Sia Khoon Seong
Singapore
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of Code LD 1500 of the Main Estimates. Earlier, I stated that the morale of the teachers is dependent on their conditions of work.”
“For one thing it must be clear to the parents that the Day School is not just another name for a day care centre. Neither does the Day School scheme diminish parental role and responsibility in the moral upbringing of their children. Children can and will do just so much during school hours.”
“I must urge the Ministry of Education to allow as many serving non-graduate teachers as possible, who have the ability and qualifications, to join the degree programme and attain graduate status. Those who have proven their worth in the service more than deserve the opportunity to further themselves.”
“I have not finished. Of course, the underlying reasons for the teaching of Religious Knowledge are always valid since time immemorial - to teach man to be good. After all, our moral education basically wants to achieve that. Since 1959, not just 1982, the underlying reasons for moral education have always been the same.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I want to ask the Minister of State, is it not true that prior to 1982 Religious Knowledge was also an optional subject? Prior to 1982, all along Religious Knowledge was taught as an optional subject. In 1989, we are going back to pre-1982. The mistake in 1982 was to make RK compulsory.”
“With the introduction of caning for traffickers and employers who employ illegal immigrant workers, I am quite sure it will act as a strong deterrent to them from doing so. With the passing of this Bill, employers and traffickers will now find it not worth the while to take risk in employing foreign workers illegally.”
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“These are very different and more stringent criteria of assessment, and therefore any projection of how pupils will perform in the 1982 PSLE, basing on their performance in the 1979 Primary 3 examination, is unreliable. Some principals and teachers were naturally concerned whether such a high target is possible when a different set of more stringent criteria is now used for the PSLE. They fear that in the 1982 PSLE results, if their schools do not achieve the 95% passes, they will again be asked to explain why, besides receiving a barrage of criticisms from all quarters. Hon. Members now should know the occupational hazards of the principals and teachers, and the nightmares they are experiencing in trying to keep up with the sometimes impossible, demands of the Education Ministry. Mr Speaker, Sir, may I now turn to the matter of the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination recommended by the Goh Keng Swee Education Report. In the Parliamentary debate on the Goh Keng Swee Report on 27th March, 1979, I did ask the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government would consider accepting the Certificate as one of the basic qualifications for entry into public service. The question is relevant in the sense that the holders of the certificate must find it useful when seeking employment. If Government as an employer does not lead in recognising the Certificate of Secondary Education for employment purposes, then employers in the private sector are not going to recognise it. I did not receive any reply from the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister at that time, probably the timing of the question then was premature.”
“This gave them an added advantage because it meant that those who failed in the mid-year and end-of-year examinations could still score an overall pass if their results in the continual assessment exercise were good. The child could even afford to fail in his first language and still would pass the examination if his overall marks was 50% and above. Whereas in the past three years of PSLE, for a pupil to pass, he had to obtain 50% of 600 marks - 200 marks each for first and second languages, 100 marks each for Science and Mathematics. These criteria were loaded against those weak in one or two languages. Is it any wonder then that the performance results of the 1979 Primary 3 examination were better than what the Education Ministry forecast? But to the Education Ministry, apparently everything is not simple. It has to be more complicated than what I have explained. I suppose that was why principals and teachers, whose schools achieved better 1979 Primary 3 examination results than what the Education Ministry forecast, were asked to explain why. Instead of getting bouquets, they had to explain why the results were better. It was as if they were the ones who blundered and not the computer and systems engineers. Subsequent to the publication of the results, some Ministry officials were purported to have told the principals, in a series of meetings, that, basing on the 1979 Primary 3 examinations, the schools should achieve 95% passes in the 1982 PSLE. I do not know whether they are not again on the wrong track. From this year onwards, a pupil sitting for the PSLE must acquire a pass in the first language and two other subjects.”
“Deputy Prime Minister will have a good explanation to give for the wide discrepancy between the actual performance results of the 1979 Primary 3 Examination and his Ministry's projected results. Of course, all findings on system-analysis, collation and interpretation of statistics, when translated into actual situations, can make very confusing reading, especially when the matter involved relates to human behaviour and motivation. This, I accept. But the question that begs an answer is: to what extent does the Education Ministry use system-analysis and computer findings to formulate its education policies and determine their implementation? Principals and teachers of schools were given a streaming ratio, based on their schools' previous three years of PSLE results before the 1979 Primary 3 examination, to help them plan the number of students who should be channelled to the normal, extended and monolingual courses. Was it not obvious to the Education Ministry that the criteria for assessing the past three years' PSLE results were different and more stringent than the criteria for assessing the 1979 Primary 3 examination results? Let me explain. The Primary 3 students who sat for the special streaming examination in 1979 stood a better chance of succeeding (as compared with those who sat for the PSLE of the last three years) because the retention policy introduced in 1977 ensured that the weaker pupils were allowed to repeat, and thereby improving their chances of passing. Again, in the Primary 3 examination last year, the pupils were only required to attain a 50% overall passing mark to qualify for the normal bilingual stream, and their performances in both their continual assessment and their semestral assessment were also taken into account.”
