Tan Soo Khoon
Singapore
“May I just seek your indulgence and the Ministers for me to raise a little clarification? I raised the point about the absence of a medical officer at Changi Naval Base when the incident at sea happened last year.”
“We all look forward to its people obtaining their legitimate right to democracy and freedom, though I must add here that it should not necessarily be the kind we now see in some other Southeast Asian countries where democracy, unfortunately, has been taken to mean fluctuating between people demonstrating on the streets and the threat of m…”
“The West is unable to accept that it will soon be overtaken by the emergence of Asian powerhouses and fears that it will become irrelevant in an increasingly globalised world it refused to wake up to.”
“They are committed to Singapore and they want to do their National Service, but they just want MINDEF to exercise flexibility when they request for deferments. Mr Speaker, recently, MINDEF granted a deferment of three months to one Mr Stanley Aw to allow him to participate in the Singapore finals of the World Cyber Games.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this issue of the revenue pooling between the two airlines of Singapore and Malaysia is not a new issue. But can I ask why is it that in this era of competition and trade liberalisation, we are still allowing the two airlines to have this archaic policy of revenue sharing which, in fact, results in higher prices for trave…”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, does the Minister of State believe that it is in the interest oftravellers between the two countries to allow what is essentially a cartel made up of MAS and SIA to exist?”
The complete record
Every one of 656 lines we hold for Tan Soo Khoon, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 14.
“Sir, last year 327 persons were killed on our roads. This figure represents a substantial increase over the figure of 257 in 1983. In other words, Sir, there is the rate of about one person dying on our roads per day. Sir, 70% of these people who died on our roads were pedestrians and motorcyclists, including scooterists and their pillion riders. My question is, are we doing enough to solve this problem of death on our roads? This problem has been raised in this House year after year, and I feel that the statistics show that we are, in fact, fighting an uphill battle. I would like to know whether the message is getting across to road users, in particular, to two categories of road users, namely, the old as well as children. My next point refers to the expressways on our island, Sir, a lot of accidents still occur on our expressway, and this I can attribute to factors such as poor lane discipline on the part of motorists, road hogging, failure to give way, inconsiderate driving, even stopping and parking along our expressways. Sir, about two years ago when this subject was raised in this House, the then Minister for Home Affairs informed us that a special Expressway Patrol Unit would be formed to monitor and to enforce the rules of the expressway. I would like to know whether this unit has, in fact, been formed. Sir, I read not long ago about the installation of electronic devices linked to high speed cameras at signalized junctions to monitor motorists who beat traffic lights. May I know from the Minister how reliable such electronic devices are and whether these have, in fact, been installed. Sir, my next point refers again to the people who drive heavy vehicles on our roads. In 1983 five drivers or passengers of heavy vehicles were killed.”
“Sir, as a further incentive, will the Minister of State not consider giving a discount on water rates for households which take steps to conserve the use of water? BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I will send this suggestion to the PUB. But I would say that the cost of water for households is already very cheap, because the first 15 cubic metres is charged at 42 cents per cubic metre, and most households use less than that. The scope for discounts is not very large.”
“Sir, is the Hon. Minister aware that there is a distinction between companies which are formed and companies which actually commence business? If so, of the 4,601 new companies which were formed last year, how many have actually commenced business?”
“And it also has the effect of making professional people reluctant to mount rescue operations of companies which are in bad shape, because these people would be running very high risks and they would not like to have their future affected. Sir, what was not apparent at that time and which has now come about is that professional people, like lawyers, company secretaries and accountants, who set up companies for their clients as a matter of expediency, are now also affected and they are very reluctant to form companies. What you get nowadays is a lot of office boys and secretaries all becoming directors as well. Sir, some of the problems were not too apparent at the time when we passed these laws or the magnitude of the problems was not foreseen. I feel that it is not too early to suggest to the Minister to review this particular section of the Act.”
