Seng Han Thong
Singapore
“In the Bill, it also mentioned about applying a blanket permit for usage at same location. So, is it possible for our Grassroots Organisation (GRO)'s new media team to do it for our community events coverage all year round?”
“Mr Lee has left. Let us uphold the Singapore Spirit, stay united in front of crises and seek consensus when facing differences. We will let Mr Lee know that Singapore will continue to develop for another 50 years! Page: 20 We will always remember you, our founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. [Applause.] 4.42 pm”
“Through open tender, we now see real market competition in terms of management solutions and fees charged by the competing companies to operate the bundles of public bus routes.”
“Madam, in view of the heightened international terrorist threat, what will be the measures taken by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to enhance aviation security and safety at Changi Airport? Changi Airport served a record 54.1 million passengers from around the world with 340,000 flight movements last year.”
“For patrons who drink, taxis are vital in ensuring the journey home is safe for themselves as well as other road users, while we hear of the difficulties of serving such a segment of commuters, especially relating to drunken patrons.”
“Maritime safety. Madam, as our maritime strategy is to strengthen Singapore as a premier global hub port and develop Singapore as a leading international maritime centre, a strong maritime safety culture needs to be nurtured and developed to support the strategy. What are the work plans and programmes to further enhance maritime safety?”
The complete record
Every one of 495 lines we hold for Seng Han Thong, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 9 of 10.
“Sir, many of our older HDB flats are now undergoing upgrading. Most of them were built some 20-over years ago when the problem of an ageing population was not an issue. In these estates, some blocks have lifts and some do not. Even for those with lifts, the lifts do not land on every floor. Moreover, for this special type of flats known as segmented blocks, the residents would have to walk a distance along the public corridor on the lift-landing floor before walking up or down the stairs to their respective flats. To the senior citizens, the problem is aggravated. I would like to commend Minister Mah Bow Tan for making the decision to allow the lifts to stop at every floor, and for building additional lifts in some of the older blocks. I would like to urge HDB to provide these facilities for all the blocks in order to look after the ageing population. Sir, in the following years, I think there will be more problems with the lifts in the older estates. In fact, from what I know, some people have to upgrade simply because they are fed up with the inadequacy of the lift service at their old flats. As for the lifts in the upgrading precinct, there are still other problems to be resolved. Who is going to share in the cost and who can vote and who cannot vote, or can everyone vote? This issue has not been resolved. I feel that we need some specific ruling on this.”
“Naturally, faced with the prospect of continual uncertainty, many who get married this way almost always apply for PR status, and in many instances they are not successful, adding to the uncertainty of their stay in Singapore. Sir, may I ask the Minister whether his Ministry will work closely with SIR to develop a policy that would provide certainty and assurance to couples and families facing this situation. A policy based on strong families, it seems to me, requires the assurance of an undisturbed stay in Singapore for the foreign spouses of Singaporeans. MOM has the first task of ascertaining that the foreign work permit holder should be given the permission to marry. It should take into account the prospect of long term residence in this process. Sir, I only ask that what MOM has joined together, SIR should not put asunder.”
“For foreign experts, we should have a special Work Permit (Arts) so that these performing artistes who come in do not have to affix their thumbprints, and the sponsors may be exempted from furnishing a bank guarantee. If it is a clan association, so long as you are verified by the Singapore Federation of Clan Associations, it should be enough. I hope that the three Ministries can coordinate better so that it will be easier for our foreign experts to come and help us enhance the standard of cultural performances in Singapore. Assoc. Prof. Chin Tet Yung (Sembawang): Sir, one of the core ideals in the Singapore 21 Report is developing strong families. It is the hope of realising this ideal that I want to raise the issue of work permit holders who are attracted to work in Singapore and who themselves are attractive enough for Singaporeans to propose to them. The Ministry of Manpower's permission has to be sought before a work permit holder is allowed to get married. Obtaining this permission is itself no easy task. I hope the Ministry can be more upfront with evaluation criteria relating to this issue. But even when MOM gives permission, couples do not just lead normal lives and join other happy Singaporean newly-weds to raise families. They have to go through another institution to ensure that the foreign spouse can stay in Singapore - the SIR. Usually, they are given long-term social visit passes, but long-term passes can range from a few weeks to a few years. Sir, I do not see how strong families can develop out of a situation where one of the spouses and would-be parent live in uncertainty as to whether he or she will be allowed to stay in Singapore.”
“Sir, when foreign experts, including the performing artistes come to Singapore to work on short assignments of a few months, they always encounter difficulties with the authorities. 1.45 pm The Ministry of Manpower has announced that there would be two categories of permits. For those earning more than $2,000 a month, they can apply for professional visit passes and those below $2,000, permits. But this will also give rise to some problems, particularly to the performing artistes. When they come to Singapore to help with some of the performing groups and clan associations to help them to compose songs or to take part in their performances, they would normally come a short time just before the actual performance for rehearsals. They would not stay for a long time. Some of these performing artistes come from countries where the background is quite different from ours. If their pay is below $2,000 per month, then they will have to apply for a work permit and not a professional visit pass. For the performing groups or associations in Singapore, every time they apply for a performing artiste to come in, they have to furnish a bank guarantee of $5,000. If there are four of them, they have to furnish bank guarantees amounting to $20,000. This is a burden for those who are not financially strong. Furthermore, these foreign experts who may be well respected in their own countries were treated as ordinary foreign workers here, and told to affix their thumb prints on the papers. It is an insult to them. I have heard a lot of complaints about this. These are all administrative problems which can be resolved through some coordination among MOM, MHA and MCD.”
“On the NSRS for older workers employed by SMEs, may I know whether the medium of instruction will also be in Malay or Mandarin, as the problem of the older workers is that when they attend these classes, they may "liak bo kiu" or "catch no ball", which means they cannot fully understand.”
“However, Sir, as skills are certified at industry level and is driven by industry under the NSRS, it is difficult to get various companies, especially the smaller companies where these two groups of workers are employed, to agree on what are the generic skills required for the industry. The problem has become more complicated when it comes to similar companies in the same industry to share the training strategies due to competition in the same industry. NTUC's experience is that the certification assessment structure of the NSRS has so far been flexible enough to meet the tight operational requirements of the industry needs such as the taxi industry or public bus. 4.45 pm However, I would like to urge MOM to be more proactive and create awareness among the industries that need the NSRS system and urge the industry not just to be responsive to the industry's development. The certification process must be running ahead of the industry so that older workers and lower educated workers are reskilled and upgraded well in advance.”