“Deputy Prime Minister can be persuaded to humour me with my seemingly frivolous proposal, I hope the findings of this exercise will make some sense. At least, the findings would make more sensible reading than those relating to the 1979 streaming ratio for Primary 3 to indicate the percentage of Primary 3 students entering the Normal, Extended and Monolingual classes in 1980. The performance results of Primary 3 students in 1979 were way off the projections worked out by the systems engineers and the computer. Could this far-off-the-mark forecast on the 1979 Primary 3 Examination performance be due to the poor quality of the computer in the Education Ministry? I doubt it, as the Education Ministry would have ensured that the best computer available on the market has been obtained. If there is nothing wrong with the computer brain, could it be that the chosen "apostles" of the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister, sorry, I mean the systems engineers, are not so infallible after all? This is also unthinkable, as otherwise they would not have been chosen by the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister. Perhaps the missing piece to this jig-saw puzzle is that the understanding and solving of educational problems requires more than just computer brains and systems. There are other important factors outside the spheres of computer science and system-analysis. What these other factors are, I leave them to the social scientists to enumerate, many of whom, unfortunately, at this time do not enjoy the confidence of the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister, judging from the recent exchanges in the local press between him and some of the social scientists. Of course, the Hon.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the transfer of the Education portfolio into the charge of the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education last year did not take place under the best of circumstances. The Education Ministry was then plagued with many problems arising out of the frequent shifts and changes in education policies. In the process, the Minister may be said to have taken on a hard task, perhaps no less difficult than cleaning the Augean stables. Nonetheless, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister set out on his "Mission Impossible" with a stout heart and quiet determination. One year has elapsed since then and, no doubt, many Singaporeans with sons and daughters in schools are anxious to know how well is the Education Ministry faring so far under his charge. There are, of course, many ways to assess how the Education Ministry is faring. One method is by making use of statistics, a method very popular these days with the Education Ministry. Looking at the number of amendments to the Budget allocations for the Education Ministry under the Committee of Supply this year, we see that there are only seven amendments submitted by five hon. Members. In previous years, the number of amendments averaged twice this number from twice as many hon. Members. Perhaps we can ask the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister to direct his systems engineers to feed these statistics into the Education Ministry computer to determine their significance. Their analysis may well show that the reduction by half in the number of amendments means a corresponding reduction by half in the number of education problems in the past one year as a result of the massive salvage operations mounted by the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and his team of systems engineers and officers from Mindef. 3.15 p.m. If the Hon.”
“Thank you, Sir, I hope the Chair will bear in mind that since I am speaking on three amendments, therefore, I am entitled to speak for 30 minutes. But I promise you, Sir, that I will not take 30 minutes. I may take only 12 minutes.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head L be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 1100 of Subhead Code LA-01 of the Main Estimates. May I also be permitted to take this opportunity to range my comments over to my other two amendments?”
“Using the CPF mechanism will ensure equitable distribution of benefits in the form of higher (tax-free) interest rates, since the quantum of savings through the voluntary CPF scheme I propose is based on a fixed range of percentages on wages. Even if this proposal does not merit the Hon. Minister's consideration, I hope it has at least driven home the point that Singaporeans are more and more concerned about the diminishing value of our dollars, and its effect on our CPF savings and other retirement benefits. 3.23 p.m.”
“If the Government wants the people to save, it must be able to come up with some attractive schemes to encourage people to save. Perhaps the Government may consider introducing a voluntary CPF savings scheme, in addition to the compulsory CPF contribution, where people are encouraged to voluntarily save between 2 and 5% of their wages with the CPF at tax-free interest rate of 8 to 12% when the savings is collected at retirement age. The quantum of interest rates must vary upwards within the range of 8 to 12% to bear some relationship to the rise in the cost of living index. On the other hand, anyone wishing to withdraw his voluntary CPF savings any time before reaching retiring age can do so but will only earn interest on his savings at current Post Office Savings Bank rates, The higher tax-free interest rate will help him not only to hedge against the diminishing purchasing power of the dollar but also earn some net interest on his savings in real terms. Tied to the introduction of the scheme is the assumption that Government will not increase the present CPF rates. This scheme, if introduced, can achieve three objectives: (1) encouraging Singaporeans to save for old age, (2) accumulating funds to help the Minister for Communications to partly finance the MRT, and (3) soaking up the excess liquidity cash flow to dampen spending sprees, thereby muting some of the locally induced contributory factors to inflation. The Government loses nothing except the right to tax on the interest earned. Losing this right is also one way of compensating the CPF contributors for the low interest rates they earn on their CPF contributions.”
“With respect to him, he seems to have gotten the wrong end of the stick. The problem is not encouraging older people who are fit to remain in employment, but rather enabling them to continue in employment. The practice of employers getting rid of workers with long service should be discouraged by the Government. The perennial problem of older employees being retrenched because of relatively higher wages rather than young employees is going to be further aggravated by the recent Government's policy of high wages. If the Ministry of Labour does not exercise greater supervision in curbing such malpractice, then the discontentment of the older workforce affected by such malpractice and their mental agony over their sense of job insecurity will reach a flash point. Finally, let me touch on the call made by the Hon. Minister to Singaporeans to "save a part of their earnings to secure their own future, and their children's". I do not know whether the Minister, in making this call, had in mind that with the tax cuts he proposed, Singaporeans will now have more of their earnings for saving. If he had such notion in mind, let me quickly dispel it by telling him that the savings from recent tax cuts may not be enough to cover recent price hikes in PUB charges, petrol, road tax, and so on. Even those who can afford to put aside a little for savings are finding their will to save eroded by the fast diminishing value of money. Interest on savings notwithstanding, saving money in the bank is likely to bring in a diminishing return when we take the diminishing purchasing power of the dollar in future into consideration. The motto with some people seems to be "Better to spend now than later" if you do not want to run the risk of getting less value for your dollar in future. An hon.”
“I hope I do not convey the impression that I am only interested in the problems of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. I am merely using it as a further illustration to strengthen my point that as we are preparing to move into a different time-zone, the social and sociological implications of some of the measures we are taking will change and even take on a different dimension. We must anticipate and understand what these implications will be so that we can better cope with the problems that will arise. Our economic success and material advancement must only be a means to an end, and the end must be the happiness and well-being of two million Singapore citizens. Their happiness and well-being must include, besides material comforts, spiritual, social and cultural needs and pursuits, Only when all such needs are fully met all round, can we then truly claim that we have served the people well. There was a time when financial constraints prevented us from giving fair emphasis all round and, understandably, we have to give greater emphasis to matters connected with economic development and survival. No doubt we still have to place our survival as the top priority, but we are certainly in a better position to do more in the other very important non-economic areas of development. The impression given sometimes is that everything is left to the overworked MPs and a small corps of dedicated social workers on a crusade to save Singaporeans from the ravages of modernisation on our morals, values and traditions, while Government just keeps on filling up its coffers, which are already awashed with healthy reserves. Let me now turn to what the Hon. Minister said about encouraging the older people, who are still fit, to remain in employment.”
