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 4 of 4.
“I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. 5.15 pm”
“(In Mandarin): According to my understanding, I think there is such a situation but how serious it is, I really do not know. That is why I am suggesting that there should be a committee to look into the issue. ADJOURNMENT OF DEBATE Resolved, "That this Debate be now adjourned." - [Mr Wong Kan Seng].”
“No. (In Mandarin) Let me finish my speech, then he could speak.”
“I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Yes. (In Mandarin) I feel that we should let our students acquire better knowledge of the history and geography of China and India, as this will be the key to open the door to their economies.”
“Many MPs have spoken on the topic. So I do not wish to speak on it and I am making use of this time to speak on an amendment which I have missed just now.”
“In this way, they will be able to help Singapore and provide extra political service to the people. Dr Arthur Beng also mentioned that he was not fully supportive of the NMP system. Yet, he suggested the acceptance of Non-Constituency MPs. I do not understand him. If we do not accept NMPs, why should we accept Non-Constituency MPs? Non-Constituency MPs came in because the people did not want the Opposition Members in this House. At that time, there was only one Chiam See Tong. With only one Member from the Opposition in the House, and if we fill in a number of Non-Constituency MPs, they may serve a purpose. Now, we have four Opposition Members in this House. I do not see why we should need any more Non-Constituency MPs in this House. In short, the continuation of NMPs is in keeping with the need of the country. We must cast our net wider to get more dedicated people, especially the professionals, members of the fairer sex and community leaders, into this House so that they can contribute to the country. As a matter of fact, the NMP system is not a concept unique to Singapore. Many democratic countries in the world, such as the United Kingdom, France and the Scandinavian countries, and even in countries with Lower and Upper Houses, have Nominated MPs. In Indonesia, for example, there are 360 elected Members of Parliament and 100 Nominated MPs. In the Philippines, there are 184 elected Members and 17 Nominated MPs. As such, I feel that we should give this NMP system a try, by giving the NMPs a longer time and a fairer opportunity to prove their worth. Only then can we see the merits in retaining this NMP system. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion. Mr Chiam See Tong rose ---”
“Mr Low Thia Khiang also pointed out that this act of the PAP was a reflection that the quality of the Members from the political party was in doubt. That is ridiculous. At the last General Election, the Workers' Party fielded 13 candidates, and only one of them was returned. The SDP had nine candidates, and they did slightly better, they won three seats. Out of the 81 PAP candidates, 77 were returned. Does this not show that the electorate, under the one-man-one-vote system, had expressed more confidence in the quality of the Members from the ruling party? On the other hand, I feel that the establishment of Nominated MPs would help in supplementing the inadequacy in the quality of Members from the Opposition. I hope that the Members from the Opposition, as well as my PAP colleagues in this House will not feel psychologically uneasy with the appointment of Nominated MPs, and to repulse them. They should not worry about competition from these NMPs and prevent them from making their contribution to this House. On 24th January, 1990, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Chiam See Tong criticised the establishment of NMPs, saying that the NMPs were entering Parliament from the back door. He even said that any one who had any self-respect would not accept the appointment as a Nominated MP. I feel that Mr Chiam's remark is an insult to the talented and dedicated Singaporeans who are prepared to serve the people. It goes further to show that the opposition parties are very jealous of the talented. It is precisely because they are jealous of the talented that they are unable to attract good talents to join them. Therefore, let us open the doors of this Parliament to those who are eligible and who are prepared to serve the people to enter this House.”
