S. Vasoo
Singapore
“I would like to ask DPM whether the public as well as the Government-linked companies would be looking at some ways in which jobs could be created to absorb some of the older workers. In the longer term, I think job creation will become an issue, especially when many of the industries in the manufacturing sector are going to hollow out.”
“Our recruitment has been excellent over this past period and our attrition has been relatively low. But I am realistic enough to know that it is not just because of the Ministry of Education, the economy has helped a lot. I believe that I have answered most of the questions posed by Members.”
“Can I ask the Minister of State, when he claims that the LRT is of world-class standards, but the Member for Sembawang is complaining that there are so many frequent breakdowns, what world-class standard are we talking about?”
“May I ask the Minister whether the viewpoints of the commuters and the private bus operators will be solicited in his review? Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Sir, we are in touch with the private bus operators and we would definitely take the views of the public into consideration in the context of the overall framework of the public transport system.”
“It would be the last resort, as the Minister has put it, to institutionalise persons because, by institutionalising them, one breaks them up from the family, and family dynamics are disrupted. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that we have other means of rehabilitating young persons and juveniles within a community setting.”
“All the time, we emphasise on marriage as a partnership. We also accept, as one of our core values, the family as a basic unit. It is, therefore, desirable that the wording, at the beginning of this Bill, should reinforce this value. Under clause 13, the Minister will have powers to exclude certain classes of persons.”
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“And many community leaders have been encouraged to deal with local problems and local issues. They have given many relentless hours and efforts in terms of promoting common good in their neighbourhood. And are we suggesting that all their efforts are wasted over these years? Are we insinuating that they are unable to articulate opinions which will improve their neighbourhoods? I feel that the Opposition has, in fact, cast doubts on their efforts. And I think the best judge are the grassroots leaders themselves. They are on the job. They know what is best for their neighbourhoods and there are different channels for them to articulate their opinions, and to bring about the betterment of their neighbourhood. The various grassroots organizations are in fact channels for citizen participation and these channels are established to provide for a responsible means through which people can better their neighbourhood. I feel that the viewpoints by the Opposition need to be debunked in the sense that they themselves are not really in tune and in touch with the many grassroots leaders who are giving various efforts and contributions to improve their community. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think the ultimate analysis is for people to choose. People are generally able to discern what is good for them. It is not for the Opposition to judge that the many thousands of people who are involved in various grassroots organizations are not doing their job in articulating useful viewpoints. The ultimate analysis is that it is for them to judge who is able to deliver the goods, who is able to create better neighbourhoods to enhance their lives. And I feel that this would be the acid test for them to decide.”
“I do not wish to elaborate further on these. But this itself points out that the Back-benchers themselves, who have been giving their best in terms of time and efforts, have done their best to bring these necessary issues to this House. Mr Deputy Speaker, many of the terms such as rights of expression, thought, and association are not new. It is not sufficient just to articulate them. They are common rhetorics that we have heard. But I think we must be able to translate these ideals into reality. Can the Opposition translate these ideals into reality? Have they been able to suggest and demonstrate through various programmes to deal with these issues effectively? In fact, they have not been able to do so and they have been just harping on these various themes. Since I have been here as a new Member of this House, I have yet to come across one constructive proposition which has been suggested. I feel that all these rhetorics are just window-dressings. They are not sufficient, without real action to deal with them. And I must say that the Government over the years has been able to meet some of the basic needs of the people such as education, housing and health. And we are looking for new ways to improve the lot of the people and we feel, as Members of this House, we have a responsibility to provide the necessary inputs to bring about new ideas and innovations to the new problems that we will be facing in the years to come. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Opposition has also cast doubts on the efforts of our grassroots leaders. They have suggested that many of these people are not authentic leaders. They are unable to articulate opinions of the residents in the localities where they live. All these organizations are efforts and contributions of many people.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was speaking on a responsive governmental system when we adjourned, the inputs which are necessary to make the governmental system more responsive. Sir, we are elected here by popular representation to reflect the needs and the aspirations of our electorate. We have a job to do and that is to give the necessary and useful inputs to make our governmental system more responsive to the needs of the common people. We have done this over the years and we are all the time evolving and changing in response to new needs and new challenges. The Opposition has alleged that we have not been responsive. Are they trying to insult the many thousands of people who have elected all of us here under popular representation? Many of these are intelligent Singaporeans who are discerning, who are able to see the changes overtime. They are able to visualize how their lives have improved over these years. And they are the best judge in terms of who will represent them, and who can discharge those responsibilities effectively. The changes that we have witnessed are a testimony in terms of what we have been able to do in trying to enrich the quality of life. Sir, the Opposition has also alleged that they have been able to bring up various social issues which are of concern to the people of Singapore. I am sure the House will be able to testify that the PAP Back-benchers themselves have, from time to time, raised crucial issues which concern the Singaporean. The Hansards are full of it, and this itself is indicative that we do not back slide but are able to bring up issues which are of concern to the people. Various issues such as graduate mothers, streaming and education, employment of various workers, and Employment Act, have been touched on.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have heard a lot of comments by various Members. The Opposition Members have in fact made a lot of rhetorics which were uttered yesterday. I do not propose to add to this but to identify a few points for enlightenment of the various Members. We are no more fighting a colonial system. We have surpassed that. We are in a new era of trying to harness people with various socio-economic background to work towards a common goal, to enrich and develop for purposes of our own welfare and also to improve our quality of life. We are in fact trying to create a governmental system which is sensitive and responsive to people's needs.”
