Steve Chia Kiah Hong
Singapore
“A similar prohibition would apply to the videocasting, or video streaming of explicitly political content. At this point, the Government has no intention to amend the legislation regulating Internet campaigning during an election.”
“Sir, may I clarify with the Senior Minister of State? He did not answer my question exactly. My question is this. From the "positive list" of the websites that are approved and registered, a concerned citizen downloads all these materials and prints them out on his own, using photostating machine or whatever, and distributes them to the m…”
“Sir, with regard to chicken farms and especially slaughter house workers, I believe they must be well trained and briefed on the precautionary measures to take. But are they insured under the Workmen's Compensation Act or any other kind of insurance in the event that they are afflicted with the bird flu virus?”
“Sir, I hope that the Minister of State understands that suicide is basically an attempt to cry out for help. In that time, if they do not have an easy number to remember, like SOS' 1800-2214444 hotline, can they call 999 or 995 and be redirected to the SOS in the event that they are thinking of suicide?”
“The clarification is that this individual, whom we do not know, is not our election agent or election helper. This is an individual in the constituency who wants to download anything and distributes it to the residents in the contested constituency. Is it an offence?”
“Active political recruitment has been going on inside and outside the RC and PA s organisation and premises. Although grassroots leaders are under no compulsion to join the PAP and can opt out if they want to, Straits Times' Forum writer, Ms Yee, had correctly pointed out that "joining a grassroots organisation seems to be a sure way for…”
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“Sir, I hope that the Minister of State understands that suicide is basically an attempt to cry out for help. In that time, if they do not have an easy number to remember, like SOS' 1800-2214444 hotline, can they call 999 or 995 and be redirected to the SOS in the event that they are thinking of suicide?”
“The clarification is that this individual, whom we do not know, is not our election agent or election helper. This is an individual in the constituency who wants to download anything and distributes it to the residents in the contested constituency. Is it an offence?”
“I would like to clarify with the Minister. It is important.”
“The Minister did not answer my question.”
“Sir, the facts of the case, as I explained, is that they are citizens who want to download materials from the approved list to distribute ---”
“Sir, may I clarify with the Senior Minister of State? He did not answer my question exactly. My question is this. From the "positive list" of the websites that are approved and registered, a concerned citizen downloads all these materials and prints them out on his own, using photostating machine or whatever, and distributes them to the mail boxes of the residents in their constituency, is he allowed?”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State, if any concerned citizen takes what is on the "positive list" on the Internet, prints it out, and circulates it on his own to the residents in a contested constituency, is that an offence?”
“A similar prohibition would apply to the videocasting, or video streaming of explicitly political content. At this point, the Government has no intention to amend the legislation regulating Internet campaigning during an election. But the review of Government regulations is a continual process so as to ensure that they are kept up-to-date. We recognise that in our society, people will have diverse opinion and some will want to share their opinion. But people should not take refuge behind the anonymity of the Internet to manipulate public opinion. It is better and more responsible to engage in political debates in a factual and objective manner. Mr Low Thia Khiang: Clarification, Sir. Do I understand that unless what is allowed is being listed, whatever new technology that comes along, one is not allowed to apply and use it for political advertisement purposes?”
“In a free-for-all Internet environment, where there are no rules, political debates could easily degenerate into an unhealthy, unreliable and dangerous discourse flushed with rumours and distortions to mislead and confuse the public. The Government has always maintained that political debates should be premised on factual and objective presentation of issues and arguments. The regulations governing Internet campaigning have served well to safeguard the seriousness of the electoral process. Political parties, candidates and their election agents will continue to be guided by the "positive list" in the Election Advertising Regulations in the coming general elections. Party political websites must be registered with the MDA. Failure to register is a breach of the class licence conditions. Private or individual bloggers can discuss politics. However, if they persistently propagate, promote or circulate political issues relating to Singapore, they are required to register with the MDA. During the election period, these registered persons will not be permitted to provide material online that constitutes election advertising. Mr Low has asked about podcasting. I take podcasting to mean the provision of an audio feed over the Internet to subscribers. As I have noted, during the election period, political parties, candidates and election agents must keep to permitted election advertising set out in the "positive list". Podcasting does not fall within this list. There are also some well-known local blogs run by private individuals who have ventured into podcasting. The content of some of these podcasts can be quite entertaining. However, the streaming of explicit political content by individuals during the election period is prohibited under the Election Advertising Regulations.”
