Sia Kah Hui
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, Sir, a supplementary question. Is the Minister not aware that times have changed and continue to change? There are already so many complaints from flat buyers against the sub-contractors. I have here just two samples, one from the Singapore Monitor and the other from the Straits Times.”
“To ask the Minister for National Development if he will justify the increase by the Housing and Development Board from $3 p.m. rent to $785 p.m.”
“Not a copy of the letter which your Parliamentary Secretary has sent because, as I have read earlier on, this letter is not clear. Because it says, "to discharge your (the developer's) obligation to clear the temple." The developer says, "Here you are. This clearly says so.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, does the Minister know that after I have written to the developer who had in writing assured the temple people that he would build them a new temple at the developer's expense, his reply to me was that Government had taken over his obligation.”
“Sir, I am not the one who is not clear and I am not the one who is involved in this. It just happened that the developer takes your letter to mean that you are freeing him from his obligation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I ask the Minister what difficulty is there that he does not want to clear this up? It is not with me. I understand, but the developer does not. He sends the letter from the Government to the temple saying, "Here you are, you see, I paid this money and there is a receipt. I am free from my obligation.”
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Every one of 309 lines we hold for Sia Kah Hui, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 7.
“Mr Speaker, I have been asked by the Minister to reply. It is not intended to provide electricity for covered hawker pitches in Kallang/Tanjong Rhu Estates as this would create an undesirable precedent in that no other hawker pitches have been provided with electricity. As for water supply, standpipes are already provided in these localities and they appear adequate at present. The position of these pitches, whether day or night, requires review as these have developed beyond the original scope envisaged by the Ministry of Health. MALAYSIAN MIRROR (Particulars) The following Question stood in the name of Mr Ong Lian Teng :- 5. To ask the Minister for Culture and Social Affairs (a) the total number of employees involved in the publication of the Malaysian Mirror; (b) the amount of money spent on each issue; and (c) the Head and subhead of the 1965 Estimates which provides for the expenditure.”
“Mr Speaker, the development of the MacPherson Road (South) Housing Estate has provision for another market to be located off Persiaran Keliling. This second market will he a big market with 150 stalls, and is scheduled to be built next year. It is expected that work on this second market will be started by the middle of 1966, and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.”
“Mr Speaker, the present market at Holland Road of 43 stalls is considered adequate for the needs of the hawkers and residents in this vicinity at the present time. As a result of recent re-siting of 76 hawkers outside the market, some market stalls have been taken up. However, there are still 4 market stalls and 18 open pitches which are vacant. There is, therefore, no immediate need to build a new market. The question of renovation and improvements to the present Holland Road Market could be looked into when the need arises. There is no scheme for a new market to be built at Holland Road in the Government's Second Five-Year Development Plan. MARKET IN NEW MACPHERSON HOUSING ESTATE 12. Mr S. V. Lingam asked the Minister for Health if he will consider the construction of another market in the new MacPherson Housing Estate which now has 10,000 units of flats and when that market can be expected to be ready.”
“I think the patients are in a position to look after themselves at that stage. They are not entirely helpless. If the kimono has not got any buttons - I do not know; there may well be cases where the buttons come off in the laundry and they have not been replaced. But I should imagine they will be replaced as soon as they are discovered missing. If the patients will take a little bit of care, I do not think this sort of thing will happen. HOLLAND ROAD MARKET 11. Mr Chow Chiok Hock asked the Minister for Health whether and when a new market will be constructed at the 5th mile area in Holland Road; or alternatively the present market be renovated to serve the needs of the hawkers and residents in the area.”
“Mr Speaker, I have been asked by the Minister to answer. It is not true that patients in Kandang Kerbau Maternity Hospital are being provided with hospital clothing which is inadequate. The clothing provided for female `C' Class patients in this Maternity Hospital are standard type, that is, white bajus and red sarongs, similar to those for other Government hospitals. It is possible, however, that some patients who are not accustomed to wearing sarongs may inadvertently expose themselves on change of posture. Ambulant patients (i.e., those who can walk on their own) whilst on their way to and from operating theatres or labour wards are provided with kimono-type gowns. Patients on stretchers are clothed in maternity gowns and always covered over by a blanket. The only time where patients may expose themselves is in the labour ward, i.e., when patients are already in labour. However, in this section, only doctors, nurses or midwives are present. Visitors are not allowed inside the Labour Ward.”