“Sir, I have not received any reply from the Minister to my questions. Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, Dr Tan has given us a very long discourse yesterday on primary health care. I would urge him to please pay more attention to what we are doing so that he can better understand the whole philosophy because --- Dr Tan Cheng Bock rose --”
“All right, I withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, I would like to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, here I would like to raise my third issue which is a sensitive issue, that is, on sex education. I feel that in our education system, sex education is seriously lacking in our secondary schools. This is clearly evidenced in the response from the students at a Pre-University Seminar held in June last year. For this reason, I welcome the Ministry of Education's announcement that it will start to introduce sex education in the curriculum of the Secondary 1 and Secondary 2 classes, and to attach more importance on the teaching of sex knowledge. However, I hope that the Ministry of Education, while implementing the teaching of sex education, will tie up with the inculcation of a complete set of correct values. If you teach sex education as a science subject or health science, then it will not achieve its expected results. Therefore, we have to inculcate in our students the proper values so that they will realize ---”
“In the recent expansion project of the Chinese High School, they preserved their old clock tower. To my knowledge, many famous universities in the world have very old-fashioned and outmoded buildings, but they have lost their glamour and reputation because of these changes. They do not fail to catch up with the times just because their premises are old and outmoded. The frequent changes of teachers and principals is another area of great concern to us. These frequent changes have resulted in the teachers and the principals losing their sense of belonging to their schools. Some teachers are transferred so frequently that they have taught in three different school, within five years of their teaching career. As a result, when the old boys of the school return to their Alma Mater, they find that not only the physical environment has changed, even the human environment is not the one that they could identify themselves with. So, how do we expect our students to have feelings and sentiments for the physical and human environment which is totally unfamiliar to them? How can we cultivate in them the love and loyalty to their Alma Mater, which was the tradition in the old days? In short, human beings are sentimental beings. If you cannot even bring out the traditional sense of loyalty from the old boys in the past, how do you expect future graduates to love and remain loyal to the old school? I therefore urge the Ministry of Education to review all these factors which stand in the way of cultivating the sense of loyalty and belonging for the school among its past and present students. The manifestation of students' loyalty to their school will lead to the citizens' loyalty to their nation. This is important to Singapore's education in the future.”
“Sir, the next issue I want to raise concerns loyalty to the school. Over the past few years, the Ministry of Education has been making a number of changes with rather significant results. However, with regard to the effort to cultivate the students' loyalty to their Alma Mater, which was a traditional virtue of students in the old days, there seems to be no great improvement. I hope that the Ministry of Education would, apart from encouraging the various schools to establish their own Old Boys' Associations, also consider the following points: In order to upgrade the facilities of the schools, very often the Ministry of Education would either demolish the old school building and build a new school building on the existing site, or move the school to a new site and let others make use of the old building. The effect of this practice is that when old boys go back to their Alma Mater, they find that the entire environment, including the classrooms, library, sports field, etc., strange and unfamiliar to them and they just do not have any nostalgic feeling towards their Alma Mater. If a school has to move because of dwindling enrolment, that is understandable. But, if there are students seeking enrolment to the school, and yet the Ministry keeps on moving it, then it simply makes no sense at all! Take my Alma Mater, I Tong School, for example. It was moved from Amoy Street to Ang Mo Kio, and again from Ang Mo Kio to Bishan. I feel that to upgrade the facilities of a school it is not necessary for the entire old school building to be demolished. We can upgrade it by altering its structure or design, just like the mammoth upgrading project for HDB flats in Marine Parade. We should try, as far as possible, to preserve the facade of the school building.”
“Lastly, most retired teachers are made up of the older cohort of the population, and are therefore more versed in traditional culture. In allowing them to undertake the job of a tutor is the best opportunity for them inculcate the fine points of traditional values. This will allow the young to learn how to get along with the teachers which will be an additional benefit in inculcating moral education. Mr Speaker, Sir, based on the above advantages, could the Ministry employ more retired teachers to manage tutorials in full-day schools?”
“Sir, following the introduction of the full-day school, I hope that more and more schools could convert to full-day schools. However, there might be a shortage of teaching staff or the workload of the present teachers will be increased indirectly. I therefore hope that the Ministry of Education will consider reappointing retired teachers. The retired teachers could assist the full-day school teachers in coaching the students in their school work and other ECA activities. The advantages are as follows: Firstly, retired teachers are professionals who have gone through educational training. In dealing with students, they have in-depth knowledge and vast experience. They are the most suitable candidates to be the tutors. Moreover, the retired teachers will form a better pool of teachers to help run the school than relief teachers who have no formal training and experience. Secondly, with the increase in the greying population and a longer life expectancy, we can give the retired teachers a more significant life after retirement. Therefore, to reappoint the retired teachers not only benefit them but is a great help to the nation in the field of education. Besides this, the job of a tutor is not very heavy and is very suitable for retirees. Thirdly, employment of retired teachers is a good method to maximize the use of manpower. This is in line with the policy of the Ministry of Labour and NTUC to extend the retirement age of workers. With the continuing tight labour market, the employment of more staff in the full-day school would also affect the economy of the nation. Therefore, retired teachers are a source of labour supply and a workable way to maximize the use of manpower.”