“Sir, it is almost one o'clock. May I speak after lunch?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, what are the plans that are being currently undertaken to rehabilitate and reintegrate the chronic patients of Woodbridge Hospital into community life?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in view of the high population centres and families are now relocated in various housing estates, would the Ministry be reviewing its outpatient services with a view to providing better support for discharged patients because it is a problem for patients to get access to the existing outpatient services?”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, can I proceed with my question? Question No. 5, Sir. Mr Chiam See Tong rose -”
“Would the VITB also consider seconding instructors to the vocational centres, jointly run by voluntary organizations, to help them organize relevant training programmes so that the disabled themselves would be trained, equipped, and ultimately will enable them to better able to obtain jobs in the open market?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, with regard to special schools for disabled children, the Member for Anson yesterday said that nothing much has been done for the children from the Singapore Association for the Deaf, Since I am associated with the Association, I would like to tell the House that the Ministry of Community Development has given a grant of $19,400 to the Singapore Association for the Deaf to purchase audio-visual equipment to enable these children to learn better. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has seconded 73 teachers to teach in these schools. This has helped the various special schools. However, the secondment of such teachers is dictated by the availability of teachers from the Ministry. We all know that there is a shortage of teachers in the Ministry, especially for primary schools. In view of this it will take some time before the teachers could be found and seconded to the special schools. In order to meet the education needs of disabled children, would the Ministry provide the necessary grants in lieu of the teachers to be seconded to the special schools?. Sir, this move would help the special schools to respond more quickly to meet the education needs of disabled children. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to touch on another area about the upgrading of instructors in vocational training centres run by the voluntary organizations. Mr Speaker, Sir, these instructors need to be upgraded so that they will be better equipped to train the disabled in relevant trades for more open employment. I am wondering if VITB could extend its assistance to these organizations to upgrade the instructors.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the child's initial interest in learning is influenced by his nature, the stimulation he receives from his parents and equally important his pre-school education. I am sure Members would have come across the works of Piaget, a renowned psychologist. Piaget himself has identified that the initial foundation of learning for the child is from the age of three to five years. Extensive research has been done by him to suggest that this is the case. Mr Speaker, Sir, there is a need at some point in time in our Education development to examine our pre-school education programmes. It is estimated that at any one time during the year there are about 30,000 children attending various pre-school programmes provided by different groups in Singapore. May I suggest that the Ministry at an opportune time consider reviewing the curriculum content of pre-school education, and to suggest and give recommendations to various organizations to improve the methods of teaching and their curriculum content that are directed towards the teaching of these children. We also realize that amongst students who live in housing estates, the home environment of some of them is not conducive. They find it rather distracting to study. I feel that since most schools are estate-based schools today, I hope that further improvements could be made to provide for study centres for such children so that they can find a more conducive environment to enable them to study.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I be allowed to speak on my Amendment (8) and Amendment (16). 1 propose to drop Amendment (18)* because the Minister of State has, in fact, touched on the topic yesterday.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead JC-03 Object Group 1210 of the Main Estimates. Sir, the Member for Anson has given a lot of talk on the disabled and all that. The basic question we have to ask ourselves is: is he personally and directly involved with the provision, involvement and giving of service to all these children? I am sure he is not involved. He has come here to speak on things to rile up various issues. There are many Members here who are involved in the various voluntary organizations dealing with this whole problem. We are here to try and see how we could improve the services and give constructive suggestions. Sir, I would like to thank the Minister and the Minister of State for giving their reply on subhead JC-03, Object Group 1210. I feel that there are a lot of areas that we can improve on - in the care, in the services for the aged sick and the services for the aged. The Government, the community and various other community organizations should be coordinated to work together to see how we can best prepare ourselves for the provisions or programmes for the aged sick as well as the aged in the next five years. Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Point of order, Sir. We are on Subhead JC-03.