could give tips before the examinations. The schools should then conduct common tests or common examinations, as a precaution. Nowadays, teachers have not only to know how to teach the subjects, they should also care and love their students, so as to cultivate them and to invoke their interest and confidence in their learning. If a teacher can transform a student from a problem student to an outstanding student, then he or she is a valuable teacher. So, good teachers should be commended and promoted and be given an increase in their salaries. On the other hand, those not so good teachers should be eliminated. We should not allow these bad teachers to exert bad influences on the students. Of course, if we want to reform any traditional method, we cannot just change it overnight, like the way we change a computer. It has to be a gradual process. Put in some new ideas to the old system and gradually replace the old system. Perhaps some people will say this will remain just an ideal. But I feel that this is something to be considered seriously. Now we will talk about computers. Computers are very popular now. Everybody now knows how to use a computer. We can teach by means of computers. One teacher can teach many students at the same time. Nowadays, we have a lot of new teachers. In the old days, we had a shortage of teachers. But now we have an ample supply of teachers. I think if we have this enthusiasm to fully develop our human resources, this will be a very creative way to help Singapore develop into a knowledge-based economy and to develop our high technology.”
“In order to learn new things, I think our educational model and educational methods should also be changed. In the past, the traditional model was such that the emphasis was on memorising knowledge and good examination skills. This must be substituted by cultivation of creativity and development of characters. The students and teachers should establish a kind of interactive relationship between them. Perhaps the MOE should consider allowing students from Secondary 2 onwards to have the right to choose the teachers they like. If a teacher is very popular and his class size is so big, say, more than 35 students, then arrangement can be made for his lessons to be conducted in the larger lecture theatres. In the primary schools, the students may not be experienced enough to know whether the teacher is good or bad. When the students go to secondary one, they may not be familiar with the new school environment. So let them wait until secondary two, then they should be allowed to choose the teacher of their own choice. This is a new creative type of school planning. The teachers can have a sort of competition among themselves. It will also motivate them to do their work better. Then the students will be attracted to come and learn under them. In the old days when the students were attending classes by certain teachers whose teaching was dull and uninteresting, they were bored and hence lost their interest in the subject. But if they can choose the teachers they like, they will be inspired to learn better. When the school adopts this method where the students can choose their own teachers, promotion of the teachers can be based on the number of students they have in their respective classes in addition to the results that he has produced by his teaching.”
“Sir, first of all, I would like to respond to what Mr Low Thia Khiang has said just now about the survey by the NUS on the Chinese students in Singapore who aspire to be of other races in their next life. Personally, I am not surprised by this finding because our young people are constantly influenced by the western culture surrounding them. Recently, when I was in Shanghai, I was told that many people in China are also aspiring to become Americans. The young people in China receive their education in Chinese. To each and every student in China, the Chinese language is always the first language. In fact, it is their one and only national language. Based on Mr Low's reasoning, they should not aspire to be anything but Chinese. Yet, the Shanghainese also want to become Americans. So when the Singapore students aspire to be foreigners in their next life, I think there is nothing to do with the education they receive here. Now, let me talk about the subject which I have filed an amendment. Under our educational system, from the old days until today, students from primary one right up to junior college were passively sent to attend classes conducted by teachers appointed by the schools. Of course, to the primary school and the lower secondary school students, this is necessary. But with Singapore becoming a developed country and with the rapid emergence of the knowledge-based economy, competition in the future society will certainly become more and more intense. So when students go into society and face competition, they will have to depend on their own wisdom and their own hard work to solve their problems. But the education handed down by the teachers in their student days will be a source of great strength to back them up.”
“With Singapore moving very rapidly into a modern IT society, there is bound to be an increase in the number of patients with various eye diseases. This is a matter not to be overlooked. I do not wish to see that in the not too far distant future, Singapore leads the world in IT development, and the proportion of people in our country suffering from myopia and other eye diseases also tops the world. This will be a pity. In this year's budget, I see that only $6 million is allocated to the National Eye Centre. If we want to step up our R&D, I think this is not enough. I hope that the Ministry of Health would grant more money for the study of eye diseases to improve the eyesight of our people.”
“Sir, because of the higher educational level and the rapid economic development, Singaporeans are spending significantly more time in reading and working. There are more and more people suffering from myopia, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and cataract. Particularly, in recent years, with the emergence of the computer and Internet and the ever increasing number of international TV channels, international news and interesting events can be easily accessed from PCs and television. In other words, Singaporeans are spending more time on computers and on watching television. As a result, many of our citizens and our working class people are suffering from various types of eye diseases. According to a local opthamologist, many primary and secondary students are suffering from myopia, and some of them are as young as six years old. When they grow up to 12 years old, their shortsightedness can be as high as 1,000 degrees. About 12% of our primary students are shortsighted and up to secondary school, about 56% are suffering from myopia. In the SAF, about 48.5% of the Chinese NS boys are having myopia and among the Malays, 24% of them are myopic. If we do not look into this problem seriously, then our primary and secondary students will have more and more complicated eye diseases when they grow up. The specialist told me that this is not just simple myopia. There are also many complicated eye diseases. This is certainly a cause for concern. With the development of the IOL implantation technique, many developing countries are introducing advanced techniques of phacoemulcification to train their own eye doctors to treat their eye patients. Our National Eye Centre, established by the Ministry of Health, has also played a very important role in this aspect.”