“Sir, I would like to clarify with the Senior Minister of State. Does it mean that at this moment, the Government or the Ministry has not been able to find any charges against the former CEO and the Board for misleading the public? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, as I have said, since investigations are ongoing, it is not appropriate to comment on this at this point in time. GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS (Change of laws and regulations on use of Internet and podcasts) 9. Mr Low Thia Khiang asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts whether the Government intends to change the laws and regulations concerning the use of Internet and new technologies such as podcasts for campaigning during the General Election and, if so, what will be the main changes and when will such changes be made public. The Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts (Dr Balaji Sadasivan) (for the Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts): Mr Speaker, Sir, currently, there are several pieces of legislation and guidelines which cover Internet campaigning issues or which touch on such matters. These include the Parliamentary Elections Act (PEA) and the Election Advertising Regulations under the PEA, and the Class Licence Scheme and the Internet Code of Practice administered by the Media Development Authority (MDA). Political parties, candidates and election agents are permitted to use the Internet for election advertising based on a "positive list" of activities listed in the Election Advertising Regulations. The "positive list" ensures the responsible use of the Internet during the elections.”
“Sir, with regard to chicken farms and especially slaughter house workers, I believe they must be well trained and briefed on the precautionary measures to take. But are they insured under the Workmen's Compensation Act or any other kind of insurance in the event that they are afflicted with the bird flu virus?”
“Sir, if the Minister of State says that the grassroots movement is not politicised, then why are the grassroots advisers and CCCs controlled by the PAP members?”
“Yes, it is regarding the grassroots again.”
“Sir, I would like to clarify that we are not saying that the grassroots organisations are to be demolished and totally removed, but rather to be depoliticised, ie, do not allow recruitment of the grassroots leaders to become party members. That is what we are asking for to be depoliticised and not to be removed.”
“Sir, the Minister of State did not explain why are the grassroots members gearing up to take on the Opposition at this coming general election, as reported in the media. Secondly, why is he still denying the fact that the grassroots organisations have been politicised in favour of the PAP? Thirdly, can he give an assurance that the grassroots leaders, if they choose to join the Opposition party, will not be asked to resign from the grassroots organisations?”
“Active political recruitment has been going on inside and outside the RC and PA s organisation and premises. Although grassroots leaders are under no compulsion to join the PAP and can opt out if they want to, Straits Times' Forum writer, Ms Yee, had correctly pointed out that "joining a grassroots organisation seems to be a sure way for one to be involved in PAP politics". She had apparently been recruited a number of times "to be a member of the PAP political party". Sir, the PA, CCCs, CCMCs and RCs are statutory boards constituted to serve the community. Political parties should not be allowed to do recruitment inside the organisation. Politicising the RCs and CCCs, through active citizenship recruitment, drives away segments of end-users not willing to be associated with politics or the PAP. Please do not waste public funds to meet your own party s political recruitment objective. Religious Education”
“Sir, first, the role and the allocated budget for the People s Association are meant to create activities to serve the community. It is not for image building. If the PA failed to engage the community and get them to participate actively in their activities, then clearly PA s operating model is getting outdated and should be re-examined. No amount of money wasted on PR and image building will help increase public participation if the inherent interest is not there. I believe the current PA had served its usefulness in the past and, looking forward, it may come a time now to reconstitute it as a people empowered organisation - rather than a top-down Government-led organisation - without all the political objectives and affiliation with the PAP Government. The Government needs to free up the PA management, CCCs, CCMCs and RCs to freely elect their own community leaders and empower them to lead and organise their own activities and interest, without any political interference from HQ or PM s office. Sir, it is time to depoliticise the PA. Grassroots Organisations Next, Sir, on CCCs, CCMCs and RCs. The Director of PA, Ms Ooi, had correctly pointed out in a Straits Times' reply that PA is a Government statutory board and that no political party activities are allowed on PA s premises. However, she had confirmed, and I quote, "They (the grassroots leaders) are under no compulsion to join the PAP." In another article, it was also reported that "many grassroots leaders were excited at the prospect of taking on the Opposition at the coming general election". Indeed, Sir, many grassroots leaders had been politicised, and recruited to become PAP members to take on the Opposition.”
“Sir, would extending this policy not encourage more women to go and find work and look for work with greater confidence and assurance that their children would be better cared for and brought up by people that they can really trust? And when will the review be finally completed? It has been over one year since I last talked about it and was told that it was being reviewed.”