“At the end of the 80's, daughters-in-law are likely to be working mothers who, unable to afford domestic help and unable to have access to creches, are only too glad to avail of their mothers-in-law services. We may then have to sell to these mothers-in-law the idea that they are given a second chance to enjoy the bliss of bringing up a family - a bliss missed by them as working daughters-in-law and working mothers. An hon. Member: You did not mention sons-in-law.”
“When is the Government going to stop treating the Ministry of Social Affairs as a cinderella Ministry and give it greater support in terms of financial and human resources so that it can be better equipped to meet its more challenging tasks ahead? As we rev up the economic machines to greater speed in the 80's and pursue our economic objectives and material advancement more vigorously, we can expect more social aberrations to occur. Besides, our population pattern and behaviour will necessarily go through a change. For example, at the end of the 80's, several hundred thousands of youths of today will enter the adult world with a very different outlook and behaviour. It is not only they who will be different from us. Even the next generation of mothers-in-law and grandmothers will be different from the present and past generation of mothers-in- law and grandmothers. A next generation mother-in-law and grandmother is likely to be one who has given her best years working either in an office or factory, and thus spent very little time with her children and on household chores. She is likely to prefer spending her retiring years as a woman of leisure rather than getting herself tied down to the chores of looking after the home and the grandchildren. Our campaign on "Respect for the Elders" is presently run on the basis of inducing daughters-in-law to take in mothers-in-law by showing the usefulness of mothers-in-law such as looking after their children. At the end of the decade, this campaign may take on an ironical twist. We may then have to induce mothers-in-law to live with daughters-in-law. This is not because daughters-in-law by then are expected to become paragons of filial piety as a result of the success of the present moral education programme in schools.”
“" A man's spiritual, cultural and social needs are just as important. Having more and better designed HDB flats may provide excellent pictures for HDB annual reports, but may not necessarily bring greater happiness to the residents if the HDB estates remain as lifeless and harsh concrete jungles devoid of the spirit of gotong royong and neighbourliness of the old kampongs and old communities. In recent years, we see an increase in suicide rate, child-battering, divorce rate, and other undesirable effects of modernization. To what extent are these social and sociological aberrations related to the pressures of modern living and new life-styles? Are we paying a heavier than necessary social price for our economic progress and material advancement? Is our economic success fraught with more then the necessary number of pitfalls in both social and sociological terms? Are we doing enough to help our citizens, both young and old, to adjust to the accelerated tempo of the socio-economic transformation of our society? Having Ministers and MPs periodically to lead national campaigns like "Respect the Elders", "Good Neighbourliness" may be useful but are certainly not enough to counter some of the undesirable effects of the modernization process of our society. Much more has to be done to understand and study in depth the sociological implications of economic pursuits in a changing social environment, and a more intensive and sustained programme of action is needed to counter the undesirable consequences. But looking at the budget allocation for the Ministry of Social Affairs within whose ambit come the social and welfare programmes, one is not convinced that the Government is doing enough on welfare and social development.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion standing in the name of the Minister for Trade and Industry. The Budget statement presented by the Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry in this House on 5th March 1980 was well received, both within and without this House. The tax cuts as outlined in his Budget proposals, particularly in respect of personal income tax, were more than a welcome respite from the series of additional financial burdens imposed on Singaporeans in the past few months by way of price hikes in petrol, PUB charges, motor vehicle taxes, etc. According to the Hon. Minister, these tax reliefs are not meant as "give-aways" because of a good year, but rather meant to serve as incentives to stimulate further economic growth and progress. In many developed and developing countries, the increase in revenue to meet recurrent and development expenditures is often realised through the raising of taxes. This will always result in groans and howls among taxpayers. That the Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry does not have to resort to such a measure bears eloquent testimony to the soundness of two decades of Government strategies for economic development and taxation policy, and the prudent management of our State's finances. The Hon. Minister is using the old recipes for economic success in framing the fiscal policy and strategy for further economic development in the ensuing financial year. No doubt, the old recipes will again bring us economic progress, barring any unforeseen external circumstances. There is good reason for us to share the confidence of the Hon. Minister over the economic future of Singapore in the coming financial year as well as the remaining decade of the 80's. But as it is said, "Man does not live by bread alone.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I notice that I have touched on the favourite subject of the Minister for Health but I do not intend to prolong the discussion any further. I just want to touch on what the Member for Khe Bong has said - asking me to speak louder for the teachers' cause. If he had read and listened to some of my speeches in the past, he would have noticed that that was precisely what I did. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time. Resolved, That the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Bill be committed to a Select Committee consisting of Mr Deputy Speaker as Chairman and the following Members: Dr Ang Kok Peng (Buona Vista) Dr Koh Lip Lin (Nee Soon) Mr Lee Yiok Seng (Bukit Panjang), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development Mr Sia Khoon Seong (Moulmein) Encik Sidek bin Saniff (Kolam Ayer) Mr Tan Soo Khoon (Alexandra) Dr Toh Chin Chye (Rochore), Minister for Health Mr Eugene Yap Giau Cheng (Mountbatten). - [Dr Toh Chin Chye] DEFAMATION (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 3.52 p.m.”
