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 3 of 4.
“When the businessmen calculate their costs, they naturally include the advertising cost into their business costs, and eventually it will be the consumers who are paying for it. Therefore, I suggest that for advertisements on sundry goods and essential daily goods by, say, NTUC FairPrice and other supermarkets, a discount shall be given in the advertising fees. The advertisers can then pass on their savings from the advertising cost to the consumers by offering these essential goods at cheaper prices. This will help to bring down the cost of living. Secondly, we should not cut the salaries or CPF contributions of the employees from the lower income group. The CSC suggests that the total wage cost be reduced by 15%, ie, 10% from employer's CPF contribution and 5-8% from wages. I feel that for the low-income employees, the reduction should be less. And for the executive and senior officers, their salaries can be reduced by a larger margin. For those who are living in 1- and 2-room flats, their average combined family income is only about S$800 per month. So if we are having an across-the-board percentage deduction in salary, these low-income families will suffer. The lower income ordinary citizens may not be able to enjoy some of the rebates on property tax, foreign worker levy, stamp duty for share transfers and petrol tax, etc, because these items do not involve them in the first place. Most of them do not pay any income tax anyway. I think for those families whose combined income is less than S$800, we should not reduce their CPF contribution. Thirdly, I propose that retrenched workers from the lower income families should be allowed to withdraw part of their CPF savings to tide over the difficult times.”
“In my opinion, the production cost of this book can be easily reduced by at least 50%. Therefore, I feel that Government departments and the private enterprises should not spend so much money in producing fanciful annual reports. They should be made simple and extravagant high profile presentation should be avoided as it will increase their business cost. I would also suggest that when senior officers from the public and private sectors go on official trips abroad, they should travel by economy class instead of first class or business class. As for entertainment, I agree with Prof. Tommy Koh's view that the number of courses in our Chinese dinners should be reduced from eight dishes to six dishes. This will save cost. The whole package introduced by the CSC has been weighted towards helping the manufacturing and the retailing industries to reduce their business costs. However, there is one thing that I think the CSC has neglected, ie, the advertising cost. Many manufacturers and retailers have been using the television or newspapers to advertise their products and services. According to a survey conducted by the Temasek Polytechnic recently, more than 32% of male Singaporeans learnt of news about new products or services through advertisements in the newspapers and about 26% of female Singaporeans learnt about sales and special offers through newspapers. This clearly shows that it is very important for the manufacturers and retailers to advertise their products and services. I suggest that TCS and the newspapers should also reduce their advertising fees during these difficult times to help businesses cut their costs.”
“If our workers do not take a cut in their CPF and wages, then it will give the foreigners the impression that our workers do not support the Government's effort to help the economy, and they will have no confidence in us. They will not come here to invest. The Government and the people should be united in one heart during this economic crisis and to send the correct signal to our foreign investors. So I believe what Mr Chiam said just now is not correct. It may be just a political stunt to please his Potong Pasir voters. Just now he said that there should be an economic alliance between Singapore and Malaysia. I do not think this is feasible because no matter how we unite with Malaysia, it would not be as effective as the larger regional forum such as APEC. I support the CSC Report but I have a few suggestions for the Government to consider. First of all, we should try to reduce more non-wage costs. The CSC has recommended reduction in some non-wage costs such as rentals, utilities, telephone bills and taxes, etc. But I hope that the Government departments and the private sector should try their best to reduce more non-wage costs including items which are not mentioned in the Report. When I received this Report from the CSC, the first thing I noticed was that the book was very beautifully printed and the paper quality is excellent. On the one hand, the Government is advocating reduction in business costs. On the other hand, they seem to have forgotten that they should also try to save cost in its operations. You may notice that for this 186-page Report, a thick paper of not less than 120 gm was used, with two-colour and four-colour printing and large font size, which are superior to the textbooks used by our secondary students.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion. In June this year, the Government introduced a $2 billion off-Budget package to stimulate Singapore's economy. Now, the Committee of Singapore's Competitiveness (CSC) has again introduced a cost-reduction package with the hope that business costs in Singapore can be reduced by S$10 billion in the next year. In other words, since June this year, the Government has introduced altogether packages worth S$12 billion to help the businesses to deal with the imminent predicament they are facing, and to minimise further job losses. I personally feel that the CSC should be commended for being so resolute in making this recommendation to reduce our business cost so that we could have a proper direction for our economic development over the next 10 years and for giving us a series of strategies for our long-term development. The Committee does not recommend devaluation of the Singapore dollar to solve the problem. This is indeed a very wise decision. Mr Speaker, Sir, just now I heard Mr Chiam See Tong saying that despite the economic crisis, no resident in his constituency came to his meet-the-people session for assistance in getting a job. I believe in the present economic crisis, there is no lack of people who have lost their jobs, but they do not go to Mr Chiam See Tong because they do not believe Mr Chiam could help them to secure jobs. They would rather go straight to the Ministry of Manpower for help. This is a more practical thing for them to do. Just now Mr Chiam See Tong mentioned that the Government should not reduce the employer's CPF contribution. I do not agree with him. In his view, so long as we reduce Government taxes, our economic problem can be resolved. The problem is not that simple.”
“I am coming to my questions. The Minister has just said that we are suffering from flu. I think it is not just an ordinary flu but there is diarrhoea as well. So the treatment provided by this package must be more thorough. Just a few pills will not solve the problem. Mr Leong Horn Kee has made some useful suggestions just now. I think the Minister can consider them more seriously. Three months later he can give us a review.”
“I am saying all these things from my own experience because I have spent about 20 to 30 years in this business and I know that to ensure the availability of good and creative textbooks, we must realise that we are not like the other developing countries. In China, children by the millions are fighting for places in the schools. So long as they can find places in the school and there is a textbook, they are more than happy. One set of textbooks is good enough for everyone. Everyone will be happy. We are a developed country. We are looking at creativity and thinking schools. So we must have creative materials. We must have a variety of good textbooks available for our schools to select. I hope the Ministry of Education can consider my proposal.”