“Sir, I had raised this idea before in the Baby Bonus debate and the recent Budget debate. I deem it important to raise it again here. The Government has a budget allocated for centre-based infant and childcare subsidy to help working families. And I thanked the Minister previously for agreeing to review my idea to extend the subsidies to home-based infant and childcare. I just want to reinforce my message with a quote from Ms Jenny Phang, published in yesterday's Today that "grandmothers play an important role, especially when mothers work". We need to reinforce the "many helping hands" approach to raise good well-care for children. The Government can help by extending childcare subsidies to home-based care, and help strengthen the families. This is especially urgent in view of fast spreading diseases like bird flu, mad cow, hand, foot and mouth, etc, that spread easily among children in a close cluster. Sir, our modern Singapore working families are under severe stress from breaking up and the role and presence of grandparent's support cannot be denied. I just want to ask the Minister when will the review be completed, so that the childcare subsidies can be extended to greatly encourage home-based and grandparent's care. Community Heritage Organisations”
“Sir, the MOS did not explain what enforcement action has been taken on the illegal deployment of Bangladeshi work permit holders, acting as lorry drivers and ferrying workers to their worksites.”
“Sir, what is the point of having labour laws when they are not strictly enforced when companies cut corners and costs by employing illegal foreign workers to do the jobs that rightfully should go to Singaporeans? I know the Ministry carries out surprise checks and enforcement actions, but these apparently are not regular. Every now and then, I have Singaporeans calling me to complain of certain coffeeshops employing foreign workers to clear their dishes and that certain Town Councils are employing construction work permit holders to do the cleaning service, and that certain construction companies are deploying Bangladeshi work permit holders as drivers to ferry the workers from the hostel to the worksite and back. You can see many of these illegal redeployed drivers along Kranji Road and Admiralty Road turning into Sembawang Shipyard, etc. Sir, these are not allowed under the law, but enforcement action is slack. I hope the Ministry do not just report but the enforcement ---”
“I want to ask the Minister for Health where exactly is the Northern General Hospital to be sited, when is construction work commencing and when can we expect it to start operation. Patient Care”
“My question is whether the Minister has read this article and agree with the point that there should not be compulsory membership for business associations, other than those that are required by law for the regulation of professional standards.”
“Sir, I do not know whether the Minister has read Today's article on 2nd March by Mr Cheng Soon Tat. I think he gives very good arguments why membership should not be compulsory in the SBF, and also that the NTUC is able to actually advance collective interest.”
“So people who are not interested would have to petition to SBF to get themselves exempted. Am I right to say that? If the SBF does not agree for them to be exempted, there is no way for them to be exempted in this case. Am I right?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister has not answered my questions (b) and (c). How can business owners who find that the SBF's programmes and all those things not relevant to them, terminate their membership? And for those who do not want to join, can it be made non-compulsory for them?”
“Sir, I understand and recognise the importance of national defence and our armed forces' role in providing peace in Singapore. But I cannot help feeling that we are over spending a bit too much on our defence budget allocation. Considering the total estimate of $10.05 billion is due for defence alone, that is a whopping 32.8% of our total budget allocation of $28.6 billion, and 4.86% of projected GDP for FY2006. Compared to other developed countries like the US (3.6%), Britain (2.59%), Japan (1%) and France (1.98%), I think we are spending a tad too high on defence. Sir, I think the Government should cut it down to below 30% of our budget allocation, and free up more money for the other social sectors, like education. I would also like to hear from the Minister whether we are seeing any increased security and sovereign threat towards Singapore and in Asia, except for Taiwan.”
“Sir, I want to clarify with the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. The CIPC funds are managed by the CCC, whose adviser is a Member of the PAP political party. Is that not a case where the funds are politicised?”
“Sir, I give credit to the Government for restarting the building of 2-room HDB flats. Not every one can afford those bigger flats, despite the fake market price subsidy. For varying personal reasons, not every one wants to or can even own the cheaper 2-room HDB flats to be built. The Government should not be over-zealous in its asset-ownership programme to force every citizen to own properties. I hope the Government will consider booking some of these new 2-room flats for subsidised rental first to help those problem families until they can afford to buy flats at a subsequent stage, that means, more rental units available. Housing for Low-income Families 2.45 pm”
“Clarification, Sir. The Senior Minister of State said that the programmes mentioned by him are not commercially viable. They are not because they are all propaganda material that the public is not interested in watching. Should not these propaganda materials be funded by the Government, or even by the PAP, just like how the old NKF actually funded their charity, and not paid by the people through the use of TV licence fees?”