“Member for Kim Seng who, as we have all learnt from recent press reports, is on the warpath with the Finance Ministry over unfair allocation of funds to his constituency's community centre building project. In his present "belligerent" mood and frustration, he might even be tempted to use his surgical skills to cut him up as mercilessly as the Finance Ministry officials had slashed the financial allocation for his constituency's community centre building. Of course, Mr Speaker, Sir, the last portion of my speech is made in a lighter vein. I support the Bill before this House.”
“My point is that under existing circumstances when the standard of Government medical services is high, such lapses have occurred. I shudder to think what will happen in future when there is a deterioration in the standard of Government medical services as a result of a massive "desertion" of Government doctors to take up private practice. Hon. Members must surely agree that with the springing up of more private clinics and hospitals and the dissatisfaction of the Government doctors over their terms and conditions of work, the flow of Government doctors to private practice is likely to quicken. Retaining the services of first-rate doctors in adequate numbers in the Government service is certainly going to be more challenging for the Minister for Health in future. The task of the Hon. Minister is made more difficult sometimes by the niggardly attitude and "the ostrich with its head in the sand" kind of outlook adopted, particularly by the Finance Ministry officials, that often frustrate any positive move to remedy the situation. I quite sympathise with the Minister for Health and his other fellow Ministers in not being able to get what they want for their Ministries from the Finance Ministry. Only the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, I am told, get what they want. Perhaps for a start, the Ministry of Health can help to change the attitude of the top Finance Ministry officials by ensuring that if any one of them is admitted to hospital for treatment, he is given the poorest medical attention and services possible, just to give the Finance Ministry official a dose of his own medicine. If that official happens to be the one in charge of the allocation of funds for the building of community centres, then the Minister can even count on the services of the hon.”
“If the scheme of service for doctors in the Public Service does not even come anywhere near what an average doctor in private practice gets, then the brain-drain of doctors from the Government service to the private sector is going to be further aggravated. We do not want a situation to arise in future where first-rate medical service is only to be found in private hospitals and clinics, and second-rate medical service in the Government hospitals, and only the rich can seek swift and effective remedies for their sicknesses while the poor, as well as the not-so-poor, have to be content with second-rate treatment or, worse still, depend on prayers to heaven to help them get well. Two cases that happened sometime ago in the Government hospitals must surely cause some disquiet among members of the public over the lapses of the Government health services, especially when they have grown accustomed to the high standards of medical services provided by the Government hospitals. One was the case of a patient who died after an appendicitis operation because the doctor removed a lump of fat instead of the affected appendix. The other was the death of a girl patient suffering from concussion after a fall, as she was not given the prompt medical attention she deserved. I believe the reason given in this case was that the equipment in the neuro-surgery department was overworked and the department understaffed. I know it is not fair singling out just these two cases to give the impression that something is amiss in the Government medical services. Two swallows certainly do not make a summer. The numerous successful cases in the Government hospitals that have gone unnoticed certainly more than make up for the few failures.”
“This has not only ensured that healthy blood is available for those who need blood transfusion, irrespective of whether they are rich or poor, but it has also served to prevent people donating blood for money even when their health does not permit it. The Bill, however, does not deal with the growing problem that the Government faces arising out of the proliferation of private clinics and private hospitals, i.e. the brain-drain of good Government doctors to the more lucrative pasture of the private sector. I do not know whether the Minister for Trade and Industry, in his recent announcement in this House on 11th December 1979 (Hansard, Vol. 39, col. 521) regarding the Consultation Fees Scheme for doctors in the Government Service, honestly believed that the scheme was going to help at all in slowing down the brain-drain. To me, and more so to the doctors in the Government Service, what the scheme contained was nothing more than peanuts. It was a case of too little being done too late. And to make matters worse, those in the lower rungs of the medical service are not even going to get the peanuts. How is the Health Ministry going to prevent a further brain-drain? Whether the Minister for Trade and Industry or the Professional Services Review Committee likes it or not, the doctors have a greater market value than the administrators. Mr Speaker, Sir, on this point, I am sure I can get you to agree with me. But I am not so sure whether I can get the Minister of Defence, who was once the Head of the Civil Service, to agree with me.”
“Though the Minister's intention is honourable, the danger is that some over-zealous Ministry officials may implement the provisions of the Bill, after it has been passed, in such a manner as to make it more difficult than necessary for the doctors in private practice to conduct their business. I understand that this Bill will be committed to a Select Committee. The Minister is certainly wise in committing this Bill to a Select Committee to enable interested parties to voice their fears and/or views on the Bill. Knowing the Minister, who is still very much a democrat at heart, I have no doubt he will give whatever views that will be presented to the Select Committee his utmost consideration before this Bill is read a Third time. In any case, the act of licensing private clinics and private hospitals is no more or no less than the act of licensing the private schools which the Education Ministry has been doing all along. The Bill, when seen in this light, should be considered as a logical step for the Minister to introduce in this House, particularly at a time when we see more private clinics and hospitals springing up. The Bill also seeks to prohibit the trading in human blood. All right-thinking Singaporeans must surely give the Hon. Minister their wholehearted support in this particular provision. Much has been said and written about the abuses and undesirable consequences of trading in human blood elsewhere. Singapore today can pride itself on its public-spirited citizens who have unfailingly responded to every call for blood donation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, let me first congratulate the Minister for the timely move in bringing this Bill before this House. No doubt, in our system of free enterprise, people in any trade or business or profession, including that of medicine and medical care, should be accorded the fullest freedom as is compatible with public interest to conduct their business with the least hindrance from the Government. As in this case where the practice of the profession or conduct of the business may literally mean the difference between the life and death of people receiving medical consultation, treatment, or care, the Government has certain moral obligations to ensure that certain safety standards are maintained, whether in relation to the services provided by or to certain medical paraphernalia used in the private clinics and private hospitals. This is not to suggest that doctors in private practice, by and large, have not been careful with maintaining standards. Private medical practitioners not only have a moral obligation towards their patients' well-being but also their own reputation to protect. There is no doubt that the vast majority of them should find no objection at least to the raison d'etre of the Bill which is to ensure that certain standards of medical consultation, treatment or care of their patients are maintained. Some doctors in private practice may view the Bill as a measure to impose unnecessary hardship on them in their practice. Some unkind souls may even deliberately misconstrue this Bill as a desperate measure of the Government to prevent further brain-drain of doctors from the Government service to the private sector. I have no doubt that the Minister has no such "macabre" intention.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, will the Minister not consider imposing a quota on the import of second-hand cars to Singapore?”