“What I am worried about is that if they want to produce good textbooks, do they understand that compiling them is a very time-consuming process? From my past experience, the senior officials in the Ministry of Education have very often overlooked the actual amount of time needed from writing to delivery of a set of textbooks. In the past, CDIS had 3 to 4 years to complete the production of a set of textbooks. On the other hand, the private publishers were given only 6 to 9 months to do the job. 1.15 pm Normally, it takes between 12 and 16 months to write and edit a set of textbooks, and another 4 to 6 months to print and produce them. The Ministry of Education would take 2 to 3 months to examine and approve them. Then, the publishers will have to promote and introduce the textbooks to the schools. The schools will select the set they prefer. This will take another 2 to 3 months. Finally, the publishers will print the textbooks and supply them to the schools, hopefully before the term starts. This again will take another 2 months. All in all, some 22 to 30 months are needed. Therefore, whenever the Ministry of Education announces the new curricula, publishers should be given ample time to go through the syllabuses and curricula and prepare the new sets of textbooks accordingly. I hope the Ministry of Education can pay attention to the time factor and give the publishers more time to prepare, to ensure that we can meet the quality requirements of our textbooks. Otherwise, the open door policy for the participation of private publishers will also be a case of "still born", that is, something similar to the CDIS kind of situation, where creativity is lacking in the textbooks produced.”
“Sir, please let me declare my interest as a publisher. (In Mandarin): Sir, the Ministry of Education has decided that with effect from this year the textbook market will be further open to private publishers. I welcome the move. As a matter of fact, over the past 10 to 20 years, I have been wondering why the Ministry of Education decided to set up the CDIS. What was the objective of CDIS and what was the background leading to its establishment? I have always thought that the setting up of CDIS was against the philosophy and policy of the PAP. It was some kind of a welfare scheme. With CDIS dominating the market for school textbooks and supplementary reading materials under the very lowest prices, the private publishers cannot gain access to this lucrative market. Many of them found it difficult to survive in Singapore. Many foreign publishers lost a lot of money, closed shop, packed up and returned to UK or the USA. Meanwhile, there were a lot of complaints against the quality of textbooks published by CDIS. Now, the Ministry of Education is beginning to farm out the publication work to private sector publishers. I think this will give more publishers to display their talent and expertise and it will enhance the inspirational values of the books and make them more interesting. This shows that the Ministry of Education wants to introduce the competition mechanism to remedy the shortcomings of CDIS so as to give our schools a larger variety of choices of high quality textbooks, and this will in turn benefit the students. I am also happy to note that the Ministry of Education has assured us that there will be a very good authentication procedure to monitor the quality and price of textbooks.”
“These parents who are not too proficient in Chinese are worried that the progress and standard of their children's learning of the mother tongue may be affected if these students with "B3" grade in Chinese were to become their children's Chinese language teachers after their training. Sir, my children scored "As" in their "O" level for both Chinese and English, but look at the notes they wrote to me in Chinese. They are just unreadable rubbish. This is a fact. This shows the difference between the standards of Chinese and English languages in the "O" level examinations. In view of that, may I suggest to the Ministry of Education that this batch of "B3" grade Chinese trainee teachers be sent to the relevant colleges in China and Taiwan for training to improve their ability to teach the Chinese language. I believe this will help to alleviate the worries of some of these parents. I hope the Ministry of Education will consider this suggestion. Yesterday, Dr Toh See Kiat suggested that the Singapore Management University should relax the requirement of Chinese in their admission criteria. On the contrary, I hope that the Singapore Management University will consider allowing Singaporeans who are proficient in Chinese to do their business administration courses in Chinese so as to contribute to the economic development in the Asia-Pacific region.”
“Sir, I am glad to know that the Public Service Commission is providing equal opportunities for holders of overseas Chinese language scholarship to upgrade themselves. At the same time, any scholarship holder who wishes to pursue further studies leading to a Masters degree would be allowed to defer service of his or her bond. This is indeed encouraging, particularly for the Chinese scholars. Recently mother tongue education has once again become a hot talking point among those who are concerned with Chinese Mandarin. There are many insiders speaking with authority, as well as many laymen, posing as experts. The main emphasis is on how to augment the curriculum of today's mother tongue education. Generally, Singaporeans who know Chinese are of the view that, at the moment, the use of Chinese Mandarin is getting more and more popular in Singapore. Almost all Chinese can speak Mandarin, especially the younger generation of Singaporeans who not only speak Mandarin but read and write Chinese as well. This is the result of our Government's past efforts in promoting mother tongue education and the Speak Mandarin Campaign has attained its social objective. However, with the economic reform and open door policy of China, learning mother tongue Chinese will not only help to maintain the traditional Chinese culture and enhance our social cohesion but will also be of great economic benefit. As such, even those who are not proficient in Chinese are beginning to be concerned with their children's standard of Chinese. This is a good sign. Recently, the Ministry of Education recruited a batch of students who obtained only "B3" grade in Chinese at the "O" level examination for training to become primary school Chinese language teachers.”
“When I try to remember the good teachers I had the good fortune of coming under during my 10-odd years in school, I cannot hardly count beyond my five fingers. So if we do not do something to encourage these good teachers, how are we going to build the good character of our students? I think it would be very difficult. So I hope the Ministry of Education will consider my two suggestions above.”