“Otherwise, doctors on duty will be over-stressed and will lose their zeal to attend to the patients. Sooner or later, they will become doctors who could say only two words - "How" and "Next". I hope the Ministry of Health can look into this matter.”
“" Everything was done very mechanically and without showing any feeling or emotion. This description may be somewhat exaggerated, but many patients and myself have the same feeling that our doctors have been more mechanical than caring. They are too focused on efficiency. This is like operating a production line in the factory. I do not think this is a good thing for doctors to do. Many people have also told me that there seems to be a lack of urgency in the A&E Department in the hospital. I feel we should review the mode of operation at the A&E Department. We must understand that to the patients an illness is an illness. To them, if they do not feel well, the matter is serious and it requires immediate attention. The patients and their family members are naturally very anxious and they regard their cases to be the most serious among all the patients, especially when the patients are young children or old people. It is best to have a screening system at the A&E Department whereby the nurses will examine the patients immediately upon their arrival, and make professional judgement to decide on how the case should be classified and dealt with accordingly. The cases could be classified as A: critically ill, and B: emergency. The A&E Department should have two clinics: Clinic A to deal with the critically or life-threatening cases, while Clinic B will deal with other not life-threatening but emergency cases. As for other ailments, such as cough and cold, flu, fever, etc, they should be streamed to the non-emergency departments. In this way, you can lighten the workload of doctors at the A&E Department. At the same time, there should be more doctors on duty at the A&E department.”
“Sir, from young, I have always respected two types of people. First, the teachers and, secondly, the doctors. At that time, the SGH and TTSH might not be as good as what they are today, but the doctors have left a very unforgettable impression on me. When I was in Primary Five I went to the hospital for an operation to remove my appendix, and I stayed there for three days. In Secondary Two, I had high fever and was warded in TTSH for five days. The doctors there were very professional and very caring to the patients. They always tried their best to alleviate the fears and suffering of their patients. These are things that we do not see commonly in Singapore nowadays. The young doctors in the outpatient department care only for high efficiency. They only think about how many patients they can see every day, but do not care about the feelings of the patients and their family members. Generally speaking, the doctors have blank faces. They do not have a caring heart. They do not want to communicate with the patients. And some friends have told me that doctors in the hospitals say only two words, "How" and "Next". They are mechanical. They are all the same. Let me illustrate the "how" and the "next" in this short episode: 1.15 pm Mother took leave to take her sick child to see the doctor in the hospital. They waited for a few hours and finally, their turn came to see the doctor. The doctor took a look at the worrying mother and the sleepy child, and asked expressionlessly, "How?". The mother replied nervously, "My son has a high fever and is coughing." The doctor took the temperature, checked the throat of the child and wrote the prescription in quick succession. He then looked up and said to the nurse, "Next!”
“Sir, with the rapid advances in IT and Internet technology, today's offices are no longer the same as the traditional offices we have in mind. Sectors such as IT technology, e-commerce and technological services can be located in residential premises. So long as there is a desktop computer, PC software development and other business activities can be carried out. In this respect, I would like the HDB to do the same by allowing HDB lessees to register their business and carry out certain commercial activities in their flats. Lessees and tenants should be allowed to carry out their business from their flats, so long as these flats are not used as warehouses. With the saving on rent, it will be better for these young entrepreneurs to start up their business. With the emergence of e-commerce, the neighbourhood shops in HDB estates will be gradually phased out. I hope the HDB and MND would not build more shopping centres and shops because with the emergence of e-commerce, it will be difficult for these shops to survive. I also hope that the Building Control Department can relax on the ratio for space in the warehouses to be used as offices.”
“In order to earn a living, he did not resort to robbery or secret society activities, but was merely selling some uncensored VCDs. As a first offender, a sentence of a few months' imprisonment would have been adequate to serve as a deterrence to him. To me, a two-year jail term is manifestly excessive. He had given an assurance not to repeat the offence. After interviewing him, I was convinced that he was truly repentant. I made representation on his behalf to the relevant authority, but it was rejected by the prosecution and the judge. I wonder if we could sometimes temper justice with mercy, and give these first time offenders with good mitigating circumstances a chance to turn over a new leaf. Likewise, this female resident who was arrested for consumption of drugs was fully remorseful and promised not to consume drugs again. I have written four or five letters to the various departments and even with all the counselling that she had undertaken, her mitigation plea was not accepted by the authorities. She was sentenced to one year's imprisonment. Sir, no doubt, they were guilty of the offences that they had been charged with. They were sentenced to imprisonment. There is nothing we can say about it. But for first offenders, can we not be slightly lenient and be more compassionate to them?”