“I have no doubt that with the Deputy Prime Minister at the helm, ably assisted by efficient men and women in the Education Service, and given the goodwill and support of the press, parents and educators, the future augurs well for us in the field of education. I therefore support the Motion standing in the name of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education.”
“It will be necessary to keep parents informed of developments in this programme; for it to succeed there must be home support. Moral values are best learned in the home for the child will take the example best from his parents. The teacher can merely reinforce these values. It will, therefore, be imperative for parents to be well-informed of this subject, and this onerous task is necessarily the domain of the mass media. Regular features in the newspapers and on the radio and TV for parents on bringing up children and teaching them to be ethical will be necessary for the success of the programme. The infrastructure of such a programme, therefore, is not something that can be built up overnight. But built up it must be if we are to preserve the moral fibre of our future citizenry. All said and done, I think the Report on the Education Ministry, 1978, has given us a clear insight into the workings of the Education Ministry, its problems and difficulties. It has also at the same time provided an excellent basis from which the Education Ministry can chart its future direction. The Prime Minister's letter to the Deputy Prime Minister concerning the Report provides not only a masterly summing up and incisive perception but also the missing pieces to the educational jigsaw puzzle. No doubt, the task has just begun for the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister in his new portfolio. The next phase of the long and arduous process of education is not only more difficult but also crucial in determining whether the next generation of Singaporeans are worthy inheritors of the land that we and our forefathers have built and lived in harmony, peace, progress and prosperity.”
“The necessity of giving this serious thought is underscored by the failure of the Education for Living programme which had similar ambitions to produce good moral citizens. What were the reasons for the failure of this programme? Might not this suggested programme fail too for similar reasons? Is the Education for Living programme so bad that it has to be rejected altogether? Might one not try to salvage those elements in it that are worth retaining? Moreover, it will become necessary to retrain teachers on how they can become effective moral educators. While I believe the majority of teachers themselves have a high moral code of conduct, I do not think that they can, without the benefit of instruction, teach all their pupils to be as morally good as themselves. A champion swimmer might be the worst coach under the sun for the average person; his methods are good only for the most capable and these usually constitute a very small minority. Another problem of a nebulous nature is to predict the potential of applicants for teacher-in-training posts as effective imparters of moral values. How is one to devise a moral proficiency test for all applicants? How is one to assess the effectiveness of a trained teacher in this respect? Can one devise the instruments to measure such intangibles? The proposed method of using stories from myth, tradition and history is, I believe, a sound one. It is something that the mass media should consider employing. Using media effectively is one way to making abstract notions vivid for pupils; a good story on TV supported by helpful lesson notes serves as a focal point for discussion and, in my view, this is more effective than merely to present lessons in textbooks.”
“However, the introduction of moral education into the school system will bring about certain inherent difficulties and problems, the dimensions of which might not be fully appreciated by some. In a unilingual-unicultural society, it should be apparent to all what values need to be stressed, even if the process of implementation is no easy matter. It is not so perspicuous in a multi-lingual-multi-cultural society like ours. While it is true that there are many moral concepts which are similar - one might even say common - in the cultures represented here, and there are some which might be considered to have universal application, there are also divergent ones which cannot be ignored. Before one can consider introducing moral education into the school curriculum, it is imperative, therefore, to decide on the syllabus for the subject and this, I would like to point out, is no easy task. Who is going to decide what is moral? Which set of moral values should be highlighted and which should be left out at the syllabus? Which reactions to a situation are to be considered moral, i.e. acceptably so to all members of our community? There does not exist, as yet, a coherent corpus of materials that could serve as text and inspiration for such a school course. In a Christian or Muslim school, the problem does not exist. The sacred word of the Bible or Koran serves as ready reference for all moral issues. What framework of reference will the teacher in a secular school have to decide on perplexing moral dilemmas except on what he perceives as those values that are tacit in Singaporean society? His decisions might be skewed towards those religious beliefs he holds, and these in some cases might be contrary to those held by pupils of another religious persuasion.”
“It may be pertinent to ask whether the Government will consider giving recognition to the CSE for purposes of employment, particularly in the public sector. Let me now come to the question of moral education and the role of the teacher in the inculcation of moral values. It is a tradition honoured from ancient times that a teacher was, first and foremost, a shaper of the human soul and mind: it was his sacred obligation to fashion his disciples according to his personal vision. It is unfortunate that in this modern day and age, a teacher can no longer choose his own disciples, nor can a student select a master whom he seeks to emulate; neither are all teachers visionaries, charged with a zeal to refashion human-kind. The mantle of the guru has been replaced by sheaves of instructions and orders from the Ministry of Education and he is bound hand and foot by the thongs of time, textbook and syllabus. There are overseers and regular examinations to ensure that these bonds are secure. Hampered by these constraints, the lesser teacher conforms and proceeds industriously to impart knowledge, forgetting his more important obligation of shaping his students into moral beings as good citizens by precept and example. Fortunately, there are still in our midst, many teachers who carry on this noble tradition, albeit quietly, despite the stifling constraints - some with unjustified guilty feelings that the time they took, which they considered opportune, to educate their students on some moral issue of the moment, could have been spent on teaching the Pythagoras theorem. I applaud, therefore, the recommendation that moral education should be given official recognition in the school curriculum.”