“Sir, one of the objectives of the National Skills Recognition System (NSRS) is to help workers secure re-employment should the need arise. I would urge the Ministry of Manpower to identify and certify more skills that are suitable for older workers and lower educated workers. These two groups of workers are vulnerable to any structural change in our economy and many may lose their jobs. In fact, many have lost their jobs and cannot find a new job. The NSRS should set priority on these two groups of workers so that many of them can benefit from the system and have a clear competency for re-employment. The course content, training pace and language of instruction have to take into account the uniqueness of the particular industry and profile of the workers. Let me cite one example. I remember that when I was a young boy, I followed my mother to a goldsmith's shop. She bought a piece of gold ring. She was told that the weight of the gold was so much, according to the day's market price of $20. That part you could not bargain. But it was the gong qian (the craftmanship) that was $5 which you could bargain. So $20 plus $5 was $25, and you must pay. I remember that my mother bargained for 50 cents less, so it was $24.50. You could buy the gold ring. So who set the value of the craftmanship? In fact, today, when you walk into any jewellery or goldsmith's shop, the same thing applies. The price of the gold, you cannot bargain. In the matter of craftmanship, you can bargain for another $1 or $2 less. Again, who sets the value? Who certifies the skills? Can we re-skill or upgrade their skills so that they come out with better and variegated designs and our lower educated or older workers can enjoy a better standard of living through NSRS?”
“Over the past one or two years, TCS has spent a lot of money on recreational programmes, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in its current affairs programmes. I think we should do better in this aspect. In current affairs and arts, our programmes are still lagging behind the other countries. So, the opening of Cable TV is a good thing. It brings competition. The question is whether the Government would allot more money to TCS to enable it to send our journalists to other countries to make more detailed reports, as it is done by the TV stations in the other countries. Otherwise, we will be lagging behind the others.”
“30 pm Apart from recognising the sponsors, we should also recognise the performing artistes. They sacrifice their time and energy and even money to present their arts to the people. For most art bodies, we have not given them due recognition. So in order to encourage more performing groups and artistes, we should give them more space so that they can perform in better facilities. For example, the Istana is open to the public a few times in a year and a great number of members of the public have been visiting it. But on every occasion, we saw just school or military bands playing music. Why can we not invite more local artistes to perform there? In fact, our performing groups should be very happy to be given the honour to perform at the Istana. Every year, we have this National Day Rally and every year we have just an orchestra performing a few pieces of music there. Why can we not also invite the local artistes to perform there? Sir, on this cut, I would like to talk about money too. Cable TV has reached almost all the families in Singapore. We can now tune in to a lot of channels. When any important event is happening, we can switch from one channel to another channel to follow the coverage. For example, at the Countdown to the New Millennium, our Singapore viewers had the chance to view the various events taking place in a number of countries in the world. Now our audience can say the programme in one country is more exciting than that in another country. The audience can turn from one channel to another channel at ease. According to a survey, viewership for TCS programmes is declining, not significantly, but there is some slight decline in viewership. Our audience has now a greater variety of programmes to choose from.”
“Sir, today, we are debating the allocation for the Ministry of Information and the Arts, but everybody is talking about money. So "Money Not Enough" is not just a problem for the lower income group, it is also a problem for our arts groups. I agree with the Chairman of the GPC. The Government is giving more money for sports but certainly not enough for the arts. Our Minister for Education said that we want our students to be thinking, and able to appreciate the arts. But with all this emphasis on sports and so little on the arts, our students may grow up to be physically strong but mentally simple. I think the most practical way is to practise what we have preached. Creative Technology has donated $2 million for the promotion of arts. It is a laudable deed. The Government should take the lead and give more money to MITA. Then it will inspire the private sector to follow suit. Sim Wong Hoo's gesture is a very good example. The media has given it good coverage. He is giving back to society what he has benefited from it. The successful entrepreneurs should also do the same. In the past, MITA presented commendation awards to entrepreneurs who donated $50,000 or more to the arts. If you have only donated $49,999 it is not good enough. It is only if you have donated $50,000 or more, then you will receive an award. From this year onwards, so long as you donate more than $10,000 you will receive a commendation. There are many successful businessmen in Singapore. Let them donate whatever amount they so wish to donate. Even if it is a few thousand dollars, we should also commend them for that. I hope MITA will seriously look into this matter and give the arts groups the support they deserve. 2.”
“I hope that it could be Internet tradable and trading in world currencies, 24 hours around the day, so that we can have participation in capital raising from around the world. And I believe that Hong Kong recently implemented the GEM to serve the same purpose.”
“I do believe, however, that we can achieve the dual objectives of allowing easier capital raising by entrepreneurs and start-up companies and at the same time, the public will have an automatic signal that investments in such start-ups could be risky, but could also yield very high returns. Sir, the current practice of allowing such company to list on the main board and on Sesdaq is a good first step, but the issues are: Firstly, we still have a number of stringent requirements that are still not easy to meet for many viable companies, because we are allowing companies of all types to list on the two boards. Secondly, this has created confusion among investors, especially among retail investors in Singapore, who are not sure whether such companies are the high risk/return type, because listed on these stock exchanges are both traditional industries measured by traditional measures as well as the high risk start-ups which may yield higher returns should they be successful. Therefore, I feel that we need to implement a new board in Singapore for emerging technologies and for young companies who may have good potential but do carry a higher risk which allow easier capital raising and at the same time allow investors to make a conscious decision that they are investing in risky businesses. This will resolve the dilemma that we are facing as a result of the current practice. So whenever a company is listed on this new risky exchange, the investors will know that the potential returns could be high, at the same time they will make losses and they cannot blame the Government for not pointing things out to them very early. This should be a global board, having a different set of entry criteria.”
“These include those who are working or unemployed but looking for a job. And those who are not working and not looking for a job accounts for 49.9% or 463,000. So many of this group of women are married housewives, the homemakers. Thus, I hope the Government will encourage husbands to contribute for their wives who are not working, but looking after the home. As homemakers, they have no CPF savings or little savings. It is thus logical that husbands should be encouraged to contribute to SRS for the wife. In this respect, a fixed sum of money contributed by the husband for this purpose can be tax-free or it should enjoy a lower tax rate. This is to acknowledge the contribution of the homemakers who have in no small way helped their husbands. It is also to solve some of the future problems of married women who have been playing the role of homemakers but are divorced, widowed and have not enough savings for their old age. Sir, as we are encouraging workers to save from young, it is also proposed that the scheme be renamed as Supplementary Saving Scheme (SSS) rather than retirement scheme. Mr Inderjit Singh: Yesterday, Mr Kenneth Chen talked about allowing new start-ups, especially dot.com companies, to list on our stock exchanges, and he felt that there was a need for the Government to point out the risks of high tech/IT industries before Singaporeans invest in such companies. He also highlighted how the public will blame the Government in case they make losses when such companies fail. The solution is not to tighten the entry requirements for such companies to be listed nor for the Government to go to the public with a warning each time a new company lists on the stock exchange.”