“Sir, the strict enforcement of law in Singapore is well-known throughout the world. That is why our public law and order, as well as drug control, is much stronger than in many other countries. This is something that we are very proud of. I fully admire the police force and the various law enforcement agencies for their spirit of professionalism. However, recently, I discovered that some law enforcement agencies have been too rigid enforcing certain types of offences and they have forgotten that sometimes within the law we should also exercise some mercy and compassion. Recently, in my meet-the-people session, I came across two cases. In the first case, a resident in my GRC was retrenched during the financial crisis. For quite some time, he was unable to find a job to support his family. In order to make ends meet, he was stupid enough to succumb to circumstances and resorted to sell uncensored VCDs. Although the VCDs he sold were neither pornographic nor religiously-sensitive, they were nevertheless illegal. During a raid by the police, he was arrested. He pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, even though he was a first offender with no previous conviction. A second case involved a female resident in my GRC. Because of family and some financial problems, she was induced by somebody to take drugs and the very first time when she was taking drugs, she was arrested by Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers, and charged in court. Upon conviction, she was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, albeit a first offender. No doubt, selling uncensored VCD is an offence. But for a first offender, the sentence of two years in prison is too heavy.”
“Sir, the speed in which the Singapore police officers solve cases is well known to all. For example, they have done very well in arresting the kidnappers, secret society members and robbers. This is very heartening. However, recently, I heard some comments from ordinary citizens in Singapore that when the police arrested the illegal workers and loansharks at the coffeeshops and hawker centres, they could only arrest the "tua pek kong" but not the "heads". At first, I did not understand what they meant by tua pek kong. Later on, I found out that the ordinary citizens were referring to the runners. They cannot get hold of the syndicate leaders, but managed only to arrest the runners who were really the scapegoats. I personally feel that with the wisdom, experience and efficiency of the senior-ranking police officers, they need just to spend a little more time and effort. And they would be able to catch hold of these syndicate leaders and not just these runners to be the scapegoats. Otherwise, if our policemen can only nab these runners, while the syndicate leaders stay at the back and laugh at the police for their incapability, it will be an insult to the entire police force. From what I know, even after these runners were arrested and sent to prison, the gang would continue to collect the protection money, which could be as high as $500 per month from the hawkers. But of course, the syndicate leaders will look after the runners and every month, they will pay money to family members of these runners to support them. What I am worried is that if the police is not able to catch hold of the syndicate leaders, then we would not be able to eradicate these criminal activities.”
“Sir, Minister Yeo Cheow Tong announced recently that the Government has planned to allocate $25 million in the next three years to give away second-hand personal computers to 30,000 low income families and to allow them to surf the Net for free. This is a very good idea. At the same time, every Singaporean above the age of 45 years will be provided with an e-mail account and personal website, thereby narrowing the gap between the computer savvy and the computer illiterate. Nowadays, the business community is better informed of what is happening in the world through the Internet and e-mail. Through the use of personal computers, they can gain access to a wealth of knowledge and information. Therefore, we must be computer-literate. NTUC has been offering training on the use of computer to the workers. Now that almost every family has a PC and the fact that housewives and senior citizens are in the habit of watching television programmes, the Ministry may want to work hand in hand with TCS to produce some documentaries on the use of computers and information technology, and teach them how to surf the Net. This is more effective and economical than employing 2,500 computer experts to go to the RC centres and teach the people there. We can also cooperate with TCS to telecast to our residents, particularly the lower income people, the latest news on network updates, and recommendations on interesting sites on the Internet. In China, there are regular TV programmes on the latest developments on information technology. These are very informative and interesting programmes. It will help the people to understand IT better. I hope the Minister will consider introducing such programmes to Singapore.”
“My children told me not to go because I am an MP and that we should not be seen watching this kind of movie. It is a R(A) movie. Since when has Shakespeare been linked to a R(A) movie? I insisted on going because I wanted to know what kind of censorship criteria MITA was adopting. In my view, there were only two scenes which were objectionable. Have them cut and the story-line of the movie would still be intact, and the R(A) movie could easily be re-classified as PG. And there is one lecturer who showed me a children's magazine and he asked me why such a magazine which contains pornographic material is allowed to be circulated in Singapore. Our children are allowed to read such magazines. This is a great puzzle to me. In this year's Asian's Film Festival, we have got Asian pornographic movies and the Chinese readers' reaction is that these are no more than blue films under the disguise of art. Therefore, although we cannot control Internet, we would be able to control the kind of films to be shown here. If we try our best, we can control such films. I hope that MITA can look at this problem seriously. We should not further liberalise our censorship and I hope my views would be looked upon seriously by the Minister.”
“Sir, this is an old issue. With our society being more open and the advent of information technology, Internet is impacting heavily on our lifestyle. We know that it is not easy to curb pornographic materials on the Internet and this has been the concern of many countries. However, we should try our best to control the undesirable materials in our movies and magazines. I feel that our censorship is getting too liberalized now. In this open society, people sometimes are so used to all strange happenings around them that they are simply immune to them. As it is said that if you are in a smelly toilet for too long, we would be immune to the stench there. It would appear that I am the only MP speaking on censorship in this year's Budget debate. Perhaps I am really too old-fashioned. Notwithstanding that, I would like to know to what extent will censorship in Singapore be liberalised and opened up? Would the lack of stringent censorship influence the minds of our people? Take a look at the reports in Shin Min Daily News, a Chinese evening press. There are more and more cases of molesting, rapes and abandoning of babies and there is even a report of a very bold and uninhibited female who is in the habit of walking around stark naked in her flat. I think we have become too liberalised in the censorship criteria. If you look at the newspapers, you can see a lot of advertisements of R(A) movies, for example, "Virgin of 8 Wonders", "That's it", "Holy Smoke", "Downfall Prostitute", "Women Soup", "Surrogate Woman", etc. Must we allow this kind of movies to flood our cinemas? Why should we allow it? One day, I suggested to my children to go and watch the movie "Shakespeare in Love".”