“This will indirectly encourage students and their parents to attach more importance to seek perfection in their character. I would also call upon all the schools to set up an "Excellent Conduct Award" for every standard and every class each year. We should not put our emphasis only on academic results. Excellence in conduct and behaviour is just as important. By focusing on how many "As" and neglecting the conduct of the students is an imbalance in the whole education system. To a large extent, the conduct of students is influenced by the school environment, the words and deeds of the teachers and the principal. This is what the Chinese described as wei ren shi biao (be a model of virtue for others). Recently, I read in the newspaper a real-life story of how a group of secondary one students of the Class of 63 in Thomson Secondary School inserted an advertisement in the newspaper, some 34 years later, to look for a certain teacher whom they were very fond of but had lost contact with. They found the teacher and had a memorable reunion. I was very touched by this report. I do not know whether the Minister has read this report in the newspaper. If he has not, I can supply him with the relevant cuttings. I feel that to mould the perfect character of the students, the responsibility must lie squarely with the principal and the teachers. Credit must also be given when it is due. I would therefore suggest that the Ministry of Education set up an "Engineer of the Soul Award" to show appreciation to those principals and teachers who have worked their hearts out with perseverance and dedication to education throughout their whole life-time.”
“Sir, schools in Singapore are well-equipped with first class hardware in terms of school buildings, classrooms, computers, teaching aids and other facilities. Our students enjoy studying in a high-tech and comfortable environment. However, in terms of software, we are quite inadequate. When we talk about having "thinking school" and creativity, having good hardware is not enough. Creativity is not something that you can learn in the classroom. Creativity must be inculcated through experience in the reality of life. If you want to catch the light at the end of the tunnel, you must be prepared to go through the dark passage in life, work hard and persevere. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong urged the parents and students not to narrowly pursue more "A" grades, and neglect the importance of moulding a perfect character. I fully agree with him. The greatest mission of education is to cultivate the students through the five aspects of education, namely, moral, intellectual, physical, community and aesthetic education, so that they can mould a perfect character on the basis of moral values, knowledge, physical fitness, social concept, and aesthetic appreciation. Only in this way can we assure that the future generations of Singaporeans are capable of playing a more important role when our nation faces greater challenges ahead. On the basis of this principle, I appeal to the Ministry of Education to include the behaviour and conduct of students as part of the criteria for admission to secondary schools and institutes of higher learning. So students with slightly inferior academic results, but have good "A" or "B" grades in their conduct marks, can also have the opportunity to be admitted to the better secondary schools, junior colleges or universities.”
“I hope that the Ministry of Information and the Arts can make a study on how to promote the use of Chinese Internet in Singapore.”
“Sir, in October last year, the web page of Lianhe Zaobao attracted more than 10 million visitors, and this makes it an international on-line newspaper. It is something that we can rejoice in. This shows the popularity of the Internet which enables Lianhe Zaobao to transcend geographical and national boundaries to extend its influence throughout the world, and not just confined to a small nation like Singapore. This enables the newspaper to break through the restriction of having just a small readership of Chinese-educated Singaporeans, and expand its market to the whole world. Chinese-speaking readers all over the world can now gain access to information on Singapore through the Internet, and thus have a better understanding of Singapore. This is very important to the internationalistion of Singapore. Right now, the English Internet has been extensively used in Singapore, and information activities on the Net are very busy and frequent. This strengthens our exchanges and contacts with the world and opens up new channels for us to access information. But in terms of the development of the Chinese Internet, we are lagging behind. At the moment, the Internet market in China is developing very quickly and all the government agencies, universities, research institutes and business community are making more and more use of the Internet. There are also more and more people using Chinese all over the world. If we can promote and develop the Chinese Internet in Singapore, it will help us to promote our exchanges with other Chinese communities from various parts of the world. This will help to promote our exchanges in terms of culture, trade and industry, technology, etc. This has very important significance in realizing our dream of going regional.”
“But most parents today are not so well versed as their children when they come to the computers and the Internet. Most probably the parents will have to ask their children to install the filtering software and the children may not even do that. Sir, many school children are today asked to do research on the Internet. Children learn to use different search engines. But once the children know how to use the search engines, they get access to much information, including those not suitable for them. Currently, there is also no system of classification or age restriction that is enforceable. Sir, SBA could make available tools for parents to protect their children. ISPs could be encouraged to offer filtered Internet access with web filtering software installed at the server level. Children's safe zones which offer monitored safe sites for kids could be created. This service could be offered to schools and parents who want cleaner Internet access for their children. Sir, shall I proceed to the next amendment?”
“The Ministry of Community Development, the Ministry of Education, the People's Association and MITA should co-operate in jointly starting a campaign to familiarise parents with the Internet, so that they will understand the type of "yellow-culture" traps on the Internet which exhibit pornographic materials, in order that they may be able to guide their children on the proper way of getting onto the Net. I hope MITA will pay close attention to the dissemination of sex information on the Internet and study the possibility of starting this "Familiarise the Parents with the Internet" campaign. Dr Ho Tat Kin: Sir, the Internet is a great place for kids and kins to interact with their peers from around the world. However, when children go on line, they must use commonsense such as they use commonsense in the real world. Kids must be taught never to give out personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, real names, or the addresses of their parents to random people with whom they meet and converse on the Net. A check of sites in the United States in October last year, involving 126 children's commercial sites, found that 86% collect data about US children, including e-mail addresses, phone numbers, most without seeking parental consent. No one knows how this information is being used. Other news have also made much of a danger of the Internet to children. As a result, many parents have become worried about the impact of Internet on their kids. There is a need to adopt some form of regulatory approach to help safeguard children when they go on-line. Of course, ISPs will argue that filtering software such as NetNanny and Cyber Patrol and many others, are available and parents could put such filtering software in their children's PCs.”