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I share the sentiments of the Members for Changkat and Yuhua. I would like to assert that the investment on community development projects is, in fact, helpful in building the fabrics of our society and promoting better social networks in the community. I feel that some people do not believe in investing in this area and they think it is just like pouring water on the duck's back. We should look at the long term implications of such investment because it provides a social net and prevents people from falling through. Sir, I would like to bring to the attention of the House that I am disappointed with the budget allocated for the services for the aged because I feel this is a growing problem and very little consideration has been given. It contradicts basically the general trend and the interests of the Government to look at this problem more seriously. Sir, we should be particularly concerned about the growth of private homes for the aged sick. There are currently more than 17 such homes. More will be expected to be set up to cater for the increasing needs of the aged sick. What I would like to know is the standard of care and conditions of these homes. I feel that there is a need to monitor the standards and the conditions in these homes more closely to ensure that the families that are receiving services from such homes are not taken advantage of. Perhaps support and guidance could be given to homes which are providing such services so as to encourage and enable them to improve their standard of services. The Ministry may perhaps like to consider setting up a coordinating committee to look at the overall growth and future directions of the services and programmes for the aged in the community.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I must first declare that I have no pecuniary interest in this area. I would like to alert you, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, that the neighbourhoods of various housing estates will be the future arena in which new needs and problems of children, youth and aged, will surface. In response to these changing social scene, it is necessary for the Ministry of Community Development to step up its efforts to encourage more participation of various voluntary organizations and voluntary groups in meeting the new social challenges. In particular, the Ministry should review the extent and the manner grants to voluntary organizations are allocated. Sir, the grants to voluntary organizations as proposed for the financial year 1985 is meagre and is only helpful to meet some of the recurrent financial needs of some selected voluntary organizations. The grants, as it has been appropriated and set aside, may not stimulate other voluntary organizations and groups to pioneer into new services and projects. Sir, I am aware that there are some social and voluntary organizations interested to pioneer into new programmes for children, youth and aged, in the housing estate's community, but they are unable to initiate such services because of constraints, in terms of facilities, and their inability to raise funds for capital outlay. I am wondering if the Ministry would review and enlarge the objectives of providing grants to voluntary organizations with a view to encouraging more voluntary efforts to pioneer into new services and programmes, and perhaps the Ministry could consider providing some seed money for organizations to take up in the various programmes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I be allowed to speak on my amendment on Subhead NE-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, I observe that the estimated revenue from sweep-stakes and private lotteries in 1984 was about $115 million. Correct me, Sir, if I am wrong, that one of the unexpressed intentions was that part of the takings from Singapore Big Sweep and Toto would be used to help in some way for the promotion of community services, sports, and culture. I am wondering if there has been a variation in this intention of the use of the funds which have been painlessly extracted from many enthusiastic punters. In the light of the Government's intention to promote more community participation in sports, culture, and various other community service activities, I am wondering if the Government would make a dollar-for-dollar contribution from the takings of sweep-stakes and Toto to the various national organizations that are enthusiastically promoting various sports and cultural activities. Mr Speaker, Sir, as the saying goes, "Let a thousand flowers bloom", I am sure some of the funds which could be appropriated to cultural activity, sports, and all that, would help some flowers to bloom in the various aspects.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the last two days, we have heard various hon. Members bringing up issues, queries and complaints against the HDB, though HDB has in fact delivered its services and its programmes to the people. I feel it is timely that HDB should consider setting up a consumer relations unit, at least at estate level, because many of the problems that we have discussed over the last two days could be solved in a more effective way. I think the scale of these problems will rise with the aging of estates. And even the problems brought up by Opposition Members could be solved when they deal with an effective consumer relations unit at the estate level. The other issue that I would like to take up is that a number of estates are aging, and many families living in these aging flats are confronted with the problem of not being able to find a capital outlay to carry out renovations of their flats, particularly casement windows, leaking toilets, kitchen and various other accessories. The problem is quite acute if they belong to the working class. I feel that if we do not examine this issue more critically, there will be problems posed or dangers created to the safety of other residents, particularly in older housing estates. In order to enable such families to tackle these problems, perhaps the HDB could look into the possibility of giving a one-time loan, through the CPF, to such families who need to conduct or carry out such renovation programmes within the households to deal with various matters relating to the wear and tear of their flats.”