“Yes, Sir, I will speak on my amendment No. (8)* now. Sir, last year, the House passed a series of amendments to the Companies Act. One of the sections, section 149 of the new Act, has stirred up much controversy. This particular section has the effect of restraining directors of companies that have been liquidated due to insolvency. Quite specifically, Sir, section 149 states that a director of two companies which are insolvent and are liquidated within a period of five years is not eligible to be a director of a company again. What is more irksome is that a director who has resigned less than three years before one of these companies became insolvent would still be liable to the same penalty under this particular section of the Companies Act. Sir, when the Amendment Bill went through its Third Reading last year, the Second Minister for Law mentioned that this particular section was to safeguard the public and, in particular, creditors, against persons who are unfit to manage the affairs of companies which are companies with limited liabilities and who have the habit of running away and leaving behind a trail of creditors. This particular section was, in fact, aimed at the unscrupulous and irresponsible director but it did not distinguish between such persons and those honest and fit ones, whose companies fail as a result of, what I would call, normal business failures or through no fault of their own When the Bill went through its Third Reading in June last year, the Member for Rochore gave illustrations of how this could arise. For instance, a director of a subsidiary company and its holding company. If the subsidiary company became insolvent, and this affected the fortunes of the holding company, at one stroke the director would not be able to do a new business.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the point raised by the Member for Whampoa about problems faced by members of the public who deal with civil servants, particularly those who are dealing with matters over the counter. Frequently, I do get complaints from members of the public that those civil servants at the counters are not too helpful, and it often happens that when inquiries are made at counters, passing the buck is a very common thing. I would like to find out from the Minister whether it would be possible to introduce a system of asking our civil servants who deal with members of the public to wear name tags, as is done in Malaysia. I think this might help to some extent to solve all these difficulties.”
“Sir, the Hon. Minister has not responded to my complaint about the insensitivity of architects to problems in the older housing estates, and to my suggestion that perhaps they should spend some time with the residents to understand their problems better. On this problem of older estates, can I also ask the Minister whether there is a possibility for him to review the levy which is being imposed on resale of old flats. As we all know, the levy was imposed out of envy by people who asked why people should profit from a resale.”
“Sir, point of clarification. I was not complaining so much about cockroaches. I was using that just to illustrate my point that today we seem to have a lot of "trigger-happy" enforcement officers going round issuing summons on very minor offences. My point is that if we intend to mete out justice, if we intend to keep law and order, then it must be seen to be done with an even hand. Cockroaches are just an example.”
“The complainant came to me and told me that the cockroach, in fact, came from the floor. So who is to blame? In the first place, cockroaches should not have been there, in the market or in the hawker centre. And if there were cockroaches around, who is to blame? Not the hawkers. I think the HDB has failed to keep the place clean. That is why there are so many cockroaches around. But instead, these poor hawkers are getting summons for little things,like cockroaches, which are really provided by the HDB.”
“When they get the feel, hopefully the architects would have more sensitivity and sensibility when they draw up their plans. Otherwise, every time the HDB Area Office points a finger at the architects, we do not know who they are. They are all in the MND building, and we never see them on the ground. I think we should make them stay in our housing estates for a certain period a year, in the same way we make our reservists go for in-camp training. I think the architects should do their "in-camp training" in the housing estates. I also would like to touch on the high-handedness of some of the enforcement officers and hawker liaison officers in the housing estates. It appears to me that some officers are either over-zealous or over-enthusiastic in their work. Some of these people are very young and so, suddenly armed with the power to issue summons, they go round with a whole book of tickets and they just issue summons without sympathy or consideration for the plight of some of the people. Let me give you an example. I have a resident who is a diabetic. He was walking down a flight of steps and, because he was a diabetic, he felt drowsy at certain times. At that moment in question, he was drowsy, he slipped and fell, and he dropped the cigarette he was holding in his hand. Would you believe it, the enforcement officer was right there? He gave him a summons and said, "You are littering." I would have expected the officer to help the man up from his fall but instead he got a summons. I had another complaint the other day from a chicken rice seller in my constituency. It was his bad luck that one of his patrons happened to be an enforcement officer who ate his chicken rice. At the end of the meal, he told him that he found a cockroach in his rice.”
“" And the Area Office, just like the Minister, promises to look into it, and there is always a long "looking into" period. But after a while nothing happens. For instance, the landscaping problem was brought up yesterday. I have the same complaint in my constituency too. These little hills which the Member described - these are very kind words - I call them "mounds" and my shopkeepers tell me that they are "tombs" or "graveyards." Suddenly these "graveyards" appear in front of the shops, Of course, they are not happy. I have brought this point up with the Area Office many times. I brought it up months ago and, as usual, the answer is, "We will look into it." But nothing happens. So people generally get angry after a while. I will give you another instance of long delays. In one of my markets, there is a row of lock-up stalls. Then, one day, contractors came in and in the little space in front of these stalls, they erected new lockup stalls. By doing so, a very small, narrow passage way was left between the old stalls and the new stalls. The people who were running the old stalls complain, "Oh, you put up new stalls right in front of mine. It is bad feng shui. So I brought up this complaint. Again, the reply was that the architects had decided and there was nothing they could do. And it took me practically half a year before the reply came and the architects agreed to knock down some of these new stalls. It is a waste of money. I wonder if the architects, in fact, did come down to the market and see the situation themselves before drawing up the plans and giving out the contracts. I would suggest that we ask our HDB architects to stay in our housing estates at least for one month in the year so that they will know how the people in our estates live.”