“Sir, in this age of fast development of information technology, the Internet has reached every nook and corner of the world, giving lots of benefits in our work, our studies and our communications with one another. However, I am very concerned with the avalanche of sex-related information on the Internet which is easily accessible from every home. This may have an impact on the young generation of Singaporeans. According to the USA Media and PC Survey Company's report, there is a strong demand among the Internet surfers in the USA for sex entertainment. Sex business on the Internet is very lucrative. It is a roaring trade and those traders in pornographic information on the Internet are making a lot of money. It is the easiest computer tool for making money. According to the people in the computer trade, in May 1997, the number of visitors to sex-related websites doubled that in May 1996. Turnover for such sex-related information on the Internet comes up to billions of US dollars. Apart from providing nude pictures, these sex websites also provide pornographic materials such as "digital striptease shows" and "exotic nude videos", etc. Sir, our young people can gain access to these undesirable websites without paying a single cent for it. In order to protect the healthy growth of our children and young people, and to prevent these sex-mongers from promoting such undesirable activities on the Internet, we should pass more stringent laws to regulate and shut out such pornographic information on the Internet.”
“If we apply for a permit and must wait for approval from each and every agency before anything can be done, it will take a very long time and this is inconsistent with our pursuit for high efficiency in our society. I feel that so long as we have some control over the moral values depicted in the films, and our oriental values will not be adversely affected, then we should liberalise and simplify the procedures for permission to film in Singapore. We should provide a one-stop agency to handle all these applications. Producers need submit only one application and MITA will be able to coordinate and help them to get the approval so that filming can commence as soon as possible. This will be very useful in helping Singapore to become a film and movie hub in the Asia Pacific area. I hope that MITA will consider this to develop Singapore into a Hollywood of the East.”
“Sir, I am quite happy with the yardstick adopted by our Film Censorship Board. What we should cut we cut, what we should not cut, we keep. They will not affect the continuity of films. I have spent some time going to the movies, and I am quite happy with the PG movies. I feel MITA should reward the Board. As for the R(A) movies, I will try and find time to view these movies with my family so that I could give my feedback to the Minister. Our TV programmes are, on the whole, quite good. They are improved from time to time and over the past few years, there were winning praises from all quarters. My complaint is that there are many imported programmes and too few films from Singapore. Many foreign film producers are interested to come and invest in the film industry in Singapore. However, they feel that the procedure for various applications is too complicated. They have to go from one Ministry to another Ministry, and one department to another, to process their applications. A lot of time is wasted in these procedures. To film a programme with Singapore as a background, many permits have to be applied for, and many departments are involved. For example, if the film touches on life at a HDB estate, with schools, factories, riverside, etc., applications have to be made to the HDB, Town Council, URA, National Parks Board, Land Office, Ministry of the Environment, JTC, etc. Filming can commence only after permits have been granted by the various Ministries and departments. It is so cumbersome and troublesome. As a member of the Jalan Besar Town Council, I have also received letters from TCS for permission to film the activities of our Jalan Besar Town Council. Can we not simplify all these procedures?”
“When they announce certain policies or when they receive feedback which are contrary to the Government policy, they seem to be very bureaucratic and very arrogant. When members of the public reflect the views of the people, the senior officers should not stick to their own views and become very discourteous to Members. I think this is wrong. They must not forget that Members of Parliament are representatives of the people. They must speak for the people. The senior Government officers are Government servants. So they should not put the cart before the horse. They should not think that they are Ministers and they are masters of the people. It will be very regrettable if they think so. I hope the Government will pay attention to this. Finally, in this budget, the Government has decided to grant an across-the-board 5% income tax rebate and to increase the interest for the Special Account in the CPF. There are also rebates for public utilities, SC&CC to help the people to overcome their difficulties. All these show that in the face of the economic uncertainties, the Government can still continue to care and share with the people, especially the lower income group. I am very happy about this. I hope that in the midst of a financial crisis, the Government should continue to encourage the people to go global. In Chinese, the two words for crisis are wei ji, literally meaning: danger and opportunities. So long as we are careful and prudent in handling the situation, the dangers can be reduced, the opportunities can be increased. We must seize the opportunities and this is very important. I support the Budget.”
“In last year's budget debate, I mentioned that the number of years for a bond should be reviewed for overseas scholarships so that our best talents can be attracted to stay here. Now, with this practice of shaming the bond breakers, I feel that a lot of our young talents will turn to scholarships offered by overseas universities, many of which are provided without any bonds attached. Therefore, we should review our terms of the bond to make them more attractive. For those who return after completing their courses of study under the scholarship schemes, so long as they come back to Singapore to work for the country, whether they work for the Government or in the private sector, I think it is acceptable. As Mr Leong Horn Kee has already mentioned, he himself had broken the bond but he is still serving Singapore. So if you feel that this is too liberal, then we should consider shortening the period of the bond. After two years of service in the ministry or statutory board concerned, I think they should be allowed to serve in another capacity, as long as it is in Singapore. I think this arrangement is better, because the eligible candidates will not be compelled to go for overseas scholarships and stay overseas. If the scholars want to extend their study period overseas, they should also be given more flexible arrangements so that they will be able to complete their higher studies before coming back to Singapore to serve. I hope the Public Service Commission would take the lead in studying this issue together with other Government agencies. I think this will have far-reaching effects when we enter the 21st century. I also hope that the Government will pay special attention to the attitude of senior Government officers.”
“They feel that scholarship is different from bursaries. Applicants apply for scholarship on their own merits in fair competition. If they are selected, they are selected on the basis of merit, not on the basis of poverty or wealth. Regardless of their family background, so long as the children have good results and good merit, they are eligible to apply for scholarships and they should be treated equally. They should not be discriminated against and they should not be subjected to such acute and probing questions. If we consider the family background of the applicants in awarding the scholarships, then it will lose the true meaning of these scholarship awards. Our scholarships should not be turned into bursaries or study loans. The way the EDB and NCB handled the matter of these three bond breakers is very regrettable indeed. It gives people the wrong impression that while, on the one hand, we are talking about attracting foreign talents to come to Singapore to work and to settle down by giving them all kinds of privileges, on the other hand, we are punishing our own local talents just because they break their bonds, by publishing their names and shaming them in public. I think this will lead to a centrifugal tendency among our local talents, causing them to stay away from Singapore. They may just remain overseas for good. This will be against Singapore's motto that human resource is the best resource that we have. It is also a waste of our investment in education. Today, the free flow of talents is a world-wide trend. All countries are competing for the best talents to work for them. Therefore, we should become more enlightened, more flexible in handling the question of overseas scholarships.”