“Sir, the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) will be implemented by next year. The Finance Minister has indicated that views from the private sector would be sought on the implementation aspects. I would urge the Government to carry out extensive public consultation among the people sector, especially the trade unions, so that the SRS, when implemented, will gain wide support from the workers. It is important that workers of all ages are encouraged to contribute to it. Thus, before implementation, the concern and misconception, if any, among the workers must be addressed. To save for old age from young, is in line with Singapore 21's recommendations that each of us should take individual responsibility. Thus, the concept of the scheme needs to be explained clearly to the ordinary Singaporeans. It should be an easy to join, easy to quit scheme so that ordinary workers will have the confidence in it. One of the worries is whether the scheme is designed in such a way that it is very easy to go in but very cumbersome to come out, as the Hokkein says, "a jip, buay tzu". Under SRS, Singaporeans will be contributing to private funds. It is a fact that in terms of packaging and marketing, the private sector is more creative than the public sector. However, in terms of confidence, as far as money is concerned, Singaporeans trust the public sector, the Government, more than the private sector. Thus, sufficient safeguards against any form of default to protect the people's hard earned savings must be in place. I hope the Government can bear in mind this point when formulating the policy. Sir, according to the Labour Force Survey 1999, the economically active female accounts for 50.1% of the female population.”
“Perhaps, he is not familiar with that. It is a public place and is open to everybody. I can make an appointment with him to bring him there so that he can see for himself how the workers have enjoyed a better standard of living. Many workers have also not seized the opportunity to enjoy better pay for the jobs available to them.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think some of the questions have to be answered by the Minister for Finance himself. I am only replying to him from the point of view of the NTUC. He was saying that the Government should allocate a big sum of money to help the workers in their training. In the past few years, the Government spent as much as $120 million to implement the Skills Redevelopment Programme. As I have mentioned just now, about 40,000 workers benefited from the retraining scheme. Funds were indeed granted for the workers to upgrade their skills. If Mr Low wants more details on this, he can come to NTUC. I can give him a good briefing on how these workers have benefited from the scheme. As far as the workers are concerned, so long as they retain their jobs, there is still opportunity for them to go up. Mr Low asked whether the workers will go back to their previous standard of living after the economy has recovered. Yes, they can, but they must first upgrade their skills as their previous skills may well be useless and obsolete now. In order to enjoy a better standard of living in Singapore, we have to create new jobs. Now in Jurong Island, we have a number of petrochemical factories offering various new job opportunities which require new skills. We have a lot of jobs available but the workers do not have the matching skills to take on these jobs. So they must upgrade themselves, upgrade their skills so that they can take on these new and better-paid jobs. There is a causeway leading to Jurong Island. If Mr Low has not been there, he should make a visit. If he does not know the way, I can take him there. Perhaps, he did not read the newspapers. Now there is an access road leading to Jurong Island. You can drive or walk there. You do not need a permit to go there.”
“They do not have any CPF and probably very little savings for their old age. So it is only logical that husbands should be encouraged to contribute towards the wives' accounts in the SRS. I will also touch on the SRS scheme in further detail during the Committee of Supply debate. Mr Speaker, Sir, although the Member for Hougang is not happy with the top-up of $250, the workers by and large appreciate that this is like a bonus, like winning a starter's prize in a 4-D draw. It is a gesture by the Government to show appreciation for the sacrifice the workers had made during the crisis. Even the self-employed will enjoy the top-up of $250 if they have made contributions to their CPF accounts in the past year. In the past, the Government required the self-employed to produce evidence of contribution to the CPF, particularly the Medisave account, before their business licence could be renewed. There was some unhappiness among the self-employed. But now I think they will appreciate the Government's intention by making them contribute to CPF. Now, they can have a share in this top-up bonus. We are now facing new challenges in a new knowledge-based economy. We need foreign talents to lay a strong foundation for our transition to a knowledge economy. And we know that in the next 20 years, we will be facing a lot of problems with an ageing population. So we must take whatever measures possible. We must fight hard so that the Government will win and the people will win too.”
“Therefore, I propose that the Government introduce some tax incentives to encourage employers to hire older workers. I will elaborate on this during the Committee of Supply debate. I believe that under the Manpower 21, we can do more for workers' training and skills certification for them to enjoy lifelong employability. This might be the reason why the Finance Minister did not elaborate on this issue in his speech. However, during our dialogue sessions with union leaders, we learned that older workers were particularly concerned that they were being discriminated against. I hope the Government can address this issue before it becomes a social problem. The older workers can be out of job for a short period as our social safety net is adequate. But prolonged unemployment of a particular group is not desirable to our society. To the family, to the individuals, it will be a problem. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Finance Minister should be commended for including the grandparents when he grants tax relief for topping-up CPF accounts. Taxpayers who live together with their parents will also enjoy a tax relief of $5,000. Although the increase is only $500, it is a gesture of the Government which the people will appreciate. It also shows a policy change in that the Government now includes grandparents as members of the family for tax purposes. This is in keeping with our oriental tradition, and this will also help foster cohesion and avoid conflicts in the family. On the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS), may I also urge the Government to give further tax incentives to encourage husbands to contribute to the accounts of their wives who have given up working to stay at home to look after the family, so that their children would score A1s and A2s in their examinations.”