“They will try their best to save up their money for medical treatment or operation expenses for their family members, but not expenditure for better wards because this will create more burden to them. Sir, we all know that all guests in the hotels are allowed to have their meals in the restaurants, coffee-houses and the night clubs, and to use the facilities provided irrespective of the kind of rooms they are staying. I therefore urge the Government to adopt the same policy as practised by the hotel, ie, to allow class C patients to be treated by the senior specialists or consultants. Of course, there must be safeguards. It is understandable that every patient, irrespective of whether he is in A, B or C class or whether his condition is serious or minor, would like to be treated only by the most senior specialists or consultants. If this happens, then the queue for the most senior consultants must become very long, and patients may have to wait many months. Those not seriously ill can afford to wait, but those who are seriously ill cannot wait. Therefore, I would like to suggest that patients be treated according to the seriousness of their condition. Those C class patients with complicated or serious conditions should be treated by the senior specialists or consultants, if requested by the patients themselves. Finally, I sincerely hope that the Ministry of Health will consider my above proposal and to clarify to the lower income group to avoid misunderstanding that senior specialists and consultants are only meant for the better paid wards, namely, A and B wards.”
“Sir, medical care has been an important concern of every Singaporean. With the development of Singapore's economy, medical service and technology have advanced tremendously in recent years. This has benefited all Singaporeans and the life span of individuals has increased because of the advance made in medical sciences. However, as our medical facilities and treatment improve, we must ensure that the small proportion of people who are poor are not deprived of their medical benefits. Therefore, besides the need to provide more C-class wards by the Government, we should also ensure that senior specialists or consultants extend their services to C class patients who are seriously ill as well. This would definitely benefit the lower income groups who could enjoy better medical facilities. Under the present system, patients in class C wards are taken care by doctors in that ward. The concerns expressed to me are that if a patient wishes to be taken care of by senior specialists or consultants they have to give up their right of stay in class C and transfer themselves to class A or B. Such a system, if true, must create unhappiness among the family members of the C class patients who are seriously ill. Many of them do not understand why class C patients cannot request the service of senior specialists or consultants from class A and B for treatment or operation if they still insist to stay in class C ward. In actual fact, they would prefer to have better medical treatment rather than better ward facilities. We believe that many Singaporeans still preserve their oriental tradition and they are family-centred.”
“Or if the Ministry can consider the recommendation brought up by Dr Tan Cheng Bock in the 1987 budget, if I am not mistaken, the possibility of subject streaming. I hope the Ministry will review streaming at Primary 3. Some of these students have now grown into teenagers and have entered the society. We have a different problem at hand now. I would also like to remind the Minister of yesterday's discussion and our Prime Minister's comments in the Asia Magazine. So we hope that Singaporeans will have a good foundation in their mother tongue and benefit the society in the long run.”
“They become rebellious, and this is bad for their psychological development. The children's attitude in school becomes poor and the school also looks at them from a different angle, leading to their loss of interest in studies and creating disciplinary problems in class. They play truant and their language ability in the first and second language is very poor. They cannot even read the newspapers. Because of the fact that students in the extended stream are uniform in their ability, there is a lack of competition. There is no motivation as a result. So their PSLE results are less than desirable. Furthermore, there is little likelihood that they will ever be absorbed into the express stream. Another point is that from the feedback received from teachers, ie, those who are sent to teach the monolingual students, they find there is immense psychological pressure. They are faced with anxiety when they teach the programme. They also find class discipline difficult. This is especially true with female teachers who, as soon as they step into the classroom, find that maintaining class discipline gets in the way of academic progress. So I would like to ask the Ministry of Education the following questions: Firstly, in recent years, what results has the streaming at Primary 3 yielded?. Secondly, since the implementation of the Primary 3 streaming, how many students have been channelled into the monolingual stream and the extended stream. Thirdly, what are the prospects of these primary school students when they leave school and what is their future?. What has the Ministry of Education done for the long term objective of the scheme, particularly for the Primary 3 streaming scheme? Will they consider implementing streaming at Primary 6 instead of at Primary 3?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support Mr Sia's proposal. Singapore is a tropical country and the lifestyle of Singaporeans has changed with the economic development and progress of our society. Nowadays, many places and public facilities such as shopping centres, supermarkets, offices, MRT, buses, hotels, and even hospitals, are air-conditioned. Hence, a comfortable environment would definitely improve work efficiency. We have since overlooked the working environment of our teachers. They also require a comfortable workplace. I therefore urge the Ministry of Education to provide air-conditioning in the teachers' room in all schools. This would not only improve their morale but also encourage others to join the teaching career. I would also like to appeal to the Ministry of Education to provide fax facilities in every school, as faster communication and information would improve the productivity of the schools. Mr Choo Wee Khiang (Marine Parade GRC)( In Mandarin): Sir, the Primary 3 streaming, on the surface, seems like an old tune replayed. But its effects on the society are immense. If you ask any parent whose children have been through the Primary 3 streaming, they will tell you they feel lost, and especially those with children who are sitting for the Primary 3 streaming examination. Why is this so? This is because children who are streamed to the monolingual stream face the following disadvantages. First, parents will feel that the child's opportunities are limited. They may be denied a place in the ordinary secondary school and even the 'A' level examinations. Therefore, they feel that streaming at Primary 3 is a disadvantage to the slow developers. Second, children become pessimistic as they give up hope in the seventh or ninth year. They lose the motivation to learn.”