“If payment has been made for breaking the bond, including the interest incurred and perhaps some form of penalty or compensation, then the matter should be closed. EDB and NCB have chosen to publish the names of the bond breakers in the newspapers and this seems to rank them among the criminals. I think this is unreasonable and unfair. I would like to quote from the article published in the Lianhe Zaobao. Mr Loo Ching Koon said in the article that we should consider four key issues: Firstly, on what basis are the scholarships established? Secondly, why are the recipients of scholarships required to sign a bond? Thirdly, what are the reasons for them to break their bonds? Fourthly, why the names of the bond breakers have to be published? Will this be a practice from now on and do the bond breakers still need to pay compensation for breaking the bond? I believe the purpose of setting up scholarships is to develop our talents, so that they will return to work and contribute to our society. The article also says that we should be magnanimous by looking at the world as a whole and to understand that there are rapid changes whether in terms of concepts or in terms of technology. We cannot remain static all the time. If we stay where we are, we will be lagging behind and will eventually be eliminated. We will not be able to compete in the world. We should change our attitude towards scholarships and the scholars. The EDB spokesman has also pointed out, as reported in the Lianhe Zaobao on 27th February, that in future, applicants who come from well-to-do families will be asked probing questions on why they are applying for the scholarship when they can well afford to go on overseas studies on their own means. I think this will worry the well-to-do families.”
“The Government is also committed to studying how to improve the "heart-ware" simultaneously with the improvement to the hardware, so that the imported talents can integrate into the Singapore society, thereby remaining permanently in Singapore and make a contribution towards the development of Singapore. This intention is good and well thought of. But I think that while it is good to introduce foreign talents to Singapore, we should also make the best use of our local talent pool. While attracting foreign talents, if we overlook the problem of brain-drain from Singapore or if the problem is not properly dealt with, it may give rise to negative results. The people may get the wrong impression that the Government is adopting a double standard in this kind of situation, and unintentionally undermine the confidence and self-respect of our local talents, thereby causing them to migrate to other countries. This will be a serious loss to Singapore, where our human resource is very precious to us. Recently, three scholars who broke their scholarship bond had their names published by the EDB and NCB. This practice has indeed shocked the public and created a controversy. There were a few articles written by the readers and published in the Lianhe Zaobao over the past few days on this matter. Of course, it is not right for overseas scholars to break their bonds. We should take measures to review the situation. But to publish the names of the bond breakers in order to achieve a deterrent effect, is something really worth re-considering. To the public, the breaking of bonds is only a breach of contract. It is not a criminal offence per se. It should be dealt with according to the terms and conditions in the contract or the bond.”
“Because the Government has all the resources to deal with any unexpected event, many Singaporeans feel that the Government should give a more definite and specific indication on how it will deal with this crisis, in terms of the impact and the long lasting effect on our economy, and take more comprehensive measures to prepare for any rainy days ahead. This is better than taking some temporary measures only when something has gone wrong. Prevention is better than cure. I feel that under the able leadership of the Government, we will be able to take more positive measures to deal with this crisis. In the long-term interest, the Government has provided more for the education of our young, a substantial increase by some 30%. I am very happy about it because despite the present economic uncertainties, the Government has not overlooked the long-term investment for the long-term interest of our country. I think this is very good. The Government is always emphasizing the fact that our only natural resource is our talented people. For this reason, more money should be devoted to education, training and opportunities for the upgrading of our people. We must ensure that our education system remains world-class, to develop and nurture our young talents. At the same time, the Government wants to recruit more talents from all over the world to develop Singapore into an oasis of talents, with foreign talents supplementing our local talents, to ensure that we remain in front, to deal with the challenges ahead of us. To show its support, the Government has granted double tax deduction for recruitment cost incurred by companies which recruit professionals and experts from overseas.”
“I welcome the Budget presented by the Finance Minister. It calls for tripartite cooperation among the business sector, the Government and the people to overcome the financial crisis before us. At the same time, I would like to commend the Government for granting rebates and a whole series of assistance for the businessmen to overcome the present difficulties brought about by the currency crisis. To the South-east Asian countries, 1998 is going to be a very difficult and painful year. The political factors in the countries around us are uncertain and their economies are still very unstable. In such circumstances, I am of the opinion that this Budget is prudent and balanced. It could ensure the orderly development of our economy. However, I personally feel that in this Budget, the Government appears to be too optimistic about the impact of the regional financial crisis on Singapore. According to information I gathered from my friends in the business sector, the impact of this crisis is far reaching. Recovery is unlikely in the next one to two years, especially for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These people feel that the impact this time is much greater than what is being reflected in the statistics of the Government. Therefore, I fear that the Government has not sent a clear signal to the people. It may well give them the wrong impression that the regional financial crisis is merely a "flu" to the people. Although the Finance Minister has indicated that if the economy should suddenly take a downturn, the Government will consider taking off-Budget measures to cushion the problem.”
“Yes, and after that pay another $70,000.”
“Just two years ago I mentioned in Parliament that there was a film called "Nell" which featured very clearly some nude scenes of the female body. If we could allow this film to be screened in Singapore, classified as "PG" and not "R(A)", why are we setting a double standard for setting a dress code for our TCS artistes? Singapore is an open society. It is also an international city. Our Government has plans to develop Singapore into a movie and television hub of Asia in the next few years. We should not draw up clauses to dictate the ways on how our TV artistes should dress themselves. If we do that, then we would not be able to attract some famous artistes, like Andy Lau, to come to Singapore. I think we may provide artistes with some advice on their image presentation and cultivate and enhance their cultural and artistic qualities. This will be helpful to our effort to realise our goal of becoming a movie and TV hub in Asia.”