“They want to introduce this sort of creative spirit of the Silicon Valley into our public service departments. We encourage our public servants to keep on coming out with new ideas and to cultivate our civil service with this concept of creativity. Only then can we establish a very creative entrepreneurial society.”
“Finally, I must say that in order for Singapore to flourish, we must have a very good culture in our civil service. First of all, I must declare my interest. Recently, I invested with a friend on a type of electronic product. It is something invested by a young Singaporean. It is what we call "creative cracker". It is not the real cracker, no gun powder and no danger. Once we announced the invention of these creative crackers, the police told us that we cannot sell them. We submitted our application. The Government's response was very fast. The Police was helpful. But when it went to the Ministry of the Environment, noise pollution was not a problem. It can be accepted. But they say this creative cracker will let out a lot of paper fragments and they will litter the public areas. So it becomes littering. They pushed the buck and finally it went back to the police. I feel that if it is just a question of littering, you can make rules and say you must clean up the paper fragments. Why must you push away such a creative invention? Finally, it just died a natural death. This is not an environment in which the Government is encouraging creative enterprise. Many of our civil servants are inflexible. When the rules say you cannot do this, then of course you cannot do it. When there are no rules to say you cannot do, yet you are not allowed to do it. I hope that our civil servants would not just say, if there is no U-turn, you cannot turn. Only if there is a U-turn sign, then you can make a U-turn. But if there is no U-turn sign, think about it. Do not do a U-turn but turn into a side road, make a 3-point turn and go on. This is creative! The Government recently announced the setting up of Enterprise Challenge Trophy started by Dr Tan Chin Nam.”
“Your dreams are nothing but just a fantasy in your mind, you will never succeed. Furthermore, you will have to know whether you have this business acumen, whether you are sensitive about the market, when to get in and when to get out, how to analyse your business operations, how is your inter-personal relationship. These are all very important factors to consider. Our young people must understand what is the highest objective that you should pursue. A successful entrepreneur will pursue a sense of satisfaction, the achievement in their business and a sense of mission and not just money. Of course, if you are successful in your business, if you have money, so long as you do not womanise, gamble or not greedy, you will have enough money to live through life. But a successful entrepreneur goes for a sense of satisfaction in the achievement of their business and a sense of mission to the society. This is the intangible wealth that is inexhaustible. Of course, an entrepreneur will have the imagination, the courage and the vision. Young people going into business would of course want to make money. But we do not want just to make a lot of money and pay a lot of taxes. We have also to return some of our moneys to society to help those who are less fortunate than us. Of course, the pursuit of wealth is not a sin, but we must understand benevolence and wealth. There is no conflict between them. Only the very rich can exercise great benevolence. Our forefathers in the business world like Tan Kah Kee and Lee Kong Chian are great entrepreneurs but they have contributed a lot in helping our society. But at the moment I can only smell young people going like a swarm of bees, just to make money. This is indeed a profound regret.”
“Of course, there are lots of venture fund schemes to help them solve this problem of shortage in capital to start their business. With the human factor and a conducive environment, the next thing is to look for opportunities, ie, the right timing. I think timing is very important. It is like when to produce and what type of products to satisfy the demands of the consumers. As for products, whether designing or manufacturing, do they really understand the market for it and what will be the competition? These are things that the young people will have to carefully consider before they go into business. So, when we see these people going into business like a swarm of bees, I feel that they are going into business with the belief that by just setting a few dot.com companies, they will become Sim Wong Hoo in a few months' time. This is very unrealistic and very naive. Money does not come so easily. They do not fall from the sky. So, when the young people go into business, even if they have the aforesaid conditions, they are only the pre-requisites. It is still a long way before they can taste success. Mr Speaker, Sir, what I want to say is that if they are enterprising just at a moment's impulse, then it will not be sustained and it will wither away very easily. The Silicon Valley was not established in this way. Even if you have the pre-requisites, it does not mean you will be successful. Therefore, we have to consider all the complicated problems that you may encounter after you have started your business, whether you have the will power to fight on, whether you will give up half-way, whether you would get up again after you have failed. You must also understand that success is the accumulation of many failures.”