“The Report's recommendation on streaming is not only educationally controversial but can also be a source of friction between parents on the one hand and principals and teachers on the other. No parent will ever accept the fact that his or her child belongs to the stream for slow learners. The decision of both the principal and the teacher in this regard will always be challenged by parents, no matter what criteria of assessment are used. Besides, who will work out the assessment criteria that can be uniformly applied, and how are their validity and reliability to be determined beyond dispute? According to the Report [page 1 - 2] "late developers in the primarily monolingual stream who perform very well may be promoted to the extended bilingual stream." How can a child from a monolingual stream cope with two languages in the extended bilingual stream? Furthermore, the level of attainment of children in the monolingual stream has been pre-determined in content, and this may be far behind the content of those in the extended bilingual stream. Does this not make the transfer from the monolingual stream to the extended bilingual stream well-nigh impossible? In fact, the statement that there can be lateral movement from the monolingual stream to the extended bilingual stream is not realistic and pragmatic. The proposal to introduce the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) for the ordinary stream of secondary pupils at the and of four years must further encourage the "white-collar" mentality among our school leavers. Armed with the CSE, they will certainly feel that they are sufficiently "qualified" for some of the white-collar jobs. They will, therefore, be less inclined to go for skill training in vocational institutes and to seek blue-collar jobs.”
“It is difficult to blame any parent for wondering so, simply because the past record of performance of the Education Ministry does make some people become sceptical of what it is capable of doing. Members of the Special Task Force have stated that they are generalists and they have only put into shape the bones of a more workable education structure. The question that is more difficult for the Education Ministry to deal with from now on must be to find a sufficient number of the right calibre professionals and specialists to "put flesh to the bones of the structure". Are there many such professionals and specialists in the Education Service? If there are, how does the Ministry plan to identify them and fit them into the various echelons in the hierarchy of the Education Service to provide professional leadership to the principals and teachers? Can the PSC, which has hitherto been the appointing authority for teachers, principals and Ministry officials, come out with any new formula to get more of the right calibre professionals and specialists to assist in the implementation of new educational changes? Is there a need to set up a separate Education Service Commission to deal with the appointment and promotion of principals and teachers? Are some of the large schools over-sized for effective management and control? These are questions which the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister must go into, as he tackles the task ahead of him. The successful implementation of the recommendations of the Special Task Force depends not on how systematically and how well the new education structure is devised, but how well the 18,000-odd educators will perform under the new structure and the administrative and professional leadership given to them.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, Education has always attracted a lot of lively discussion and criticism in this House. In the past, our attention and volleys of criticism were directed only at specific policy matters and the manner in which they were implemented. The Education Ministry has to-date stoutly defended its past actions as necessary measures to meet the growing demands of education. No wonder we saw quite a few red faces when the Special Task Force brought to light such a heap of skeletons in the Education Ministry's cupboard. In the past few days, the news media has been carrying the Education Report of the Special Task Force. We are now in a better position to know what the problems and difficulties are in our education system. No doubt, most parents would have read the various chapters of the Report with more than just superficial interest, as this Report has a great bearing on the future of their children on whom they build their hopes and dreams. It was reported in the press that parents generally welcomed the Report with enthusiasm. I suspect this is because the Special Task Force, in pointing out the weaknesses of the education system, was in fact expressing its own frustrations and criticisms against the Education Ministry in a more forceful and comprehensive manner. Following the spontaneous expression of satisfaction over the Report, quite a few parents must have had second thought on whether the recommendations of the Special Task Force would not also meet the same fate as past educational changes and end up on the debris of history as another fiasco of the Education Ministry.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of the excellent replies given by the Hon. Minister and in view of the fact that he needs a rest after having been made to reply to so many points raised by hon. Members, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. 4.30 p.m.”
“Sir, my question is, when will the development be completed? Is it in 1980 or 1981. This is Phase 1.”
“Sir, although I am the mover of the amendment, the Hon. Minister has not answered any one of my questions. Can I have a legitimate right to an answer? He has not answered my question on when the HDB will complete the development of the Ah Hood Road estate. With the pressure exerted by hon. Members for the renovation of old housing estates, I hope he would not from now onwards direct all the construction workers to go to the old housing estates and forget Ah Hood Road estate, because the development of Ah Hood Road estate has been in the pipeline for a long time. I would be obliged if the Minister could give an answer on that.”
“Yes, there is hope. Sir, I would beg leave to withdraw in the hope that I do not have to raise this issue again, and that this matter will be resolved. Amendment by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Haji Sha'ari bin Tadin: (3) That the sum to be allocated for Head R be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead Code RB-01 of the Main Estimates.”
“No, not stubborn. I did not say that, Sir. Since he is a very cautious man, he needs time to think and ponder again. I also detect in the course of my private discussion with him that he sounds less convincing of his own arguments today than before. An hon. Member: There is hope.”
“Sir, in raising the issue of the 13th month allowance again this year I was merely fulfilling a promise that I made to the Minister for Finance last year that if he did not modify the policy on the 13th month payment I would raise the matter again this year. From his reply, it appears that he is tempting me to raise the issue again next year. As much as he is not tired of giving the same reply, I can assure him that I would also not be tired of bringing up the same arguments again. I hope that I do not have to wait for the next Minister for Finance to modify the policy. Perhaps for the sake of the civil servants who are about to retire we do not have to wait that long. Personally, I would get more satisfaction if the present Minister for Finance modify the policy than some other Minister for -Finance. The thrust of his argument that the 13th month payment is for serving officers no longer holds water for the simple reason that there are cases of abuse, and he must be aware of this. For example, a civil servant who has to retire at the end of this year, 31st December 1979. He is compelled to retire because of age, and therefore he is denied the 13th month payment. On the other hand, a civil servant who is not due to retire but chooses to resign on the 1st January 1980, just one day after this poor civil servant retires on 31st December this year, that civil servant gets the 13th month allowance. So how does his argument hold water when he says that this 13th month payment is for serving officers? A serving officer who chooses to resign on the 1st of January next year can get his 13th month payment. But knowing our Minister for Finance is a very cautious person - An hon. Member: Stubborn.”