“Over the past few years, many workers, about 40,000 of them, had undergone retraining to upgrade their skills. But there was one thing that I need to point out, that is, in the Budget Statement the Finance Minister mentioned that we needed to have an educated and highly skilled workforce augmented and invigorated by foreign talents, but did not specifically assure the older workers and low-skilled workers that they would not be neglected. In the next few years, the Government will be setting up more funds for the upgrading of skills for the workers. Just now, Dr Ong also said that for the workers, particularly the low-skilled workers, we should have enough funds to help them in their training. Dr Hu only said that we need a team of high-skilled workers supplemented with foreign talent. We should help the older workers to solve their problems. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to point out that the lower skilled workers are not necessarily older workers and the older workers are not necessarily the lower skilled workers. These two groups of workers have become very sensitive to any news about their company's restructuring, merger and acquisition. They know that when any of these processes happens to their company, they are sure to "tio" (in Hokkien) or "kena" (in Malay), ie, they will be "hit". And if the lower skilled workers are also older, they are, like what the Hokkiens say, "tia tio tio" or in Malay "mesti kena", that is, very sure that they would be hit. Sir, many low-skilled workers and older workers have not been able to find new jobs once they are retrenched. The older workers are worst hit. They are prepared to go for retraining. They are prepared to lower their expectations. But they have great difficulties in finding new jobs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in presenting the first Budget for the new millennium, the Minister for Finance laid out the key challenges facing Singaporeans. His message is that if we do not respond well, we will lose our economic competitiveness and social cohesion. This is similar to the very familiar expression in Chinese, ie, you must fight to win. Just now, the Member for Hougang said that the Government wins but the people lose. What we are doing is to make everyone win - the Government wins; the people win; Mr Low wins, and even the Opposition parties win. Mr Low said that the Government had been acting against the interest of the workers. But we NTUC leaders know very well why we must take a wage cut, and why there had to be a reduction in CPF. There is this Chinese expression which says: "liude qingshan zai, bu chou mei chai shao", meaning as long as the green mountains are there, one need not worry about firewood. So the important thing is to retain the job, retain our rice bowl - that is the most important point. That is why at that point of time, we all agreed that, with the factories facing the financial crisis, many of them had to close down, and the most pragmatic thing to do was to let the factories survive, so that everyone would at least retain their jobs. That is why we were prepared to take a wage cut. We were all fighting for the survival of the factories. All the workers had agreed that we would take a wage cut to retain our jobs. Even if the factories could not survive just with the wage cut, then let us cut some of our working days. Let us take home a little less, but let the factories survive. We could all see where the crisis was. We were willing to undergo re-training.”
“Sir, what are the other industries which the Ministry has in mind that their skills can be certified in the next 1-2 years?”
“Just imagine that one day Liang Po Po gets older, cannot even "ho, ho, ho", and becomes frail but she is not sick, disabled or injured. As our population ages, there will be more of such groups who are able to carry out their daily needs or daily routine but are frail. In fact, the majority of the NTUC Day Care patients are frail but not sick, disabled or injured. Sir, the Minister may also clarify whether the provision of elderly services at the space designated for such communal services at the HDB apartments qualifies for approved provider premises status under clause 22 of the Bill. I raise this because it is foreseen that there will be a need to provide such services at the void decks of HDB flats in future as our population is ageing. Sir, clause 26(4) refers to "relevant patient" to be a person who, in the opinion of the Minister, requires step-down care and is assessed by the Minister to be "financially disadvantaged". May I propose that in arriving at the definition, the Minister will consider the predicament of the elderly who belong to the "sandwiched" group, that is, the middle income group who cannot afford the fees charged by the private organisations and, at the same time, not eligible for any subvention. Sir, I support the Bill.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Ageing Population headed by Minister Mah Bow Tan presented its report to the Government in November last year. One of its key recommendations is that community based step-down care services need to be strengthened to support the family in its role of caring for elderly members. Thus, the Elderly Care Endowment Scheme to be introduced and the ElderCare Fund to be established under this Bill can be seen as Government's response to the recommendations. It is in line with the principle of promoting individual responsibility. The Singapore 21 Committee, launched by Prime Minister Goh in 1997, was tasked to look into the challenges faced by Singapore in the 21st century. One of the dilemmas the Committee dealt with is that of taking care of the needs of senior citizens versus the aspirations of the young. The idea is that we need to promote strong family ties so that the needs of the elderly can be taken care of by the family. But the community and the Government will help if the family is unable to handle the problem. The ElderCare Fund is in line with this idea. Sir, while I support the setting up of the ElderCare Fund, may I seek clarification from the Minister as to the interpretation of the step-down care. Clause 2 of the Bill defines step-down care as "accommodation, personal care and health care for persons suffering or recovering from any sickness, disability or injury." Could the Minister clarify whether the elderly who are "frail" and need some form of supervision but not sick, disabled or injured, fall under the category and can qualify for step-down care? We know the figure of Liang Po Po.”
“The amendment to section 43 of the principal Act concerns the appointment of the trustees of trade unions. We all know that the trustees of the trade unions have to safeguard not only the interest of the workers but also to protect the assets of the trade unions. Under this amendment, undischarged bankrupts are not allowed to become trustees. The National Trades Union Congress supports this amendment. I do not think anyone would oppose this amendment. Those who are undischarged bankrupts are unable to resolve their own financial problems. How would they be in the right frame of mind to safeguard and protect the assets of the union? In addition, under the amendment, anyone who has been convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty shall be disqualified as a trustee of the union. This is obvious. The NTUC supports the spirit of this amendment because firstly it safeguards the assets of the trade unions and, secondly, it upholds the reputation of the union leaders.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, over the past one year, from the newspapers and the television, we read and heard a lot of news of companies involved in mergers, restructuring or buying over. These mergers, restructuring and buying over will affect not only the workers but also the structure and operations of the unions. Over the past one year, many trade unions were also amalgamated or in the process of amalgamation. As a result, these unions will have to change their names to reflect their new status, otherwise the old names may no longer be relevant. Mr Speaker, Sir, the NTUC supports this amendment, particularly the repeal and re-enactment of sections 33 and 34 of the Trade Unions Act. Under the existing provisions, the consent of two-thirds of the total membership of the union is required if it wants to change its name. Just imagine, if you have a union with 6,000 members, you will need to have 4,000 members voting in favour of the proposed change. With so many workers needed to go to the ballot, the factories may have to shut down, and many production hours will be lost. At the same time, if the unions were to be amalgamated, you need 50% of the members to vote, of which 60% must vote in favour. So if you have 6,000 members, you would need 3,000 people to vote. This is certainly a waste of resources. Nowadays, many unions have adopted the delegates conference system whereby the ordinary members are represented by their branch leaders as delegates in the unions' conferences where resolutions can be carried by a simple majority for decisions to be made. As such, with the new sections 33 and 34, the delegates can attend the meetings on behalf of the general members, and decisions such as amalgamation or change of name can be made by a simple majority of votes.”