“We should not encourage them to go into business like a swarm of bees with the thinking that everyone can make money and everyone can be a Sim Wong Hoo. Then this will be ridiculous. However, if they can make good money and have great wealth because of the success in their enterprises, then, of course, it is well and good. However, I can only see young people going into business with the objective of making more money and wealth. This is wrong. In the next five to 10 years, if we have successfully created a new society, then it will be a very materialistic society where everyone just goes for money and greed. This is not something that we want to see. Therefore, because of this, I feel that when we are encouraging the people to be enterprising, we should also lead the young people in the right direction. First of all, they must have an understanding of themselves before they create business. They must have this human factor. They must have the talent and the wisdom to go into the business. Of course, nowadays, we have many young talents. They have this first condition. I think this is something that is beyond doubt. Apart from this human factor, we must find out whether the surrounding environment is conducive to their starting a business. In this respect, the Singapore Government has encouraged people to venture into business and to go regional or global. The Finance Minister has amended our tax system to encourage our people to undertake creative work and to have the entrepreneurial spirit. This is something that is clear for everyone of us. Whether or not they will be able to raise enough capital to start their own business, this is again something that the Government should help.”
“Many developed countries have realised that the stock option scheme is an important factor to retain talents in a company. And now with competition getting more and more intense in this region, I think it is very important that we be able to retain our team of talents. Because the talented people, whether they are the CEOs, scientists, engineers, researchers, technicians, MBAs or even an ordinary staff in the office, they would rather take the company's shares than to ask for high salaries, because they feel that to have shares in the company will be something that creates a sense of belonging to them. If the company makes money, they should get more benefit from it. Of course, I feel that we should fix a ceiling as to how much shares they can sell off, maybe 10% or 20% per year at the most. And when they were given the stock option and at a discount, then of course they would have to pay tax when they sell off the shares. I feel that this is very important in our effort to build up Singapore as an international securities and financial centre. Only then many foreign high-tech companies will come to Singapore for listing. At the same time, it would also encourage our people to have shares in the company. Another thing I like to mention about is how to establish a more healthy era of creativity. Apart from the development expenditure which will be increased by 21% and our tax system amended to encourage people to go into creative work and to start business, this is something that is truly commendable. I personally feel that when we encourage the people to go into business, we should not create misunderstanding. We should not let the people go into business impulsively or blindly. They should understand what is their ultimate purpose of going into business.”
“I feel that at this moment we are actually going into a period of high economic growth. We have emerged from the bicycle era in the 1960s to the F16 era now. Now that our foreign reserves are steady and increasing, I think so long as the people and the Government can work hand in hand, we would be able to grab hold of this opportunity, and the 21st century will be a high economic century for Singapore. I personally feel that we should also gradually restore the CPF to our people so that people and the foreign investors will have more confidence in us and then our F16s will be able to perform better and more successful. In 1997, the Government reduced the corporate tax to 26% and from FY 2001, it will be further reduced by 0.5%, so that our corporate tax will be reduced to 25.5%. This is a very wise decision. This will enhance our competitiveness in this region. With the competition in the region getting more and more intense, many developing countries, in order to attract foreign investments, are reducing the corporate tax and giving tax waiver for a certain number of years. Therefore, in order to maintain our competitiveness, I think we should further perfect our GST system, ie, to pay more when you consume more, so when you use less, you pay less. When GST becomes our main source of revenue, we should consider further reducing the corporate tax and individual personal tax, so that we may attract more foreign companies and foreign talents to Singapore, and to contribute to our economic development so that we would be able to compete actively in the international arena. I also welcome the Finance Minister's proposal to further improve the stock option scheme.”
“However, I urge the Government to also consider giving more favourable terms to Singaporeans who are in the lower and middle income groups, such as giving them a higher interest rate, higher than the bank's interest rate so that those Singaporeans who are in the lower and middle income group who do not pay income tax would also benefit from this scheme. This will make sure that the people in the lower and middle income group will have higher CPF savings in their old age and this will also help to solve and deal with our problem of an aging population. Because of our economic recovery, the Government has decided not to grant the 10% income tax rebate as was given last year, but to give only 5% rebate this year. Many Singaporeans are disappointed. They said that with the recovery of the economy, our CPF cut has not been restored and yet our income tax rebate was reduced by half. Therefore, they had a misunderstanding against the Government. I can understand their feelings and their sentiments. Mr Speaker, Sir, since our independence, we have gone through four economic crises and economic recessions. We have, fortunately, been able to weather through this recent Asian financial crisis. And under the Government's prudent management, instead of a $5 billion deficit in our 1999 budget, we had actually a $3.2 billion surplus. This was because our people and the Government have worked together in one heart to battle this financial crisis. However, I feel that the top up of $250 to our CPF account is good, but not enough. We should commend our people and give them more positive incentive rewards. I think the best way is to immediately consider restoring their CPF contributions even in a gradual manner.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion standing in the name of the Finance Minister. In his Budget Statement, the Minister for Finance, Dr Richard Hu, said that about 65% of individuals no longer pay income tax and would not benefit from income tax rebates. To assist people in this group, the Government will continue to grant rebates on HDB service and conservancy charges, and rents. At the same time, they will also enjoy the utilities rebates. I personally feel that this kind gesture of the Government will enable the people of Singapore to realise that the Government is very caring and is full of humanity. I commend the Government for continuing to help this group of Singaporeans as our economy recovers. The Finance Minister also announced that taxpayers who stay with their parents and grandparents will enjoy higher tax relief, and the tax relief will be increased by $500, to $5,000. And also from the Year of Assessment 2001, taxpayers who top up in cash to his grandparents' and parents' retirement accounts will be allowed a tax relief. So, irrespective of the amount granted, the Government has clearly indicated that it wants to maintain the tradition of family core values to deal with our problem of an aging population. This rebate will help to promote family cohesion and family harmony and to encourage maintenance of parents and grandparents. The message of the Government is very clear and precise. The Finance Minister also announced another scheme, ie, our people are allowed to contribute voluntarily over and above their CPF savings to the Supplementary Retirement Scheme with tax being payable only when the savings are withdrawn, and participants will have considerable flexibility investing their savings. I think this is attractive to the higher income Singaporeans.”