“Sir, I have already given my reasons in the Budget debate for the scrapping of the radio and TV licences. I am now awaiting for the Minister's satisfactory reply.”
“Sir, the National Library is incurring the largest share of 36.1% of MICA's operating budget this year. This is partly due to the higher operating expenses for the new National Library. In fact, it is a big chunk of the MICA's budget. Sir, the new National Library is a beautiful building, but it is still a bad idea to build such a grand glass building requiring high maintenance and operating costs. There is misallocation of resources, eg, the public area at the basement is crowded during peak periods, whereas the upper levels remain empty and underutilised at the Reference area. I hope that the space can be more properly allocated, such that there is a more balanced utilisation of space than the current configuration. The Children's Section could be brought to a different level. Also, there is a public request for the library to increase the limit on the number of children's books a person can borrow, without paying for the premium membership. The Media”
“Although I disagree with the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $25,532,770 for Head F ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $1,827,100 for Head F ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Column No : 738 Head W - Ministry of Transport”
“Clarification, Sir. The current Bill has served us well in the past, but apparently it has not served well because there have been complaints that Bills are passed through without any debate in Parliament, as two of the examples I quoted were not effectively debated. So what is the problem with us changing the practice so that we can actually make Parliament even more effective and the Bills are even more publicised by the media and more feedback can be gathered before it has been passed into law? If it is a good practice, we should change it.”
“Sir, my proposal is to amend the Standing Orders so that the Minister will speak and address the House upon the presentation of the Bill at the First Reading. This will allow Members, the media and the public to pick up the important points that the Minister wants to highlight. Public comments and effective feedback can then be sought by Members and the media before the Bill is read again at the Second Reading. This suggestion is just like what the Finance Minister had been doing with the Budget Speech all along, giving time for his ideas to be digested and feedback sought before it is debated. Such a practice will encourage more effective and focused debate at its Second Reading and not allowed the Bills to be constantly passed through without any Backbenchers speaking on it, just like what we have been saying of late. More importantly, Sir, members of the public would not be caught by surprise when some of the controversial Bills are passed through without their better understanding and Members of Parliament are accused of sleeping through the Bill and debate. I hope Mr Speaker will agree and institute this new practice for the good of our Parliament and everyone here as soon as possible.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head F of the Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, the current Parliament's practice is for the Minister to introduce a Bill, or Bills, or its amendments at the First Reading. He will then speak and explain his reasoning for the proposed Bill or amendments at the Second Reading, followed by comments from MPs before summing up to reply to any questions raised by the MPs. Sometimes, and often enough, Members, the press and the general public cannot grasp the essence of the proposed Bills presented and the important key features and highlight of the Bills and/or the amendments would be lost in the text. This is especially so if it comes in a thick stack of papers and is very technical in nature, which some Bills are. This past practice handicaps comprehensive debate and the gathering of effective feedback for the Minister and his Ministry. Recent Bills passed by Parliament, after the Second and Third Readings, without comprehensive debate nor feedback caused several controversies and unhappiness with the general public. One such Bill was the transfer of assets from the reserves to the statutory board without going through the President. The MOF had to come out and explain many times over several papers after the Bill was passed. Yet, the public is still unsatisfied about the clarification. Another was the appointment of a CEO for MUIS by the Minister for Muslim Affairs. There were a lot of unhappiness and allegations that this Bill was bulldozed through by the Minister without much debate and consultation with the community and no opportunity for them to provide effective feedback before the Bill was passed into law.”
“Thank you, Sir. My experience and research tell me that that is not the case. We are all tied down, depending on the terms of contract for the services. If you do not accept the terms of contract by the service provider, you have to pay a very high price. That is why I terminated my Singnet account because they refused to give me a monthly contract but a minimum contract of one year, which I disagreed. So we are being tied down. That is something that I want to clarify with the Minister.”
“Sir, a supplementary question for the Minister regarding the ultra high-speed broadband service. What is the estimated speed that we are looking at and at what cost? Also, will consumers be tied down with two to three years' contract with the service providers once the system is up, like what we are experiencing now? Consumers are all tied down? Are we expected to be tied down?”
“Sir, now that a lot of poultry are affected in many other countries, should citizens make a conscious effort to avoid chickens and ducks in the meantime?”