“So to retrain the middle-aged workers, technicians and managers, I think it will involve more than a million people, and you have more than a million people who will belong to the aged population by the year 2020. So, we must start right away by paying special attention to their retraining, in order that they will be able to handle the computer and face the IT age. They should be given more time to learn more skills to help them to cope with more high-tech jobs. In this way, we will reduce a lot of social problems when the time comes when we have a substantially aged population. When middle-aged people go back to the classroom, they will need a lot of determination, courage, encouragement from the employers, and understanding from their families. In this way, when these middle-aged workers carry their textbooks and go from the worksite to the classroom, they will not feel embarrassed. On the contrary, they should be proud of it. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.”
“But for those middle aged trainees, the rate of progress must be slower because middle aged workers cannot learn as fast as the young people. We have also to take into consideration the language barrier encountered by the older workers. No doubt, the contents of the courses are mainly in English, but in the course of instruction, the instructors and lecturers may exercise some flexibility in using the language which is familiar to the workers so that they will be able to follow the instructions. When we analyse a problem, we normally go to the database to get all kinds of information to study the problem, and find the solution. We know that we have several hundred thousand workers whose educational level is below that of secondary school. They have to be retrained so that they can fit into the knowledge-based economy. But when we formulate the curricula for them, we must go to the factories, talk to them and understand their feelings. We need to talk to them so that we will be able to hear what is in their heart. They may face a lot of problems, and this is what the President referred to as the "heartware" for the 21st century. We have good plans. We have hardware, software; but we lack heartware. So that is the problem we are facing. The workers, especially those who are middle-aged and above, are worried about their future. They are also not interested in the retraining programme. We need to depend on our heartware to solve this problem. Mr Speaker, Sir, when retraining the middle-aged workers, we should not confine ourselves to the training of only the lower educated workers. The crisis over the past two years also serves to remind every Singaporean that those days whereby "a skill in hand, handy throughout a lifetime", are over.”
“Their jobs no longer remain static all the time. Managers and technicians have to worry about new challenges in their jobs. Many companies are streamlining and downsizing their operation. To the ordinary workers, their job security is threatened. Middle aged people have a sense of crisis. When will they be axed? Where are they going to find new jobs? For the self-employed, the worry is lower business turnover, and they may have to give up their business and look for some form of employment instead. A canteen operator in a factory told me that the factory had retrenched a lot of workers. Business at his canteen was severely affected. To carry on operating his canteen business would mean carrying on losing money. Giving up the operation would mean being out of job. Switching to another line of business? Without capital, what can you do? This is indeed a big problem! When you reach middle age, you may have a lot of adjustments to do. Now, with the economic transformation, the impact on the middle-aged people is even greater. How do we re-assure them? How do we boost their confidence? This is a matter of immediate concern to all of us. In his policy Speech, the President mentioned that there was opportunity for everyone in Singapore to develop. The Government would also implement the manpower policy for life-long learning. We must look at the aspect of middle aged employment so that the people can enjoy their jobs and the country can prosper. In Manpower 21, the Ministry of Manpower wants the retraining of workers to be undertaken by ITE. This is good because it would enable the workers to study and receive training near their homes, after work.”
“Mr Speaker Sir, I support the motion standing in the name of my colleague, Mr Davinder Singh, thanking the President for his Speech. Mr Chiam said that there was no democracy in Singapore. When we were preparing the Singapore 21 Vision, 6,000 Singaporeans were involved in the deliberations. Besides, a number of committees were set up to tackle the various issues of an aging population, ranging from employment, healthcare, transport, housing and so on. A lot of people took part in the discussions. This is democracy. When Mr Chiam mentioned that there was no democracy in Singapore, I do not know what he meant by "democracy". Sir, in the past, when people met, they normally asked, "Have you taken your meal?". This shows that people cared for their jobs. Without a job they would not be able to have any meal at all. Even at the present moment, when we meet people, we still ask, "Have you taken your meal?". That implies job security. This is a matter that concerns many Singaporeans, especially the middle aged workers. Without job, what is democracy? Sir, the economic crisis may be over and the number of retrenchments is also reducing. But there are still a lot of people who are worried about their job security. When we talk with the workers and the residents, the main thing they are most concerned with is whether they can keep their rice bowls, especially for the middle-aged workers. We ask, "Where are you working? Are you all right in your work?" Generally, the middle-aged Singaporean, whether he is a managerial, technical or ordinary worker, would normally say, "Now, times are bad. It is not easy to keep a job." Why is it not easy? Everybody feels that the transformation of our economy into a knowledge-based economy has brought about many new challenges.”
“When we pointed out this building to them, they would remark, "Wah, so small!" Yes, indeed we started from small. It was from this Chamber in this inconspicuous Parliament House that our parliamentary democracy started. Over the years, we have evolved a system of parliamentary democracy that is well respected by all. For this, we must not forget the contributions made by all those Members of this House who came before us. Sir, I support the Prime Minister's motion.”
“The reason why we could turn crisis to opportunity, that we could avoid turmoil and achieve stability, that we could choose construction and avoid destruction, is because for the last 40 years, we have debated thoroughly all policies in this House. We have looked at all aspects of the policies and built up a healthy system of parliamentary democracy. As MPs, we are glad that under this healthy system, we have confidently and conscientiously expressed our views. In the last three years, we debated what we should be in the future - the Singapore 21 programme. With the sudden emergence of the economic crisis, our attention was diverted to how to protect the rice bowl of our workers and how to reduce costs. In the face of unfriendly political development, we have not shied away from speaking our minds. In the new House, we will face new challenges in the new century. We will debate on foreign talents, on our aging population, on how to deal with the unfriendly regional environment and how to tackle the ever changing international circumstances. We will debate to protect our self-respect and in the interest of Singaporeans. We should practise what we preach. We should execute what we plan. And we should not say something that we cannot carry out. In this way, we will have greater confidence in the process of parliamentary democracy. Mr Speaker, Sir, as we sit in the new House, we must not forget the great contributions by the past Members of this House. Many people do not know where Parliament House is. They do not realise that this very important Chamber is situated in such an inconspicuous building tucked away at a corner of High Street. In fact, many people thought that this Chamber was inside City Hall, a much more prominent building.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Prime Minister said that he has been in this House for 23 years. I belong to the 1997 batch of MPs who are here for less than three years. In about three hours' time, all of us will move from this Chamber to the one next door. To many Singaporeans, moving house is not new. Singaporeans are used to moving house - they can make money in the process. But to Parliament, this is the first time in 40 years. We are moving, and we will bring our parliamentary democracy to the new Chamber and continue our debate there. Over the last few decades, every Bill, every motion, every debate that took place in this House has deeply influenced Singapore. The thought of this makes us realise how heavy our responsibilities are. I support the Prime Minister's move to record our sincere appreciation to the many MPs before us who had contributed to our parliamentary democracy. As we march into the next millennium, let us review our history. Take a look at the world around us and we will discover that whether it was in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or even the 90s, at all times there has always been the alternate emergence of crisis and opportunity, turmoil and stability, construction and destruction contrasting, yet co-existing with each other. Some events took place in remote corners of the world while many other events took place right in front of us. In 1959, 40 years ago, in the self-governing State of Singapore, when Mr Lee Kuan Yew led the new batch of Assemblymen from City Hall to this House, the thing which was uppermost in the minds of Singaporeans then was to obtain our independence, to create employment and to overcome social turmoil.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, since the only concern of the President's re-election is health and the only reason cited by the Prime Minister for the Cabinet not to support the President's re-election is health, may I know whether the Government intends to publish the medical reports to clear the public misperception.”