“And when families of old people are afflicted by these atrocities, they will face a lot of problems in their capacity to provide care and attention for these old persons who are aged sick. I feel that there is a necessity to review why there is this rampant increase in the provision of services by the private sector which, no doubt, is a response to a need. But I feel that the mushrooming of all these private homes must be monitored carefully, and Government should take an active interest in ensuring that they maintain some minimum standards, or give the necessary support to such institutions so that they can continue to provide acceptable standards of care to the old or to the families requiring such support. Ultimately, I think, with families becoming more nucleated and, hopefully, that the problems will not be aggravated further for their inability to cater and look after the needs of their aged sick, I feel that this whole area has to be examined in the context of this changing profile, and Government should, in fact, take a closer look at what needs to be done in relation to the support and the care programmes for the aged sick. In conclusion, Mr Speaker, Sir, the ultimate analysis that one has to consider is the allocation of resources to those sectors which have the most need. Provision of resources to one sector will be a trade-off against another. But in this process of trying to allocate resources, I feel strongly that the Government should begin to look at allocating resources in areas where it would reduce the stresses and strains of people with the ultimate aim that many of those who need the support can be helped to achieve self-help. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion. 12.21 p.m.”
“The fifth area that I would like to broach on is to bring our attention to the needs of the aged. Much has been said by my colleague from Ang Mo Kio and others who have raised a number of issues pertaining to this area, but I shall confine myself to some areas which have not been touched on. It is true that we should keep our old people healthy and to encourage them to participate in various social activities and to help them to retire and live gracefully. Though this is essential, we can mobilize various social organizations in the community to participate in these programmes. I feel that most of the social and community organizations are unable to initiate programmes without the adequate infrastructural support by the Government. I know of many voluntary organizations which are interested in initiating programmes for the aged, whether they be able-bodied or aged sick. Somehow the availability of facilities and so-called "economic rental" is not at all accorded on the basis of economic rental to these organizations. And without initial inputs in terms of resources for renovation of such facilities and also without reasonable rentals for such organizations, it will be a deterrence for these organizations to take the initiative to promote programmes in the neighbourhood. I feel that the Government, through the Ministry of Community Development, could review its support system for various social and community organizations to pioneer new areas and new programmes for the aged in the community. Finally, in relation to the aged itself, with the 7.7% of our population who are above 60 years, there will be a sizeable proportion of the old who will be afflicted by illness and disease. At least about 2-3% of this aging population will become the aged sick, will become disabled.”
“Many ministries deal with youth problems and youth needs in a small way. They are not comprehensive enough. They do not provide a holistic approach to the whole problem of the needs of the young persons in our society. I feel that it is time we re-looked and reexamined the problem and come up with a fairly comprehensive policy related to the needs of young persons. This is in view of the impending challenges and the stresses and strains on the life-orientation of young persons imposed by external cultural influences. In order to strengthen the fibres of a young person, we must critically look at the question of how we can develop a comprehensive policy to cater to the needs of young persons in our community. Why I am stressing this is that, as you all know, teenage abortions have increased. Let me quote you some figures on this. In 1972, there were about 103 teenage abortions. After 10 years, the figure has gone up to 1,235, and this seems to be more glaring if you look at abortions as a whole. Since 1973, after the implementation of the Abortion Act, there has been a dramatic increase in abortions. The figure in 1973 was 5,252 and, of late, in 1983, it has jumped up nearly four-fold since then. The figure is 19,100. There is also a gradual increase in marriage breakdowns amongst young adults. Are these then not symptoms of some underlying problems faced by our young persons? I think we have not seriously dwelt into the various reasons as to why such problems have surfaced, and the surfacing of problems which have become acute over the years requires us to look at how we can help to prepare our young persons to live a more enriched family life, a more enriched and a meaningful person who is able to contribute to his community and to his nation.”