“Therefore, we cannot expect Lianhe Zaobao to go along the lines of the Straits Times or the Straits Times to cater to the tastes of the readers of Lianhe Zaobao. The same logic applies to TCS' Channels 8 and 5. The Chinese programmes on Channel 8 should maintain its characteristics. At the same time, it should seek to improve its quality of programming. When the Chinese programmes on Channel 8 are more interesting and rich in substance, the needs of the viewers will be better satisfied. Please do not make the news and programmes of Channel 8 to look exactly like those on Channel 5 and we do not want the programmes on Channel 5 to look exactly like those on Channel 8. Otherwise, we will disappoint both the Chinese-speaking and the English-speaking viewers. In its report of 8th July, the Programme Advisory Committee recommended that TCS institute a dress code for its artistes attending prestigious events so as to ensure that their attire befits the occasion. I consider myself a conservative Singaporean. However, I feel that the dressing of TCS artistes at public events, whether in the past or present, is perfectly fine and there was no occasion of over-exposure. I only say that they are more daring and fashionable. TV artistes are not Ministers or Members of Parliament. They are also not teachers or lecturers who need to set an example for their students. So as artistes, their dressing is usually trendy and avant-garde, they may even be leaders in the fashion world. Personally, I feel that TCS artistes' dressing is fine so long as it is not too exposed and does not reflect bad motives. So modern, trendy, special and even sexy dressing is not a problem.”
“Sir, I would like to speak on the recommendations of the Programme Advisory Committee on TCS Chinese Dramas and Variety Shows. I would generally accept the recommendations of the PAC. But there are two observations I like to make. In its mid-year report, the PAC pointed out that the Channel 8 programmes seem to be confined only to the Chinese and excluding all the other races. In this way, the production direction will be narrow in future. The Committee also pointed out that the news programmes in Channel 8 have less international news as compared to Channel 5, and people who speak only English are hardly invited to give their views and opinions in current affairs and financial programmes on Channel 8. In view of that, the Committee recommended that Channel 8 should widen its vision by having more international news and distinctive features of a multi-racial society of Singapore. The above recommendation of the Committee is aimed at integrating the characteristic features of our multi-racial society. So the programmes should feature the different cultural backgrounds to meet the needs of each ethnic group. The Committee recommended that Channel 8 be more creative to improve the quality of its programmes. I think the objective is good and I can understand that. However, we must understand that Channel 8 and Channel 5 have their own groups of viewers. Just like the Lianhe Zaobao and the Straits Times, they have their own groups of readers. So the difference between these newspapers is that they have their own characteristics and different focuses. They have different values, different views and different perceptions to meet the needs of their respective readers.”
“As the Vice-Chairman of the GPC for MITA, very often I was invited to officiate at these events, and I saw that there were hardly any news reporters present at these events. Some elaborately organised and meaningful cultural events and exhibitions did not receive good response from the public due to lack of publicity. This is very disappointing. To achieve our objective of making Singapore a renaissance city for information, culture and the arts, we need not only the support from the Government but also the support from the mass media and the keen participation of every Singaporean. I hope MITA will look into ways to encourage the media to give our cultural events more coverage.”
“Sir, in his Addendum to the Presidential Address, BG George Yeo stated that the Ministry of Information and the Arts will continue to help make Singapore a renaissance city for information, culture and the arts in the 21st century. I strongly support this intention. I personally feel that in order to succeed in this effort to make Singapore a gracious city, we must, first of all, consider how to encourage Singaporeans to appreciate and enjoy our culture and arts. As my Chairman of the GPC, Mr Chew Heng Ching, has said, many of our cultural events and exhibitions have received full support from the Government but the mass media of Singapore such as television, radio and newspapers give very little coverage or report on cultural events and exhibitions, unlike China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Even when there are reports, they are very unenthusiastic and very brief. They can hardly arouse the interest of the public. I think this is very regrettable. Perhaps the mass media may be looking at them from the commercial and business point of view and find that they are of no commercial value. In fact, if we want to promote arts and culture and to make Singapore a renaissance city for information, culture and the arts in the next millennium, the mass media plays a very, very important role. On the other hand, the success of making Singapore a renaissance city will also contribute to the growth and development of our mass media. In Singapore, we have a lot of people who love the arts and culture and there is no difficulty in organising any cultural events and exhibitions. But it is very difficult for them to get the support from the mass media.”
“We have to be farsighted, courageous and on top of it, we must have the scientific power of persuasion. At the moment, the Ministry of Health has not stated its stand on human cloning. I hope that our Ministry of Health will not follow the countries in the world in forbidding the cloning of human cells. I think we should go for a set of sound and rational rules and regulations to allow this research to go on. Researchers and experts in the medical field from other countries can be invited to come to Singapore to further their research in this field. Of course, in regulating, we must have some sound basis to provide for which categories of people to participate in the experiment, for example, they must be married, above a certain age, or have good reasons to be cloned, etc. I think these are points which we can further discuss and study.”
“Yet today, it is quite evident that the development of space technology not only does not bring the world to an end, but has actually benefited mankind. It has provided us with a lot of convenience. Our mobile handphone, fax machines, Internet, satellite television, unmanned spacecraft, etc. are benefits brought to us from space technology. Recently, a USA spacecraft has successfully landed on Mars. It will help mankind to further explore the mystery of life in outer space and provide very valuable information to us. Just imagine, years ago, advancement in space technology had brought about great fear to mankind. This illustrates the point that whenever there is a new invention we should view it in a positive manner and accept it rather than reject or ban it. Yes, unlike other kinds of technology, human cloning will no doubt create complications in human ethics, moral and legal issues, family and social problems. This could be solved with sensible humane regulations, based not on court-room decisions but through broad enlightened public debates. Just as in the prehistoric times human beings did not have any family, moral or legal concepts. If anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers and lawyers today can apply their intelligence and creativity like the biologists and medical experts to set up a standard for human ethics and moral legal issues, this will serve as a new challenge for them in finding a solution to create a model or formula to accommodate a new kind of family and society formation. Then like space technology, human cloning should be viewed positively. I think human cloning may be beneficial to mankind in future. Of course, any kind of changes will meet with resistance. This will require us to change our mindset.”