“With the cost of living escalating and the purchasing power of the dollar shrinking each year, will the Government not consider adjusting the monthly pensions upwards according to the annual NWC recommendations? I am raising these old issues despite past futile attempts, in the hope that with the passage of time the Hon. Finance Minister will mellow-down, relent, and be more sympathetic.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head R be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 1100 of Subhead Code RA-01 of the Main Estimates. Mr Speaker, Sir, in moving this amendment, I am merely taking the opportunity to raise an old issue with the Hon. Finance Minister concerning the non- payment of the 13th month allowance or part thereof to civil servants when they retire, or to their dependants should they die pre-maturely. This issue was raised with the Finance Minister in this House during previous Budget debates without success. The Minister has always maintained that when the decision to pay the 13th month allowance to civil servants was made in 1972, it was explicit then that it did not cover instances of retirement or premature death. No one is disputing with him that that was, in fact, the decision. What is in dispute is that his decision was not fair and equitable, especially to long service civil servants who have served the Government faithfully, some for as long as 35 years. They are to be told on their retirement that they are not entitled to the payment of the 13th month allowance, while raw recruits into the civil service are immediately given the 13th month payment or part of it on a pro-rata basis in the first year of their service. It is not too late for the Minister to relent on this issue and modify the policy of payment of 13th month allowance to include civil servants who retire or die prematurely. Let me come to another matter that has also been raised in this House before. It concerns the plight of pensioners. Many pensioners, especially those who depend on their monthly pensions for survival and have no other sources of income, are finding great difficulty to make ends meet.”
“Sir, as driving is part of the training, is he not a little alarmed at the standard of training that we have in the national service? In times of peace where conditions are not hostile, the accident rate is already high. What will happen then in times of war where conditions are more difficult? Would we be in a position to defend ourselves when our drivers are not able to drive without meeting accidents? Mr Howe Yoon Chong: Sir, may I submit that the hon. Member for Moulmein is probably prejudging the issue when he states that the accident rate involving Mindef vehicles is high. I do not want to make comparisons but I would like to give figures to show that our vehicles are no more prone to accidents than many other organisations that have the same number of vehicles. SAF has got 5,800 thin-skin vehicles, that is, not the armoured trucks but just the normal vehicles that we have on the roads, similar to commercial vehicles. Our accident rate is only 1,271 to 1,457 a year. If I am not mistaken, SBS has a smaller number of vehicles. It has got about 2,600 buses on the road, and I think their annual number of accidents is something like 4,800. The Minister for the Environment gave him some figures. They have got 608 vehicles and there were 268 accidents. If you compare it with our fleet of 5,800 vehicles, only about 1,300 to 1,400 were involved in accidents. I do not think it is right to make a statement that Mindef vehicles are more involved in accidents and that national servicemen cannot drive safely. As far as I know, it is quite creditable that our people have been able to train the national servicemen to drive as well as they do now.”
“Sir, in view of the Minister's reply, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment by leave, withdrawn.”
“His next task, which is more difficult, will be to identify a sufficient number of the right calibre of professionals to man the various leadership positions in the Education Ministry hierarchy to help him implement efficiently the new educational plans and programmes. Before I conclude, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and his team of Government Officers for producing an excellent report on the present state of affairs in the Education Ministry. It has so vividly and comprehensively sized up the many complex and basic problems that are plaguing our education system. The recommendations have far-reaching consequences and need careful study and consideration before they are implemented. No doubt, there will be some future occasions when some of the recommendations and educational issues involved will be critically examined through constructive public debates.”
“Members who wish to continue to pursue the hawkish line in criticising the Education Ministry can have my words of comfort and consolation in the Members' Room if they are "wounded" in their "duel" with the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education. What I have just said, Mr Speaker, Sir, is said in a light vein. Let me now take on a more serious note. Since the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister took charge of the Education Ministry, some definite strengthening of the administration and correct staff changes have taken place at the Ministry headquarters level. Other measures are on the way to encourage greater professional competence at the school level. With the publication of the education report of the special task force, there is now a clearer educational direction as to where we are heading. Many principals and teachers are showing signs of responding positively to the new educational direction. If I may say, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister seems to have the right formula for success. What he needs now is the enthusiastic support and cooperation of educators, teachers' unions, the press, parents, and hon. Members, to ensure optimal success. I have no doubt that the enthusiastic support and cooperation will be forthcoming. No doubt, it is too early at this stage to predict the outcome of what he seeks to do. He has just got down to stage one of a very long and arduous process of devising and implementing a sound and effective system. His task is made more difficult by the fact that before he can come up with anything that is sound and effective, he has first to undo and disentangle some of the unsound educational knots into which the education system had earlier tied up itself with.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Object Group 1100 of Subhead Code JA-01 of the Main Estimates. Having the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister as the Education Minister, the task of hon. Members must surely be more difficult when we debate on the Budget allocation for the Education Ministry. Apart from his outstanding abilities as an ace Minister which he can use to advantage, he was also the former Defence Minister, a position that must have taught him quite a few things about military strategy and tactics. I was told that a good military strategy to adopt in a battle is to introduce the element of surprise, and to launch a pre-emptive strike against your enemies. Always take the offensive and put your enemy on the defensive. The Hon. Deputy Prime Minister must be adopting this strategy when he released the first chapter of the very excellent Education Report of the Special Task Force headed by him, just two days before hon. Members go into a battle of words with him and his two Senior Ministers of State on the sins of commission and omission in the Education Ministry. The report has been very forthright in its criticisms of the shortcomings of Ministry officials and defects in the Education System. It has, therefore, rendered any further criticisms against the Education Ministry at this stage superfluous. As for myself, Mr Speaker, Sir, for the time being, I agree with the Straits Times editorial on 1st February, 1979 calling for a "moratorium on grumbles on the ills, real or otherwise, of the education system". Hon.”