“Sir, what about those old shophouses, markets and old lifts? Will they be similarly upgraded too?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to raise the issue on the selling of shophouses through tender by HDB. The selling of shophouses through tender by HDB has made the small shopkeepers in the housing estates very worried and at a loss as to what to do. They feel that the tender amount of $250,000 to $400,000 is much too high. In the case of coffee shops and eating houses, the tender amount can be as high as $1 million. Therefore, the shopkeepers are worried that when the open tender system is extended to all the Housing Board estates, with their limited capital and small business turnover, they cannot afford to pay such high prices and eventually may have to close down their business; thus affecting their livelihood. May I ask the HDB to consider the problems faced by these shopkeepers, and I hope the Minister will clarify whether it will be implemented throughout all the estates. I would also like to ask the Minister whether he can consider allowing private developers to build shopping centres in the estate to replace the existing open tender system by HDB.”
“The Government is also considering increasing substantially the pay of key civil servants. I am happy to note that this will also be extended to our Ministers. I am in the private sector and therefore I fully understand the difficulty of employing good and talented people. Among the managing directors whom I know, their salaries are much much higher than our Ministers. The contributions of our Ministers who serve the nation are equal, if not beyond those of the key civil servants. The efforts they put in are reflected in their graying and receding hairline. Some people may think that Ministers entering politics should be regarded as a kind of devotion. Therefore, the salaries in the Government and those outside should not be compared. However, this is unreasonable. There is a Chinese saying which says: Yu yeow mar er how, yu yeow mar er chow tze chow, which means that you want the horse to run fast and yet you are unwilling to feed it with more food. This shows the unfairness of some people who want the best from another and yet are unwilling to give him the equivalent. Singaporeans must understand that to have an efficient, good and clean Government, the salaries of the Ministers must be equivalent to the amount of work they put in. In conclusion, Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to support the motion standing in the name of the Minister.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion on the budget statement for the financial year 1989 by the Minister for Finance. This budget has given a great increase in the tax relief for parents, children and the handicapped dependants. This proves that the Government is putting into practice its promotion of traditional cultural values. It also shows the support of the report by the Adivsory Council on Family and Community Life. As a member of this Advisory Council, I fully appreciate the Government's efforts in promoting the family as a basic unit of society as well as taking care of the aged and the handicapped. The efforts in promoting moral values in the nation is most commendable. In the budget, the incentive to encourage those who can afford to have more children should have the effect of turning the population trend. The reduction in property tax and stamp duty is to further enhance the Home Ownership Scheme. It will enable our people to have better housing not only in the HDB flats but also in private residential properties. This has the effect of reducing the financial burden of the home owners and it will also encourage the revival of the construction industry. The company tax will be reduced from 33% to 32% by 1990. Although this is just a token reduction of 1%, the action shows the Government's concern and it will be appreciated by the private sector. The budget statement states that there will be a 5% consumption tax on domestic use of water, gas and electricity if it exceeds $40 per month. This measure shows the consideration of the Government for the poor whose monthly PUB bills are normally below $40. For the middle class and above, it serves as a reminder to them to support the Government's "Save Energy" campaign.”