“But my complaint is that it is quite a disappointment to see what you get after waiting for so many years. What the HDB has fixed is just a tiny strip of aluminium flashing outside the rear window, which is probably about a few centimetres wide. I think it is a waste of good money because these flashings are supposed to prevent rain water from coming into the kitchen. The residents who have had these flashings fixed behind their apartments are complaining that these do not serve much purpose because they are just tiny metal strips which do not stop the rain from coming in. Sir, these are complaints pertaining to old housing estates like mine. I think it is about time that the HDB seriously reviewed the situation in a lot of the old housing estates, instead of just letting them degenerate, and taking steps on an ad hoc basis, or when complaints are raised. It might be worthwhile for the HDB to set up a unit to study the general condition of all the old estates and see what can be done. The Member for Ayer Rajah raised quite a few points yesterday about conditions in the old estates. For example, we have heard people complaining about the lifts, the quality of the lifts, even the size of the lifts is a subject of much criticism. The Member for Ayer Rajah said that old people and the sick had problems getting into the small little lifts which were installed many years ago. I wonder if the Minister has ever seen dead bodies being carried upright in the small little lifts. 12.45 pm I would also like to make a suggestion. Most of the time when MPs complain to the Area Offices about bad conditions of the estate and request for steps to be taken to do certain repairs, there is always a long delay because the Area Office normally tells us, "We have to refer to the architects.”
“As usual, I have a long list of complaints for the Minister. So I shall be very fast in order to beat the clock. Sir, first of all, aluminium windows. One year ago I requested that the old estates would like to have aluminium windows installed in place of the original steel casement windows, The Minister, in reply to me, agreed to this, but unfortunately it took the HDB a year to respond. Only six days ago the guidelines came out. I think they were trying to pre-empt me, but it just goes to show how bureaucratic the HDB can be on matters which are of such importance. I expressed that there was always the danger of old windows falling off and landing on somebody's head, but apparently this warning was not taken seriously and the HDB took a whole year to issue the guidelines. Now the guidelines have come out, but one of the points raised by HDB is that flat owners who wish to change their windows have to submit plans to the Area Office for consideration. My question is, since all the windows to be changed are of a standard design for everybody, why make the flat owners submit the design? Can the HDB office not provide a standard design for everybody, so that anybody who wants to change a window can just go to the HDB office, pick up the design and give it to the contractor to get it done, instead of the other way round? Secondly, Sir, aluminium flashings at the rear windows of old flats. I requested for this, I think, as far back to the time when I first became a Member of this House, and in 1982 the HDB agreed to have these flashings fixed for the flats in my constituency. But again, after agreeing, nothing happened. It was not until I pressed for it last year that the Minister finally said the flashings would be installed. And they have already started fixing it.”
“So I would like to let you know not to worry too much because, if we both put our heads together, I think we should have no problem recognizing all of them.”
“Or as my friend has said, if they are late. If all of us are late, we will have to find a taxi somehow. Thirdly, Sir, if we allow taxi fares just to rise like that, are we not giving rise to another source of complaint from tourists that Singapore is indeed an expensive place? Is it to allow our taxi drivers to earn more? The taxi drivers have, in fact, been complaining of rising costs in the past years. And any gradual increase to allow them to earn more, I think, nobody would quarrel with. But what is happening? You intend to put up the diesel tax, which means to say, what you are giving with one hand, you are trying to take back with the other hand. Or is it to encourage our taxi drivers to drive for longer hours because there have been so many complaints of the so-called shortage of taxis. If that is the case, puffing up the tax on diesel is not going to help the situation very much. So when I read this, I find it is a very confusing picture. But one thing is certainly very clear - I smell the hand of the Ministry of Finance in this matter. Sir, I seem to have used more time than I have planned to at the beginning. Before I sit down, Sir, may I just take this opportunity to thank the Members of the House for having elected me as your Deputy. I shall endeavour to make myself worthy as your Deputy and I look forward to your advice and your guidance so that I may carry out my duties properly. Sir, you remarked, in this House at its sitting last Friday, that you had a problem recognizing the newcomers, and you pointed out quite correctly that 21 of them, like you, are wearing spectacles. Sir, you might like to know that I have also found something striking about the new-comers, and that is, about half a dozen of them, like me, are thinning on the top.”
“What are we trying to achieve by increasing the fares? Is it to discourage people from taking taxis? I read that the Government is making the assumption that each private car carries 1.7 persons and each taxi can carry 1.9 persons. I do not know how you can carry 1.7 or 1.9 persons. But I think it would be a very dangerous thing to treat both of these matters the same way, in terms of taxes. The taxi is a public con- venience. I know of people in the lower income group who have to use taxis, not because they love to travel in taxis but out of necessity. Hawkers, for instance, have to carry heavy things in taxis when they go to their stalls every morning. Because they cannot afford to own a car, they have to use taxis. Poor people, again, Sir, have to use taxis in emergencies. If they want to go to hospital, if they want to go and see the doctor when they are ill, they have to take a taxi. They cannot wait for the bus to come around. An hon. Member: Or if they are late.”