“It is therefore prudent and farsighted, in this context, on the part of the present political leadership to apply its mind and attention to the grooming of the next generation of political leadership. Many Singaporeans naturally are concerned whether the norms set for selecting the successor leadership can withstand the test of time and trials. We can only hope and pray that Singapore will in future have the younger and equally capable and dedicated versions of the present political leaders. 3.50 p.m.”
“The second is the morale of the principals and teachers. There is so much the Government can do to boost the morale of the teaching profession. To begin with, stop treating them like mere cogs in a machine. Treat them like human beings, with the dignity that they deserve. Mr Speaker, Sir, 1979 marks two decades of PAP government in Singapore. The present generation of top political leadership has ably steered the Singapore State through many political storms and economic crises to the much desired haven of economic viability, and forged a Singaporean identity among its two million-odd citizens. More than that, Singapore has, under its stewardship, emerged each time from its political and economic challenges more successful and stronger. With the high standard of public health enjoyed in Singapore, the favourable standard of living attained in Singapore, and the meticulous attention and care that many of the present top political leaders give to their health, I have not the slightest doubt that they will still be dominating the political scene, charting and guiding the future destiny of Singapore for many, many years to come. In terms of man's life-span, one decade or two decades is a long time. In terms of a nation's history, it is but just a short period. When seen in the long range view of a nation's history, the question of who will succeed the present generation of top political leaders when they leave their office assumes greater significance and importance. The earlier the future political leadership is groomed, the better the chances of some, if not all, of the future leaders succeeding.”
“If I do not get an answer to that, I can quite understand as they are used to operating in typical military style, that is, everything is "top secret". The Education Ministry, in its Addendum to the President's Speech, mentioned the introduction of a full-day school session in a few secondary schools in 1980 as a pilot project. This is one of the few occasions that the Education Ministry gives the public adequate advance notice of its intention to make an educational change. For this advance notice, I give the Education Ministry top marks. But whether or not I can give them top marks for the plan to be actually implemented in 1980 is quite another matter. No doubt the full-day school plan, if imaginatively conceived and sensibly implemented, can benefit the children. Many teachers can be persuaded to give the scheme their enthusiastic support, if adequate incentives are given to them to teach in a full-day school and their workload not made heavier than at present. This means that a full-day school must have a better quota of teachers. But knowing that some officials in the Education Ministry and Finance Ministry are still under the delusion that teachers are underworked and are still obsessed with wanting to make the teachers work a 42-hour week, we may see in 1980 a monstrous plan for a full-day school, a plan which not only teachers but also parents will vehemently object. In concluding my remarks on the Education Ministry, may I say this. No matter what fine educational plans and policies are introduced by the Government to improve the quality of education, two very essential ingredients are necessary to ensure their successful implementation. The first is the calibre of the administrative and professional leadership at the headquarters level.”
“I must say that the thinking and the raison d'etre behind these educational changes are both progressive and forward-looking. But when you have a backward administrative and professional support in implementing too many forward-looking policies at one and the same time, that is when all the troubles start. Unfortunately, the Education Ministry is notorious for its undistinguished record of introducing too many changes in a short space of time and sometimes, retracting some of these changes as fast as they were introduced. If the changes were not retracted, they would at least undergo several so-called refinements. The Education Ministry has been crying wolf in the past every so often. Can we blame the public for being sceptical to any announcement of any educational change, whether it is sound or otherwise? Very often the quarrel is not with the thinking behind the policy or the conception of the plans but the way in which they are implemented. We can certainly credit the Education Ministry with many fine education policies, but it is extremely hard to find a single instance when it has implemented its policy effectively and smoothly. What is the reason? Is it because we are trying to do too much at one time, or is it because we are short of able officers to run a big Ministry with increasingly greater and complex problems? Has the introduction of a team of systems engineers into the Ministry begun to boost the work efficiency in the Education Ministry? Many of us are beginning to wonder what is happening to the "military takeover" in the Education Ministry. Are the bright systems engineers lost in the maze of the Education System, or are they making good progress?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion standing in the name of the hon. Member for Serangoon Gardens. 1978 must surely go down in the annals of the Education Ministry as the year with the record number of what the Education Ministry euphemistically termed as "refinements in educational policies and practices." Parents, pupils and teachers who are at the receiving end, however, do not see them as just mere refinements but very substantive changes in educational policies and practices. That the Education Ministry is in the habit of making educational changes should be no surprise to any one. What amazes the public at large is that the Ministry should have made so many changes in quick succession in the past few months, particularly when the Ministry itself has not yet managed to solve completely the implementation problems arising out of earlier changes introduced by them. Surely, the Government must recognize that the recent educational changes must require additional manpower support and expertise, particularly at the headquarters level, to ensure their effective and smooth implementation. Even with only the routine problems, the Education Ministry is already at its wit's end. And now, with new educational changes, bringing in their train more implementation problems, it can but only serve to compound an already very difficult situation. True, some of the recent educational changes, such as the Immersion Scheme, the Supplementary English Language lessons, and the selection of certain Chinese secondary schools for development into effective bilingual schools, have great merit in them as well-conceived plans for the improvement of our present education system.”
“Sir, I am not moving amendments (2) and (4).”