“The Prime Minister's emphasis on the use of standard English is not only very timely, but only serves as a warning to our bilingual educational system. Apart from emphasising the use of correct English, we should have a better use of standard language in the media, in the television, radio and the newspapers. The television and the radio stations should introduce some high quality programmes so as to enhance the language standard of our audiences. The Government departments and some companies should also conduct some language classes to help their staff to improve their language standard. I feel that our bilingual system is a good one and we should yield good results which would enable us to accept the challenges of the new century. I support the motion. ADJOURNMENT OF DEBATE”
“However, upon consultation with this English author himself, I realise that the criticism by the English newspaper on the grammar taught in this book was not quite correct. This illustrates the point that the English-speaking Singaporeans can sometimes regard correct grammatical usage as being wrong usage, and treat some wrong usage as correct, and then launch an attack openly. A reader wrote to the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and complained about wrong grammar being used in the book. She doubted the identity of the author, and even telephoned the publishers to send a punitive expedition against them. What I do not understand is why is it that she herself could not differentiate between the correct grammatical usage and the wrong usage, yet she behaved as though she was having justice on her side. Why can they not be like the Lianhe Zaobao in hiring a panel or a high-quality language specialist to authenticate the English used in their reports. So from this incident, I learn the importance of the Prime Minister's insistence of speaking standard English. If we do not turn this around and correct the mistake, then we would be criticised by the foreigners that the standard of English here is very poor and it would be difficult for Singapore to make it to the list of globalised international cosmopolitan cities. Just as this English author was telling me, he was surprised that the standard of English in Singapore has dropped so dramatically over the last few years. There is nothing I could say about it. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, Singaporeans have very good linguistic abilities. Many Singaporeans can speak many languages. However, they are generalists and not specialists. They are not proficient in any of the languages - neither here nor there.”
“We should not resort to the use of sub-standard language, whether it is Singlish or various forms of Mandarin. Because of our environmental limits, our Mandarin may not be as good as that of the others, and our standard of Chinese is lower than others. This does not amount to giving us the right to use and promote sub-standard Chinese and Mandarin. Likewise, our standard of written and spoken English cannot be compared to that of the United Kingdom and the United States of America. This does not mean to say that we cannot write grammatically correct English and speak standard English. In the promotion of the use of standard languages, besides the efforts of the school teachers, the press and the various media also play very important roles. Here, I would like to tell you the real-life joke concerning another Singaporean who speaks pure English. I would like to declare my interest as a publisher. In August this year, I came across this real-life incident. A pure-English speaking Singaporean and a number of journalists from the English language newspaper criticised a certain book compiled by an English author and alleged that there were "full of grammatical mistakes" in the book. They even captioned the article as: "50 language bloopers" (The Sunday Times, 1st August 1999). As a reader, my first impression would be that the report and criticism by this pure-English speaking Singaporean and the journalists from the English language newspaper, because my standard of English is not as high as theirs, must be correct. I am sure many, many Singaporeans must have believed that the newspaper report was accurate.”
“This is a common social phenomenon and it is a common way of communication among the ordinary citizens. Although it is not good to use adulterated English, it is, after all, a by-product of our multi-racial and multi-lingual society. It was only when I realise that some Singaporeans who speak pure English and not Singlish are also not able to speak standard English and write standard English that I begin to understand how very important it was for the Prime Minister to raise this issue of speaking standard English. Everyone knows that I am a Chinese-educated MP. I am unable to speak standard English. Yet, I reject the use of adulterated English, just as I do not agree with people speaking adulterated Mandarin. During my business trips overseas, whenever I hear our Singaporeans speaking the Singapore-style of Mandarin, I would try my best to stop them. Whether they are speaking English, Mandarin or Malay, the foreigners just cannot understand what they are talking. The adulterated languages of Singapore are generated because of the multi-racial environment. Most Singaporeans can understand this type of language, but the foreigners do not. Let me quote you an example. When I was in China, I actually heard a Singaporean speaking, "My brother kahwin liao." All Singaporeans present could understand what he was talking about. But in China, England or the United States, I am sure the people there would have no clue at all as to what he was talking about. Therefore, it is important for the Government to promote the correct usage in English, in Malay, in Mandarin. I think it is very important to our efforts to enhance our capability and then to promote a knowledge-based economy.”