“As His Excellency has well said, "This House has gone through many a struggle, first against Colonialism, then Communism and then Communalism." Our people in their public as well as in their business and private life are much more experienced and discerning people. We are no fools. It is because of this very fact that our people have a discriminatory mind and have guts, patience and determination that other nations accept us and respect us. I remember that when the Deputy Prime Minister spoke at the Airport on his return from the success of his recent Goodwill Mission overseas, he said that it was because our people are solidly behind our nation's leaders that other people arc prepared to be friends with us and respect us. We are a peace-loving people and it cannot be said too often that we want to live in peace with our neighbours and indeed with the rest of the world. We want to prosper, and from our ideals and our interests we want our neighbours also to prosper. Let this be proclaimed from the roof-tops that it may be known to our neighbours as t was stated by our Foreign Minister in his key speech to the United Nations Assembly. Let us co-operate in all things for the benefit of our peoples, which is the purpose of politics. Let not our minds and thoughts be clouded and shrunk by jealousy and animosity. The interests of the peoples must come first. This is democracy. I sincerely hope that nothing, no ideology, no people, will stand in the way as this Government strides forward to bring peace and prosperity to our people. 3.13 p.m.”
“Every effort of every citizen must be deliberately directed to achieve these ideals we have set ourselves. If we cast our eyes around us and take an objective look at our neighbours, their trials and tribulations, we can be certain that our policy is right. Our leaders have done everything for the realisation of this policy. We have learnt from history. We know that a tolerant, just and equal society, multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious, are the four pillars of wisdom on which our nation can be built. When we all fully realise this fact, and as a great majority already do, we shall have peace and harmony. Without peace and harmony in our country, we cannot proceed to the next stage seeking prosperity. After the experience of the last couple of years, I am confident that our people cannot fall prey to appeals of chauvinist and communal sentiments, but at the same time we must not belittle the craftiness and ingenuity and self-mesrnerising of our enemies. They are in our midst and they are constantly and obsessively on the lookout for opportunities to exploit for the advancement of their own power through their ideology. They are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to exploit the ignorant and ill-informed. I am confident, however, that no amount of communal terror and intimidation will ever bring our people to forsake the conviction that a tolerant, just and equal society, multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious, are the four pillars on which our nation shall he built. The means they use to gain power indicate the means they will use should they gain power to perpetuate their power, and there could he no greater contrast with the ideals our Government preaches and practises.”
“Our problems are not easy and we have not all the time in the world to solve them. But as the Prime Minister said, we define our problems, the better to face them, and we face our problems, in order to find better and quicker solutions. We know that, though we must take the initiative and responsibility, we need the co-operation of others, our new neighbours, our Afro-Asian friends, our fellow members of the Commonwealth, the new friends made by our three Ministers on their recent journey of goodwill and the people of the American continent - in fact, wherever friendship is. But for the first time, it is our opportunity and responsibility to strive for the greatest advantage for our people. We are on test as a people and this is the greatest test we have ever faced in the success story of our history. And this time it is a democratic test - a test of all of us, of our capacity to hold together and to work together in the spirit of a more just and equal society, more equal not only in what we get from Singapore but in what we give to it. I am glad that His Excellency has fully brought Out this point clearly in his Speech. What he has said could bear repetition here, for our people must fully realise their responsibilities. I quote "Our survival as a people, depends upon our patience and resolution... upon our perseverance." In other words, these are the qualities needed to bring about a tolerant, just and equal society, multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-religious. We have set our sights high. The ideas and aspirations may not be new, but we are pioneers in seeking to build them into the laws and way of life of one of the most varied communities in the world today.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion of the Prime Minister expressing the thanks of this House to the Yang di-Pertuan Negara for delivering the speech on the opening day of this Session. The whole speech conveys a sense of confidence both in the present and in the future, and the concrete and effective steps to be taken in the solution of problems which confront the country. As it is now well known and in fact accepted by all our fellow member nations of the United Nations Organisation but disputed by a few Barisan Sosialis Members who spit in the face of their own electors, Singapore is an independent and sovereign country. So we meet today under very different circumstances from the past. We meet as the First Parliament of an independent and sovereign Republic of Singapore. I am proud of the fact; Honourable Members here present are proud of the fact; and I am sure the great majority of our fellow-citizens of Singapore share our pride in the fact. At the beginning of the last Session, 21 guns did not boom out in salute when His Excellency the Yang di-Pertuan Negara arrived at this Chamber to deliver his Speech, but eight days ago, they boomed in recognition of our President. Things have changed - changed dramatically. We are now masters of our own destiny. We did not seek this status. We did not separate from those we still feel are members of our common Malaysian family. We were separated from them. This we accept. But we are an adult member of the family and can - and will - survive on our own. We live in our own houses but also in the Malaysian compound, not from any decisions of men, but because of the compulsions of history, geography and sociology. And for our own homeland, we have full and final responsibility.”