“The USA Government has stopped the use of Commonwealth Foundation funds to assist the human cloning scientific research plans. The parliaments of various countries, including Germany, Italy, Brazil and Argentina, have also urged their governments to prohibit experiments on human cloning. From public opinions and reactions from different quarters, it is apparent that many people have much to worry over this new scientific discovery. Sir, personally I am positive towards this particular scientific research. I feel that our Ministry of Health should not prohibit the experiments on human cloning. We could set some rules and regulations to provide for this type of research. I am not a medical expert nor a biologist. But I would like to bring out an example to look at this scientific research from another angle. I believe Singaporeans who are at their 40s or 50s should be able to recall that during the 60s and 70s, the USA and the former Soviet Union were competing to be the leader in space technology. During that time the Soviet Union was the first to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon, while the American astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon. I can remember that, at that time, people from all over the world were praising them for their achievements. But at the same time, some other people were worried that this might lead to the explosion of space war. At that time, almost all the newspapers carried comments that the advancement of space technology might bring disasters to mankind and the world would be destroyed. Some even thought that the world was ending very soon. At that time, I was still young. I harboured the impression that the development of space technology was very frightening. I thought that we were done for.”
“Sir, I agree with Mr Goh Choon Kang that many people who are concerned with traditional Chinese medicine are interested to know what action has been taken by the Ministry of Health to implement the recommendations put up by the special committee on traditional Chinese medicine led by Dr Aline Wong. I am very interested to know what kind of efforts has been put in to promote the use of Chinese Medicine. We know that the Ang Mo Kio Acupuncture Centre at the Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital has received overwhelming response from the public. Some patients have to be put on the waiting list for months before they could receive treatment there. Will the Ministry of Health look into the possibility of working together with the bodies of Chinese physicians to set up a second Chinese Traditional Medicine and Acupuncture Centre to meet the needs of these patients? 3.00 pm Previously, the Ministry of Health was planning to set up a cancer research centre which was supposed to include the study of the curative effects of traditional Chinese medicine. Has this plan been materialised? I believe the implementation of this plan will definitely help to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Singapore. Today, with the birth of "Dolly" which was cloned from an adult cell, this biotechnological breakthrough can be said to be a great success in the science of biological reproduction of lives. It is a real breakthrough. Some people are overjoyed and regarded this as a new discovery in the study of human biology. Yet others are worried. The parliaments of many countries are now discussing this matter. According to reports, the UK Parliament has passed legislation to prohibit experiments in human cloning.”
“Punishments should be the same as for kidnapping cases, ie, they could be sentenced to death or to be imprisoned for life. Secondly, when there is a report of missing child, the police should immediately alert the immigration checkpoints so that these children would not be taken out of Singapore. Thirdly, for children below the age of 12, I suggest that the photograph in the passport should be changed every two years because the physical appearance of children varies all the time. Fourthly, we should have some self-protection lessons conducted in kindergartens and primary schools so that our young children know how to protect themselves from possible abductors. The Chairman: Mr Jeyaretnam, can I ask you to make your points briefly, as we are running short of time?”
“Sir, nowadays child abduction cases are happening very frequently in developing countries. There was a report carried in the Shin Min Daily News on 2nd April 1997 about missing children in Malaysia. Although this report mentioned about Malaysia, it also mentioned about a neighbouring country, and Singapore is the country which is nearest to Malaysia. According to this report, the public affairs department of the Bukit Ampang Police Headquarters in Malaysia made a shocking revelation that in Malaysia there was an average of 12 children reported missing every day. According to statistics, in 1993 there were 4,443 children missing. In 1994, there were 3,955. In 1995, there were 3,786 and in the first ten months of 1996 there were 3,621 children reported missing. Most of these missing children were girls and children from the neighbouring countries. The most infuriating part is that some of these children were adopted by the criminal syndicates who disfigured them so that they would not be recognised by their parents and they amputated part of their limbs to make them beggars to beg for money. Among these serious cases of child abduction in Malaysia, the most seriously affected state is Johor. According to the police statistics, among the 400 missing children found, 30 of them are from neighbouring countries. Of these 30 children, I am not aware how many are from Singapore as it was not specified. Therefore, I feel that we should look into this problem very seriously. I remember there were two children from Singapore who were reported missing since six to seven years and they could not be traced. I have a few suggestions to make with regard to this matter. First, we should have more stringent laws against child abduction.”
“I feel that when parents are unable to discipline their children, as a responsible Government, for the future of the children and for law and order in society, the Government's intervention and adoption of preventive measures is absolutely necessary. Sir, I fully support the four measures adopted and announced by the Government. However, there is no mention as to what penalties these young people will face if they have violated any of these regulations. Are they given just verbal warning or will they be sent to the schools to be dealt with? I hope that the Minister will give us a reply on that. Six months after the implementation of these measures, if the effects are not significant, we should have more stringent measures to enhance the effects. Maybe we should have curfew or measures of that sort to prevent juvenile delinquency from rising. These young teenagers are still in school. Their intellect is not fully developed. Their physiological reaction and conduct are easily influenced by external factors. It is necessary for us to help them to prevent them from going into wrong ways, and to maintain peace and order in our society.”