“Therefore, if we can keep on explaining to our people how we have tackled our economic crises such as those in 1965, 1976, 1985 and 1998, it would help to make our people realise the importance of having a good government. I feel that it is very important to make the people of Singapore realise the vulnerability of Singapore and the need to constantly work hard and maintain the spirit of fighting for survival and prosperity. The President also mentioned that the Government will revamp its education system so as to prepare our citizens for the knowledge-based economy. The Ministry of Education will adopt the necessary measures to cater for the different needs of each and every child according to his learning aptitude. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I fully support the new educational measures and reform and to adopt a more creative approach to education so that students can have more avenues to develop their talents and achieve success in different areas. We have to also address the problems of parents who have this kiasu mentality. They force-feed their children even before they have started attending school, putting them through very heavy scheduled ballet class, piano lesson, art class, swimming lesson, performing class, recitation of Tang poems, etc. The poor children have lost their childhood innocence, and are being pressurised until near suffocation even at a very tender age. Although children can absorb all kinds of knowledge, there is a limit to it. We should also pay attention to their character formation. We should not force-feed them. Another problem I would like to raise is the problem raised by the Prime Minister at the National Day Rally. The issue is on the use of Singlish.”
“The Government should set up stringent benchmarks and clear criteria when they admit the foreign talents, so that there will not be discrepancies when the civil servants carry out their instructions. The President also said, "Post crisis, we are in a stronger position. But we can expect fiercer competition, and more daunting challenges." Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to point out that we have already weathered the regional economic crisis. However, except for those who were retrenched and some businessmen, shop-owners and hawkers who were hit by the crisis, many Singaporeans merely had their CPF contributions cut and were not really hurt. This is possibly due to the Government's prompt action in implementing the second $10.5 billion package of cost-cutting measures. It enabled the economy of Singapore to avoid more severe beating, and helped the economy to stabilise. Therefore, we should inculcate the idea among our people that we must have a capable government to lead us through crises like this. I find that many Singaporeans actually believe that it is a natural order of things for Singapore to go through this economic crisis unscathed. I do not deny the fact that the developing trend of the world economy, the Asia-Pacific economy and the South East Asia economy since the beginning of this year have certain effect on Singapore's economic recovery. However, if not for the Government's timely intervention by implementing the cost-cutting package measures in the shortest possible time, Singapore's economy will be like some of the countries in South East Asia , and unable to get out of recession in such a short time.”
“At the same time, we should allow those who are less successful to learn from the successful people, to learn from their hard work. This will be more meaningful. I believe the Government can strike a balance between the successful and the less successful people. Here let me quote an article by the well-known writer You Jin appearing in the Lianhe Zaobao. In the article, she wrote: "To do good and expect nothing in return is an inherent cultivation and virtue. Showing gratitude and willing to reward a good deed is a kind of moral obligation. If the receiver of the benefit has the means in future to help another person in the same spirit, then this is bringing the virtue to higher ground." In his speech, President Nathan also spoke about the importance of attracting foreign talents. He said, and I quote: "Without an infusion of foreign talent to give us that extra boost, Singapore will not be in the front ranks among many cities in Asia." I fully agree and support this view of the President. What I want to point out is that the foreign talents we are attracting should be those who are able to give us that extra boost to enable us to have breakthroughs in the fields of economy, science and technology, culture and the arts. However, during my meet-the-people-sessions, I observe that some foreigners who are applying for permanent residence status and citizenship are not exactly "talents". They do not have a university degree or possess the skills or talents which are needed by Singapore. They are farmers and ordinary workers. Yet, they are granted permanent residence status. I am puzzled!”
“In this way, there will be more great people like Tan Kah Kee and Lee Kong Chian, people who are well respected by all in Singapore. In the past decade, the Government has left no stone unturned in supporting charitable work and continuously urged the successful Singaporeans to help those who are less successful. The Government has also recognised the contributions made by the successful people. This can be seen by the number of National Day Awards given to these people every year. However, I feel that this recognition is still confined to a mere formality only. We really have not recognised or built up a climate that enables people to respect these successful people and support them, so that these successful people can become the role model for the young people to emulate. I find that the young people are quite different from the older generation in their thinking and in their behaviour. They are affected by the environment of a highly commercialized society and the tough competitions they are facing. They are materialistic, self-centred and very kiasu. Deep in their hearts, they lack the respect and admiration for the successful ones. They do not have the humility and modesty to learn from others. On the contrary, they are full of envy and jealousy, and they express their jealousy in various ways and this causes a lot of embarrassment and disappointment to the successful ones. I believe that we can guide these people to respect the successful ones through school education, social education and the media, so that more respect could be accorded to the successful people. These may help to change the kiasu mentality of the people and enhance the bonding of the people in order that the successful ones can be encouraged to contribute more to the less fortunate people.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I fully support the motion standing in the name of Mr Davinder Singh. Our progress in the past 40 years has laid a firm foundation for our future development and we will continue to build on this foundation and to march into the next century in order to meet the challenges brought about by globalisation and the knowledge-based economy. However, while we develop the knowledge-based economy and move towards being a globalised cosmopolitan, we should also enhance the bonding between the people to build up a caring society. This is very important. The President pointed out that the cohesion among the people of Singapore should not be diminished just because of globalisation, particularly the gap between the successful and the less successful. They should have the ideology to look after one another and support one another. The President also made special mention, and I quote, "Those who do well succeed not simply through their own efforts, but because Singapore society has given them the opportunities to get ahead. They have an obligation to serve their fellow Singaporeans. On their part, Singaporeans should cheer for those among us who do well, and not envy them." I fully agree with the President on this. On the other hand, this is because behind every successful person, there is always a group of people who is working silently to assist him, and to support him. As such, successful Singaporeans have the moral obligation to serve other compatriots, and to pay back to society. Every successful Singaporean should start by helping those who are working under them and the people around him, and then extend his help to the weaker ones in our society.”