“I feel that all these increases which have been talked about may generate inflation in our local setting and ultimately it will hit the pockets of the common men, particularly families with low income. But what I want to stress is that many of the families in the low-income group have to get out to work. They are always faced with a no-win situation. If both parents do not work, they are unable to sustain and obtain the necessary income to maintain themselves. If they do work, they work in production-related work, odd jobs, hawker centres, restaurants and service industries. This means that they are required to be away from the home. The Member for Ulu Pandan says that it is necessary to encourage parents to stay at home for the first two to three years, but for these parents they have very little choice. I feel that in the provision for day-care one should look at whether day-care services will become affordable and accessible to these parents. Day-care, which is a lesser evil, provides for the climate, the environment, to help the children of low-income families to be more effective persons and to prevent further undesirable effects that hey may encounter on being left unsupervised. Mr Speaker, Sir, the problem is quite real, and I myself and other colleagues of mine who have been working in this area would like to register that when such services are afforded or planned they must be made available or accessible to such families. Otherwise, there will be great social costs that we have to bear in later years. The fourth issue that I would like to broach and discuss about are the needs and challenges facing youth. Mr Speaker, Sir, youth policies and programmes, as they have been implemented, are rather segmented.”
“Should they not deserve adequate support from the Government in order to help them achieve their potential? More often than not, in the education of these children, we always look at the cost-benefit ratio and I feel that in the cost-benefit ratio application, if stretched on a long-term basis, one should be able to see that there are sufficient returns for educating these children who are physically handicapped. But they can be helped to become people who can contribute in the best way they can to our society, and I hope that with the emphasis on training. and developing skills of workers the area of training and skill development of disabled children should not be forgotten. I feel that more support could be given to voluntary organizations and social organizations that have over the years undertaken this task of providing education for the disabled children. I feel that more adequate facilities and better teacher ratio could enable them to perform their task as effectively as they can. So much for education, Mr Speaker, Sir. I will now move to low-income families. I believe that many of the Members have discussed this area thoroughly. They have presented various viewpoints in terms of how Government intends to take various actions to improve the lives of the 15-20% of the low-income families. I propose not to dwell on this area further, but what I would like to point out is that with the impending intention to raise road tax, diesel tax and various other proposals which are in the pipeline, one may have to stretch the limits of these families. If we do so, we may create further problems in the ability of these families to cope with their needs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I feel that there may be a need to review and build the foundations in the primary education level because by the time the children go into secondary schools we may find it difficult to salvage or to make further improvements, because basically a child's foundation is built at his primary level. His learning habits and his motivation could be built up there, and I feel that the Ministry of Education should review and see how resources could be deployed to build a better foundation at the primary school level. There is also a necessity to review preschool education system because very little reviews, studies and analyses have been done on our pre-school education system. It may be timely at this stage of our growth to examine this area of pre-school education to see how pre-school education can synchronize itself with the primary school level of education. This has been a much neglected area. I feel that such pre-school education has been provided by different organizations with different curricula, with different emphases, and many of these children having been churned through them never enjoyed their childhood. They have pre-maturely become adults by the time they get to the primary school level. So [,feel that the Ministry should try and examine this whole process in order that our educational system could be further strengthened. I would also like, Mr Speaker, Sir, to talk on my pet area, which is education for disabled children. It has been the declared policy of the Government to provide education for all children and to develop their potential to the fullest. Somehow the same benefits that are accorded to normal children are yet to be accorded to disabled children. We may then ask: Are these not our children?”
“However, I am not sure that the implications of streaming have been effectively studied. What I would like to raise is: do we know what are the psychological and social implications of streaming on the children? Has the Ministry done a longitudinal study in relation to the children who have been streamed? How many of them are affected, having been streamed? I think one way is to study these children on a longitudinal process so that we can, in fact, identify some of the ramifications of this whole process of streaming. Through that, we would be able to see the various problems that may be associated or not associated with streaming. I feel that the Ministry may be interested to look at this whole thing, so that it will be able to have a better insight into the effects of streaming on the children who have been streamed. The question we should ask ourselves is that, no doubt streaming is intended to help the academically-slow children, are there sufficient resources being decanted to help them achieve the potential? Is sufficient remedial education being channelled to these children? Many of them may be weak in various subjects and has adequate support been provided for these children? Many of these children who fail in school come from homes that do not give them necessary support. If they had a poor headstart in their own homes because of poor social conditions of the home, how could they really benefit from the very competitive environment which is prevalent in the school system?”