“This is because we do not have enough talent. While we make use of what we have as much as possible, we must also adopt an open mind to embrace foreign talents. Mr Speaker, Sir, in ancient China, bright and ambitious scholars sat for the Imperial Examinations to earn a place in the Imperial Court. Very often, the emperor would eye the scholar who emerged first or what we call the zuan yuan to give him the hand of the princess. The emperor knew that the zuan yuan was the best talent in the country. Similarly, company bosses sometimes marry their daughters to their employees whom they consider to be of high calibre. On the same logic and reason, why should Singapore not bring in foreign talent? I believe Singaporeans would understand this.”
“By employing one foreigner, it may bring more job opportunities for Singaporeans. Let me illustrate. When we take an SIA flight, we would have noticed that the cabin crew consists not only of Singaporeans but also other nationalities. If the flight is bound for Tokyo, there will be Japanese SIA girls. If the flights are to Taipei and Hong Kong, there will be Hokkein-speaking or Cantonese-speaking SIA girls from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Singaporeans enjoy the value of these foreign SIA girls. They appreciate these foreign talents and find every excuse to strike up conversation with them. Foreign passengers also appreciate them because the native accents of these foreign SIA girls make them feel very much at home. If we have more Japanese, Koreans, Americans and French flying SIA because of SIA's efforts to make them feel at home, there will be more demands for flights to these destinations. Consequently, we would need more foreign SIA girls and even more local SIA girls. So these foreign workers do not take away our rice bowls. On the contrary, they have created more job opportunities for our local people. Mr Speaker, Sir, the idea of opportunities for all, that every Singaporean should have the opportunity to give full play to his potential and be recognised for that, is what we have been striving for. Over the last three years, many of our taxi-drivers, bus-drivers, cleaners and healthcare workers have been picked as model workers. They received their awards from the Prime Minister. This year, another 100 workers from our seaport and airport will also be receiving the Model Worker Awards from the Prime Minister. How many countries honour their workers in this way? We will nurture local talents to develop their full potential. But we also need foreign workers.”
“I am of the view that Singaporeans who have this misconception are small in number, but we should try to correct such misconception. Clearly, Singapore is a country that values talents, foreigners and Singaporeans alike. Singaporeans themselves appreciate talents too. The Star Search Contest is a good example. We could see that the two comperes that night were not born and bred in Singapore. But they won Singaporeans over with their wits and showmanship. The Star Search winners on that night were also not born and bred in Singapore. Singaporeans rated them highly just the same. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Asian financial crisis struck at the time when we were drawing up our vision for the 21st century. Singapore was also affected by the crisis. Singaporeans begin to worry that their jobs may be taken over by foreigners. They fear that foreigners will compete with them for their children's places in schools. For this reason, some Singaporeans have misgivings about foreigners. The worries of this group of people are understandable and can be overcome. We only need to ask ourselves: has the Singapore Government ever neglected the interests of Singaporeans? Has it not placed great importance to the progress of Singaporeans? The Government has gone through great lengths to attract foreign direct investments to create job opportunities for our people. To ensure that workers have the skills for the new industries, the Government has been disbursing funds through various channels, including the NTUC which runs a series of skills redevelopment programmes to raise the skill levels of the workers. Some companies employ foreign workers to meet their expansion needs. But then some Singaporeans think that foreigners have robbed them of their chances of getting the job. This is not true.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in my younger days, whenever my parents and I walked past the Robinsons Departmental Store at Raffles Place, we just could not pluck up enough courage to walk through the entrance to enter the store. The only luxury we had was to peep into the store through the main entrance. Why did we not dare to enter the shop? Because at that time, Robinsons was perceived to be a departmental store for the ang mohs. At that time, Singapore was still not our home. We had to be careful about what we could do and could not do. Yesterday, the Member for Jalan Besar said he had the courage to do so. We saw his photograph with his Porsche in the newspapers this morning. If this was 30-odd years ago, people would call him lau hero or since he would be much younger then, people might call him lau Yankee. At that time, the Cricket Club opposite Parliament House was a typical club for the Englishmen, and not far from there stood Raffles Hotel, also another place where the locals did not dare to set foot on. Why? Because Singapore was then still not our home. Today, Robinsons, the Cricket Club and Raffles Hotel are places where Singaporeans patronise freely. Why? Because Singapore has gained independence. It is now our home. Mr Speaker, Sir, in Singapore today, foreigners throng our public places. They came to Singapore, and together with Singaporeans, they create wealth and prosperity for themselves and for Singapore. We have loosely referred to these people as "foreign talents". But some Singaporeans think that by admitting foreign talents, we are marginalising our local talents. Some perceive that by labelling foreigners as talents, we give the impression that Singapore has no talent and has to rely on foreign talents.”
“Moreover, taking a refresher course once in 10 years means the driver will have to go for courses five nights in a row. It is very inconvenient to the taxi drivers. Perhaps, we could have it once every five years for two nights in a row, or maybe once every two years for a one-night course. I think this taxi-driver refresher course should be treated as part of the "Lifelong Learning Scheme" so that taxi drivers can enjoy some sort of subsidies. At present, they have to pay the full course fees on their own. I feel that our taxi drivers should be allowed to take up the various training courses like the other Singaporeans. Actually, in driving a taxi, you have to use your brain too. You have to map out the route which is less congested and drive your passenger to his destination in the shortest possible time. As a matter of fact, the taxi service industry is one of the first industries to be computerised. It is the philosophy of the taxi drivers that with the combination of the "electronic brain" (Chinese expression for "computer"), and the human brain, we can provide better services for our commuters.”