“I hope that in the 21st century Singapore, the successful Singaporeans will continue to help the less successful Singaporeans to make them feel the warmth of society and let them feel that Singapore is a place that they want to live in. This will be very important to the cohesion among Singaporeans. Finally, I would like to quote the late paramount leader of China, Deng Xiao Peng who called upon the 1.2 billion people of China to learn from Singapore. He said, "We must adopt the strategy of "grabbing with both hands". With one hand, we grab the materialistic civilisation, and with the other hand, we grab the spiritual civilisation." I hope that even after we go into the 21st century, Singapore will remain a model for China and other countries to emulate. I support the motion.”
“Many people say that entrepreneurs should have the venture spirit but the so-called "venture" has normally been wrongly perceived as a kind of "big stake gambling". I think that is wrong. I hope that our schools would inculcate in our students the venture spirit. We should have very special ways of teaching. I feel that venture spirit is something out of boldness, it is a kind of courage, and a kind of optimism for future vision. It is a kind of ideology; it is not 50-50 gambling, not fatalism but a sure-win kind of spirit. So with this kind of spirit, when we are creating or endeavouring to achieve something, we train our entrepreneurs to make a decision. At times, it takes some very strong nerves to make major decisions that determine our fate in the future. When we are facing adversity, we must be able to use all our efforts and talent to overcome it. So we must have a great ambition in our career and business, and translate our ambition into reality. It is not empty talk. It is not just talking without doing it or just dreaming. So you can say that a genuine adventurer is both a dreamer and a realist, because he is able to translate his imagination into reality. Later on, after the children have grown up, when they start their enterprises or when they have to make some major decisions, they will not treat the venture spirit as a big-stake gambling or a life-and-death battle in life. In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the S21 report. However, while we strive to realize our vision for the 21st century, we must never lose sight of the five core values and the excellent traditional cultures of the various races, racial harmony, religious tolerance, the vulnerability of a small country, and the support of a clean government.”
“If everybody in Singapore understands the history and the thinking of our leaders in Singapore, the new generation of Singaporeans will be able to understand the challenges facing us and will also be able to appreciate our vulnerability in this environment. This will be very important in building up mutual confidence within the people and the country. I agree with the Committee to urge Singaporeans overseas to have more contact with one another, and to form more friendship clubs among themselves. More Singaporeans overseas will be able to exchange ideas to help each other, to meet together so as to promote and celebrate our own festivals and our cultural heritage. I hope that our TCS network would facilitate overseas Singaporeans with the means to access our TV programmes, news reports and bulletins, and all kinds of entertainment programmes. TCS should simplify its procedures for application and payment of fees. Through these TCS channels, we will be able to unite them together to enhance their cohesion with the country in Singapore. Today, we cannot just depend on laksa, mee siam, roti prata, bak kuh teh and Teochew fishball or char kuay teow, to retain the emotional ties of Singaporeans overseas. Because when I was in Shanghai, Melbourne or Palo Alto in the United States, I could easily enjoy the local food in the open-air Singaporean restaurants. Therefore, in the 21st century, like in the past, if we were to depend on Singapore food to retain our roots, that would not be enough and not realistic. At the same time, it is also mentioned in the Report that we must let Singaporeans cultivate the international vision from young and encourage our students to cultivate the spirit of adventure. I would like to stress the meaning of venture spirit.”
“I am not one of the elites and I am not one of the scholars. I have been relying on my hard work, my pragmatism to work hard and to achieve my success, and I am proud of my own achievements. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I entirely agree with the S21 Committee that everyone matters in Singapore. That is a very important point. To me, every Singaporean is important to the country. Every Singaporean can also play his own role, and contribute to the success and development of Singapore. As a matter of fact, anybody can become a successful person, be it a hawker, a driver, or an ordinary worker. We must let every Singaporean give full play to his own talent and potential and let the society, the country, his own family, benefit from his talent. While we are marching into the 21st century, we must exercise more tolerance to accept the failures of other people. We must continue to encourage those who are not successful to continue to attempt. That will make Singapore more successful in the 21st century. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the S21 Committee mentions about the Singapore heartbeat, to make all Singaporeans feel passionately about Singapore. With more intensive globalisation and regionalisation, more Singaporeans will go overseas. To ensure that when they are overseas, their hearts are still with Singapore and regard Singapore as their home and make contributions to Singapore, we must strengthen our social cohesion. The Ministry of Education has decided to introduce National Education to our primary schools. I think this is a very wise move.”