“What I am given to understand is that when new estates are built, the existing nearby area estate management offices tend to take on the responsibility. These estate management offices are more often than not overloaded with their own task of meeting the needs of existing residents. And, as you all know, when new residents move into new estates they have a lot of problems with regard to their flats. Much of this running around from one place to the other could be sorted out, and perhaps through this process a better rapport could be developed. The residents will then see that the bureaucracy is more humane, more able to look into their problems and deal with them in the most efficient manner. It can also help to build up a better rapport amongst new residents. It provides the initial foundation for growth of relationship and through this process, when RCs are ushered into these new towns, it can have a better take-off because the foundations for relationship have already been initiated. The next area which has been much talked about is the area on education, the unintended consequences of streaming and the education for disabled children. Since the introduction of the new education policy, we have developed a neat educational system. Though the educational system is neat in theory, but somehow the aspect of streaming has not been well received by the people. People are unhappy about the way in which the children are being streamed. What is worse is that many of the parents are also sceptical about the intentions of the streaming process. Somehow somewhere we have failed to communicate to them that streaming could, in the long-term interest of the children, help the academically-slow children to manage with the educational process.”
“In the ultimate consequence, constant pressures are put on the Area Offices of having to cope with the various grievances faced by residents. These pressures are likely to increase and become more acute in the next 5-10 years ahead. As we all know, most of our housing estates are already aging and, when estates age, like people, they produce all sorts of symptoms, and when they arise the estate management offices will be further overloaded with problems faced by residents. I also sympathize with the staff working in the estate management offices because they have to meet the needs of more than 450,000 households. Mind you, it is not an easy task to deal with residents who make varying demands on the bureaucracy. Somehow I feel that it is time for the housing bureaucracy to consider establishing a Consumer Relations Unit at the estate level so that such unit will be able to receive and obtain feedbacks, viewpoints and grievances from residents in order that their needs could be attended to as efficiently as possible. Through such a unit, mis-perceptions between the bureaucracy and the residents could be minimized. And when better rapport is developed, the housing bureaucracy could be seen in better light. It also will prevent unnecessary bureaucratic "merry-go-rounds" which many of the residents do bring up from time to time. I feel that, if they are shuffled from one end to the other over the years, it will have a cumulative negative effect on the total perception of the services provided by this bureaucracy to the people. This unit can also play a very important role, particularly in newer housing estates when residents are settling in. The unit can usher the residents into the new environment, meet with their new problems.”
“I would like myself to raise a number of issues which the Government will have to pay particular attention because they affect the common Singaporean. The first issue that I would like to broach is the need for a more responsive housing bureaucracy. I can see that the Minister for National Development is going to perceive what I am going to say, but I reassure the Minister that the Housing Board has a good track record; it has been able to provide housing for most Singaporeans and we should give credit where it is due and not make unfounded allegations against the programmes that have been built over the last 15-20 years. Mr Speaker, Sir, as you know, 81% of our population are living in public housing estates. Therefore, policies which affect public housing estates should be more carefully deliberated by the housing bureaucracy before their implementation. Where possible, time should be set aside to gather opinions from the consumers of the housing programmes, so that any policy changes which affect the well-being could be reflected, and such reflections can be incorporated into the policies. By doing so, the housing bureaucracy could become more responsive, and perhaps a healthier partnership could be developed between the housing bureaucracy and the consumers of housing. Mr Speaker, Sir, currently the public housing estate management offices are overloaded. Last year alone the housing management offices attended to about 2.5 million enquiries from residents. It is an enormous task. It is flooded with various types of enquiries affecting residents. Therefore, a large bureaucracy as such may not be able to provide a personal service that may be necessary.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion moved by the Member for Ayer Rajah to thank the President for his Address. Mr Speaker, Sir, the social landscape of Singapore has changed dramatically in the last 15 years. Singapore society has, in fact, matured. The saying goes that it is no more fixated in its childhood stage. It is maturing and growing in its young adulthood stage. This is obviously not a Freudian interpretation, but I think it is a logical process of growth. In view of this, there is a necessity for Government to communicate with Singaporeans in an adult to adult level. And through such communication, Government will be able to listen, perhaps hear, what the common man has to say about the issues that lie ahead of them. Mr Speaker, Sir, the President has, in fact, rightly charted the various issues the Government will be tackling in the next 5-10 years. Amongst the social and economic issues which we will be facing, I would like to single out a few pertinent points that I think Government intervention is necessary, without which there may be some unintended complications or implications for the future fabric of our society. Before I dwell on this, I would like to point out that before I became a parliamentarian, and now in Parliament, I hear the Opposition Members bringing up a lot of rhetoric, viewpoints, which appear to be euphemistic but nothing seems to be concrete that has been offered for the people. I believe that the people are the best judge for themselves in relation to the performance that have been made by these Members in the last three days. Mr Speaker, Sir, I and my colleagues have identified a number of concrete areas where Government should pay particular attention.”