“Sir, today's Straits Times has an article advising the shut-down of businesses and Government in the event of a pandemic when the virus is able to transfer to humans. Is the Government prepared for such a contingency to shut-down the whole Government, all systems and all companies in the event of such a pandemic? Are we prepared for this? What are the likely consequences of such a shut-down?”
“Sir, anecdotal evidence from many people I talked to tells me that this is a very strong virus, and people are suffering very badly from the cough. It seems that this is something different. Is there a special medicine for this? Or is it something that normal medicine is able to cure the flu?”
“Sir, the ICA had collected immigration and travel pattern data over many years for the Causeway and Tuas checkpoints. They should be able to know by now when and where the peak periods of the week and the peak seasons of the year are. The ICA officers should be able to use these past travel pattern data to do advance planning of manpower deployment during these expected peak periods, so as to reduce the long jams at these checkpoints during all these super peak periods. Yet, nothing was done in these areas. ICA continues to be caught by surprise by these peak arrivals during festive seasons, and I think they are not doing their job well. Despite the need for tighter security to prevent illegal entries at the checkpoints, the ICA also needs to do a good and fast job clearing the travellers fast. I hope the Minister can take a closer look into this matter and resolve the problems as soon as possible. It is with great fear and apprehension for anyone to drive into and out of Malaysia during festive seasons. They are all afraid of being caught by these massive jams.”
“Is the disclosure in terms of the returns or the total assets? If she cannot tell us what is the rate of return, at least tell us what are the assets at this point.”
“Sir, the Minister of State, Mrs Lim, did not address my question in her answer. If she cannot tell us what is the investment return, can she at least inform us how much our assets have actually grown up to now? How many hundreds of billions in our assets are we talking about at this point of time?”
“Sir, the Budget book tells us that the Government has set aside $85.3 million to organise the IMF and World Bank meetings. That sounds like a lot of money for organising the IMF/World Bank meetings that last for a few days compared to some of the help schemes, like the $50 million Opportunity Funds to provide greater learning opportunities for our students. Are we being extravagant in such expenses whilst stingy with our own citizens' future? What is the expected return on this investment economically in terms of branding, reputation or goodwill-wise? What kind of indicators will be used to assess the returns on investment? Finally, how is this amount of spending compared to other countries that have hosted the IMF/World Bank meetings in the last five years? Are we at the top of this spending heap? Investments My second cut is on investments. I also understand from the Budget book that the investment expenses went up from $613 million in FY 2004 to $1.29 billion in FY 2005, and is expected to rise further to $1.38 billion in FY 2006. Sir, what kind of rise in our higher asset base from FY 2005 to FY 2006? What are we talking about that can cause such a large jump of more than 100% in our investment expenses? Are the MOF officers being taken for a ride with high-churning activities in the investment market by traders, thus leading to high trading volume and high expense cost? It is incredible to learn of such high expense from our stable Government reserves. What is our current total reserve asset and what is the total investment returns over the last five years? I think we are paying too high an expense ratio and not getting satisfactory returns from our investments. Temasek Holdings and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation”
“Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister has not answered my question. Are we going to see more than the nine days for campaigning?”
“Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister has not answered my question. When is Nomination Day and how many days of campaigning are being assigned?”
“Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister has not replied to my question.”
“Sir, I know the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee is working hard now, that the Report will be out soon, and that the GE will be around early June 2006. This is my guess. It is only three to four months away. The Prime Minister and his team must have already decided on the nomination and the polling dates by now. I believe that the Prime Minister cannot be still undecided at this point of time. Sir, can the Prime Minister please tell us exactly which day is Nomination Day, and how many days of campaigning has been assigned? Also, can we have the assurance that there will be at least three months between the publication of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee's Report and the dissolution of Parliament? Secondly, Sir, as explained in the Budget debate, I hope the Prime Minister can heed the numerous citizens' request to reduce the GRC size back to the 1988 proposal of a three-man team each. This will increase the number of SMC to 42, allowing at least 50% of our citizens to experience voting in this general election. If the Prime Minister disagrees to this request, I hope he can give good justification and still get the people's genuine support.”
“I want to thank the Prime Minister for his comprehensive reply. Can I clarify with him about his comments on the funding of the Budget. Which chapter and clause in the Singapore Constitution states that all land sale proceeds go immediately into the national reserves and should not be reflected in the operating budget? I think it is the Government's choice of accounting practice and not a constitutional requirement. Can the Prime Minister clarify on this?”