“Sir, over the last one year or so, many Singaporeans who were retrenched or who were worried of being retrenched have been taking up taxi-driving for a living. Therefore, the taxi-driving profession has many "new talents" coming in. Many of them were former managers or professionals. These "new talents" are somewhat different from the foreign talents that we were talking about the last few days. Although the entry of these newcomers has created competition against the old-timers, our existing taxi drivers sympathise with them because they understand that these ex-managers and ex-professionals too need to earn a living to support their families. On the other hand, the commuters are happy because there are now more taxis available to them. Talking about foreign talents, our taxi drivers do sincerely welcome them to Singapore, because most of these foreigners do not drive and they take taxi all the time, giving our taxi drivers more business. With more taxi drivers available, it also resolves the previous problem of matching taxis with drivers. But there is one thing we need to improve upon. This is the time when the taxi service industry is undergoing a major reform. We should take away some of the old regulations which are becoming obsolete by now, so that our taxi drivers can also contribute towards our move towards a world-class public transport system. The existing rule requires every taxi driver to undergo a refresher course once in every 10 years. I think this ought to be reviewed now. The taxi service industry is moving towards more high-tech operations, such as computer-aided distribution of service, satellite calls, etc. Taking a course once in ten years cannot keep the drivers abreast of the latest technology.”
“It is very important for the Indians in Singapore, Singapore Indians I would say, to have a programme that is tailored to their needs and not depend too much on the Indian programmes because their values are quite different. We are trying to build a multi-racial society and it is very important that the Tamil programmes should cover not just the Indian programmes but the Chinese and Malay programmes as well. It is very important for the Indian community to get a feel of the other communities as well if we have to build a national consciousness. I feel strongly on this issue and urge the Minister to give some thought to it. I know that finance is limited and the figure he is going to cite is, "We have only 7% and so we cannot give you more." But I think we must not think just in terms of digits, but in terms of the national consciousness. I hope the Minister will consider my proposal.”
“We would also like to avoid the situation in Malaysia where the circulation of Utusan Malaysia actually fell dramatically during the early days when Mr Anwar was arrested, as distrust for local media in Malaysia had led to a lot of Malaysians going to the Internet and foreign media. I would like to ask the Minister if he has any comments or plans to ensure that national objectives and long held values by Singaporeans can continue to be reflected in our broadcasters' selection of programmes in the face of uneven competition posed by the foreign media. Mr Shriniwas Rai: Sir, I must, at the outset, declare my interest. I am a member of the Indian Programmes Committee. Sir, I will confine my remarks to the Indian programmes, namely, Tamil. It would be dishonest not to say that the Indian programmes have improved considerably. But there is room for improvement, especially in view of the competition that is faced by cable television from both SUN and ZEE. I know some people are saying that this should be closed. I would ask the Minister not to do so because there is no other Hindi programme other than film. We should continue. In fact, we should have more, so that people have more choices. But there is one danger. Many older viewers tend to identify with politics in India and they watch Indian programmes because our Tamil programmes are very limited. So many viewers have the opportunity of tuning to these channels. May I urge the Minister to consider, first of all, increasing the air-time of the Tamil programmes and also to have more current affairs programme.”
“I wish to ask the Minister how are our local TV stations coping with the challenges ahead and if he would reassure this House that there will be more quality local programmes on our local TV stations, ie, Channel 5, Channel 8, Prime 12, Premiere 12 and now Channel News Asia. 5.00 pm More importantly, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister if our local media could stay relevant in the light of increased proliferations of foreign media in Singapore and easy access by Singaporeans. It is undoubted that, for Singapore to succeed as a knowledge-based economy, access to information is critical. The impact of foreign media reporting on current affairs and news on our underlying societal values and political systems could be anathema to the values that we uphold. This is because the foreign media, unlike our local media or TV stations, have no obligations to support or reflect the national objectives highlighted earlier. Sir, the playing field is therefore not level. My concern specifically is whilst our local news network presently upholds the principle of giving election air-time to political parties in proportion to the strength of their participation, the foreign media has no such constraint. Indeed, we have witnessed many interviews from CNBC and BBC with some populist politicians in Singapore of late for frivolous causes. This principle of fair election air-time will no doubt come under pressure since foreign networks with different sympathies could simply air interviews and programmes which our local citizens have free access to. In order to compete, our local network, media and TV stations may be under pressure to abandon this long-held principle of fairness.”
“I am not speaking, Sir. Mr Chew Heng Ching: Sir, the face of Singapore TV has changed tremendously over the years. In the early days, our TV producers in the then SBC, or Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, concentrated on producing local documentaries, news and current affairs programmes. Entertainment programmes were largely imported. Today, our local TV stations have been corporatised. Thus, they are largely accountable for their own resources and the need to remain commercially viable. I do not envy the management of these local TV stations. Their jobs are onerous. This is made worse by the increased competition posed by some 30 channels from Singapore Cable Vision. And the easiest way out for our local TV stations is to acquire programmes from abroad and to repeat these programmes. Sir, this is not to say that our local TV stations have not been producing local programmes. Indeed, they have been. Since corporatisation, local productions from TCS have grown markedly. However, as a commercial organisation and with its focus on the bottomline, TCS may sacrifice quality for quantity. Moreover, with intense competition to be posed by SCV, when the cable TV project linking up the whole island is completed by end of this year, our local TV station may be forced to change strategies to remain viable and forget about its nation building role. Sir, as a national objective, our local TVs have to carry or produce local programmes to promote our culture, arts, value system, current affairs, local politics, info-education and even programmes to reflect our multi-racial society. They have to manage the requirements and sensitivities across the age groups catering for children's television as well as the needs of our retirees.”
“I believe that many of our Members here have seen the street wayangs in the past. I myself have enjoyed tremendously watching street wayangs and have learnt a lot of lessons from there. These Chinese operas have not only enriched our festivals but also our childhood. It is also a good way to inculcate in our people the traditional Chinese values. There are a lot of stories that teach loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and justice, and to show us how we could deal with problems in times of crisis. This is the type of spirit we need, especially in the present crisis. I believe that we should accord due recognition to these enthusiasts who have contributed greatly to the development of traditional Chinese operas in Singapore so as to encourage more people to come forward and lend their support in this field.”