“Sir, cases of juvenile delinquency in Singapore are on the increase and it has come to a stage that gives us cause for concern. According to Police statistics, among the juvenile delinquents who were arrested last year, 84% of them were students and 70% of them were youngsters between the age of 14 and 15. Very often, they realise the seriousness of the offences only after they have got into big trouble and it is too late. Among those who were arrested, some were charged with drug addiction, consumption of alcohol and disorderly behaviour. Recently, Chief Justice Yong Pung How pointed out that in the last few months, among the 18 cases of rioting, 16 of them involved juveniles. Very often, these young people will go around in gangs and they will loiter in public places and amusement parks at night, fighting and causing trouble. In the Ministry of Home Affairs' Addendum to the Presidential Address this year, the Police announced that they would be working closely with the Ministry of Community Development, the schools and voluntary welfare organisations to deal with juvenile delinquency. At present, discipline masters of the schools have been appointed as officers of the Police Cadet Corps to enhance their authority in disciplining the problem students. Following that, the Government has also formally announced on 16th July, four measures to ban youths under the age of 16 from attending tea dances. This is also to prevent the young people from getting into trouble. Although some people feel that this will not resolve the matter and may even cause the young people to go underground, I personally do not agree with them.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“So if the Ministry of National Development could give concessions to these young couples and give them a flat earlier, this would be in conformity with the Government's policy. In fact, they could get married immediately after graduation.”
“Sir, the method of allocation of HDB flats is becoming more and more complicated. We should give priority to first-time applicants. In order to encourage the people to own their flats earlier, there are many incentives given to them. Some of these policies are very good. They help the lower income families. However, many people feel that there are too many regulations and they are very complicated. It is not easy for an ordinary citizen to understand these rules. I hope that the Ministry of National Development would simplify the regulations to make them easy to understand. Perhaps a chart could be drawn up so that even the ordinary people could understand it, and that would avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding. Some people have lost out in some of the benefits they are entitled to because they do not understand the rules. For those young couples who have just started working, I think we should give them some concessions when they apply for HDB flats. Now a 5-room flat in a new town costs about $210,000. The applicant needs to pay a downpayment of 20% or about $42,000. A new flat in a mature estate costs as much as $360,000, and the downpayment is a hefty $72,000. In other words, a graduate couple have to work for at least two years before they could barely afford to buy a 5-room flat. When they consider the cost they have to bear for their wedding, many couples would have to delay their wedding until another few years later. So I urge the Minister to give special concessions to young couples by lowering the downpayment from 20% to 10%, and the balance could be paid by instalments so that they would be able to own their flats earlier. It has all along been the Government's policy to encourage young people to get married earlier.”
“I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $134,987,780 for Head R ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $38,304,500 for Head R ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head P -”
“And, as I said earlier, we will allow and, in fact, we do allow other bus operators to come in and run services at the fringes. So we do have a system of competition. But let us not go back to the days when it was a free for all. That is the point that I am making, Sir. Mr Peh Chin Hua( In Mandarin): My point is that SBS would not go to my town. As a result, my town council arranged with a private bus company to come in and they are confident that they can operate profitably. But the Public Transport Council did not allow them to run these services, and there were a lot of complaints. I think there is no competition, since the SBS has withdrawn the services and is no longer servicing this area. The private bus company thinks that it is viable. The Public Transport Council should allow them to give it a try.”
“Sir, can I clarify? (In Mandarin): I am not quite happy with the Minister's answer just now. I do not think we should equate the transportation problems in the 60s to our situation now in the 90s. In the 60s, our buses were bad. There were no air-conditioned or double-decker buses. Our roads were very bad. We did not have expressways and our commuters had no money. Our people then were poor and many had to walk, or at most cycled from one place to another. The market was small and the population was small. Now, we are in the 90s. People are now richer. With the very expensive COEs, they may not be able to afford cars, but surely they have enough money to take buses. So there should be enough commuters for a number of bus companies to compete against one another and still survive. Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, I still maintain that what Mr Peh was advocating was a free-for-all competition. If he says, "All right, let's have competition but let's manage the competition in a way where we do not have this free-for-all situation.", then I think we can start to talk business. But as far as having a free-for-all competition is concerned, a la the days when we had 11 or 12 bus companies, the point that I am making is that we cannot allow all the 11 or 12 bus companies to run where they can make money and still insist that they should also run services which lose money. It is not fair for us to insist that they do so. But in our present situation, we do have two main bus operators which, while not competing directly with one another, nevertheless, still allow us to maintain a regime whereby we can compare and contrast the performance and the service level provided by each of them.”
“I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $796,614,000 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $534,403,300 for Head P ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head K -”
“If we do this, we can encourage more people to donate their private collections to the Museum. I hope that the Minister would consider this suggestion.”
“Sir, in 1991, we in Singapore experienced the loss of a collection of some valuable treasures to Hong Kong, and a lot of our people were very concerned with the matter. However, now that the authority has been showing more interest on art collections, our Museum is beginning to receive donations from private collectors of some valuable artworks. For example, a calligraphy on a large screen known as Wen Xin Diao Long by a famous Qing Dynasty calligrapher was donated by private art collector Mr He Guohao, and this has been described as a rare and valuable master-piece of calligraphy. Other donations such as those donated by Reverend Song Nian were also very valuable. These collections donated by various private collectors not only enrich the art collection of the Museum, but also arouse the interest and attention of many people. I believe our Museum must have some good facilities and experts to take care of the collections. There should be a series of public exhibitions either on a periodic manner or on a permanent basis for members of the public to appreciate and enjoy. This would be in line with the wishes of the donors. I think they should not be locked up in the strong room of the Museum just to collect dust, as this will be contrary to the wishes of the donors, and will discourage others from making such donations. I therefore suggest that MITA consider setting up some mini-exhibition halls to be named after the donors, either at the Museum itself or at some suitable place. We can call them He Guohao Hall or Reverend Song Nian Hall, etc. I think this will not only serve as an encouragement to future donors, but also attain the effect of "sharing good treasures with others".”