“Sir, Chinese operas in Singapore are mainly dialect-based in Teochew, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hainanese. The general impression given is that the majority of people in the audience are the senior citizens and these operas are performed mainly during the 7th Moon Festival. However, the fact is, over the past 20 to 30 years, Chinese opera in Singapore has evolved from an outdoor wayang-type of performances to indoor theatres and school auditoriums. According to records kept by the Singapore Chinese Opera Institute, there were a total of some 2,500 performances of Chinese operas in Singapore in 1998. Out of these, some 1,500 performances took place during the 7th Moon Festival. The other 1,000 performances were in the schools, community centres and theatres. A good number of these performances took place at the Victoria Theatre, next door to our Parliament House. Apart from the senior citizens and middle-aged people, more and more young people are attending such performances nowadays. Some even take part in the performances. The recent rise in support level for Chinese operas in Singapore can be attributed to two reasons. First, the establishment of the Singapore Chinese Opera Institute in 1995 to promote Chinese opera in the schools and the community centres. Secondly, we have a group of enthusiasts who, while keeping a low profile, have been contributing money, time and efforts to support these theatre groups in their performances, not only locally, but overseas as well. The Singapore Federation of Clan Associations and other community groups have been inviting well-known artistes from China to perform in Singapore. Although a lot of problems exist in the Chinese opera theatres, the people are continuing to help out in their own way.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as you know, Singapore is a small country. All the time we have been emphasising that we have to venture outside. Before and during the election we had been telling our people that our target was to venture outside Singapore. We have to go for a bigger market. Now the world market has weakened. So definitely we would be affected. Singapore has and must be affected by the regional crisis. We are not the only country that has been affected. But as for Mr Low, he mentioned that the PAP Government has made a promise and it cannot be fulfilled and the PAP Government must apologise. He must understand that during the last one year, how many political leaders in this region were forced to step down. Why is it that the political leaders in Singapore need not step down? This is because we have proved to the people that we have the fundamentals right! In other countries, when the workers' salaries, or even the bonuses, are reduced, there would be demonstrations and even riots. But our wage reduction exercise was carried out smoothly and peacefully without a hitch.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Mr Low told us that two people had died in Hougang - one committed suicide because of speculation in the stock market and the other fell ill when property prices went down. This may not be the only cause of their demise. Perhaps they did not have regular medical check-ups and they had heart attacks. There may be other factors. They cannot blame the Government for their losses in the stock market or the property market. I do not think the Government should be made to apologize to them. In fact, it is Mr Low who should apologise to his voters. We have been working so hard to explain to the people about the vulnerability of our economy. Why did Mr Low not explain to his constituents that they should not speculate in the stock market or the property market? He should apologise to them. As for creating wealth, I think we have to look at the whole cycle. In everything, there are always the ups and downs. We have our downs because we are affected by the regional crisis, but this is only a short-term matter. So long as we work hard, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. But for the other countries in this region, they do not know when they can recover. As to creating wealth together, the target is still there. So long as we put in a concerted effort, we can go through the tunnel and we see light at the other end of the tunnel. It is not like what Mr Low said that there is no hope at all. We cannot see any light at all. I do not think so. So long as we can tide over these difficult times, our increased investment in education and national defence will lead us into the 21st century with better lives for our people.”
“They will be willing to donate their shares of the rebates to the charitable organisations, and by so doing, the charitable organisations will greatly benefit. As for those who are facing difficulties, the rebates given by the Government are giving them a shot in the arm. With the help given by the CDCs and the town councils, many Singaporeans are beginning to feel the care and concern given to them by their community organisations. Mr Speaker, Sir, the NWC recommendations have already been implemented this year in order to restore Singapore's competitiveness. There are signs that the economy is turning for the better. However, our measures of wage restraint should be continued so that we can ensure that we still retain our competitiveness. I think the most important thing is that Singaporeans should actively take up training courses. However, there is one thing I am concerned with, and although many companies and property owners have enjoyed the various rebates given to them by the Government, they do not pass on the benefits to the people by revising their charges and rentals. I feel that the Government should take active steps to ensure that the people would also benefit from these cost-cutting measures. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion standing in the name of the Finance Minister.”
“Our people are beginning to realise that they have to go for training. Because if they do not, they will be in trouble. This crisis has made this problem more acute. Just now, Dr Tan Cheng Bock mentioned that Government should be very cautious and tone down our efforts to attract foreign talents. He was right and I agree with him. As a member of the Singapore 21 Committee, with particular involvement in the sub-committee on attraction of foreign talents, I fully agree that we should be cautious in dealing with this matter, so that we would not make Singaporeans feel that the foreigners are coming here to take over our jobs. We should explain to our people that when the foreign investors come, they set up new establishments and create more job opportunities for our people. When the foreign workers come, they take up jobs that Singaporeans could not do or do not want to do. They do not actually deprive us of our job opportunities. During the good years, we have good economic growth and the Government has been giving a lot of rebates to our people. That is to share happiness with our people. It is something good to eat. However, there are many successful Singaporeans who do not need such rebates. Even in this difficult time, not everyone is affected. In fact, many Singaporeans are still enjoying life. They are still having a good life. Therefore, I suggest that the Government should review our rebate policy. For those who do not need such rebates, they can choose to donate them to charitable organisations. In fact, in this economic downturn, the charitable organisations are having problems raising funds. Our successful Singaporeans are generally very generous.”
“So, I feel that we should speed up the training programme in the public sector so that more civil servants may benefit. I also feel that the Government should allot more funds for training so that every Singaporean could benefit from the training and be geared to face the challenge of transforming into a knowledge-based economy. A few years ago, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong remarked that Singaporeans were not so good in singing, unlike our ASEAN counterparts. At many public functions, when asked to sing, our Singapore officials had nothing in their repertoire, and ended up singing Majulah Singapura. But nowadays, I notice that most Singaporeans can sing at least one or two songs. One of the main reasons is that in all our RC centres there are karaoke facilities. Perhaps we could make use of these RCs to encourage Singaporeans to go for continuing learning by conducting various courses at the RC centres. For those training courses which do not involve the use of large apparatus or equipment, they could be conducted at the RC centres for the convenience of our people. At the same time, ITE and the various polytechnics should also conduct more part-time courses so that Singaporeans who are willing to learn could have more opportunities to improve themselves. The admission criteria can be relaxed, so that more Singaporeans can qualify for admission to these courses, and work for some sort of diploma. Of course, the students must attain a certain standard in the course of their studies before they can be awarded the diploma. From this year onwards, many Singaporeans have accepted a 10% CPF reduction and their salaries were also reduced by 5%-8%. I think this is a very good manifestation of the Singaporeans' trust of our Government.”