“Even the alternatives such as the MRT is not yet ready. Of course, I do not agree with the suggestion by the Member for Potong Pasir that one of the ways to ease traffic congestion would be to raise speed limits so that everybody can drive faster and then the roads would not be so congested. I read the other day, Sir, that there is some thinking about bringing back the Singapore Grand Prix. Perhaps we could find a circuit in Potong Pasir and let the Member for Potong Pasir find out how thrilling and frightening fast driving can be. Coming back, Sir, to this matter of excessive taxation, again there is something which I find rather confusing and, again I read it in the newspapers - the proposed increase in taxi fares. Of course, I know some Members might say, "Do not depend too much on the newspaper report." But nowadays it seems that what appears in the newspapers has a funny way of becoming official policy in a matter of days. Sir, taxi licences are issued free of charge to those who want to drive. Taxi drivers who own NTUC Comfort taxis know that they receive subsidized loans to own their taxis. In both these instances we have made very good moves, and I think our taxi drivers should appreciate this fact. In Hong Kong the taxi licence has to be paid for in sums of as much as $200,000, and yet in Singapore when you want to drive a taxi you can have a licence to drive a taxi without having to pay the Government a single cent. That is a very commendable move. Not only can you drive a taxi, you own the taxi yourself, and you have very cheap loans to pay towards the ownership of such taxis. With this talk of increasing taxi fares and putting up the diesel tax, I am wondering what is really happening. Sir, these proposed increases can become a very explosive situation.”
“Now that times are so bad, all of us who have HDB shops in our constituencies know that the shopkeepers in our constituencies have been grumbling day in and day out how tough times are for them. The first thing they tell us is high rental. Can I ask whether the Government would seriously look into this matter and consider whether it is possible to alleviate the hardship of our shopkeepers by reviewing the rental policy? Sir, the result of all this has been that we have set into motion a situation of high cost and high overheads. Singapore has become a very expensive place. The tourists know how expensive we are. Of course, we had three million tourists last year, but figures can be deceiving at times. There were three million tourists but we know that the top spenders, the Japanese and the Indonesians, are not coming in in as great numbers as they used to be. These are the people who spend a lot of money. They now realize that Singapore is no more a shopping haven. When we publicize ourselves as a duty4ree place where you can buy goods very cheaply, a shopping paradise, I think we are only deceiving ourselves. In fact, we in Singapore today pay some of the highest forms of taxes in the world, duty-free status notwithstanding. The Member for Chong Boon was right when he said yesterday that too often we use the price mechanism, meaning taxes, to solve problems. The policy of taxation on cars, for instance, again, is something which has been talked about many times inside and outside this House, We use the price mechanism to ease traffic congestion when there could have been other means. Again, these have been expounded many times. Today we face the prospect of further increases, if newspaper reports are anything to go by.”
“I can see no rationale for continuing with this except that it is a very convenient tax, a very convenient revenue-raising measure for the Ministry of Finance. Another example is the levy on foreign construction workers. Now it stands at $200 per worker. It is going to be an additional $50 per worker every six months. This leads to increasing costs for our developers, and ultimately it means higher rents for our shopkeepers and our businessmen. I am glad the Minister for National Development is here today to listen. I said this before in this House and I intend to say it again. I believe that much of the evil which is happening today has its roots in his Ministry. Till this day, I can never understand the exorbitant development charges. Just two days ago I read in the newspapers that somebody wanted to put up a building and the development charge was as much as 50% of the building cost. So he says it is better not to put it up. Sir, it is no secret that the very high development charges on building development in the past has led to very high building costs and this has translated to very high rentals for businessmen. Sir, I really cannot understand what is the policy of the Ministry of National Development. Now we hear that the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has decided to stop selling land because property prices are not as high as what the properties could fetch in the days of the boom. What is the rationale? If prices have dropped, why can we not sell some of these properties so that we could all and up with cheaper housing, cheaper buildings, cheaper shops? Increase in HDB shop rentals. Sir, this was a big issue before us a few years ago. The PAP MPs made representation to the Minister. We debated this matter but still the increases were implemented.”
“Sir, I am grateful for the clarification given, even though I do not agree with it. I seem to have started something again. Sir, as I was saying, Government must not seem to be too defensive in a situation like this and it must be seen to take positive steps. The Prime Minister has said in his New Year Message that one of the ways in which we could stay trim and fit and continue in business and be competitive would be to reduce our overheads. Sir, I agree with this statement. But I am just wondering whether the Government could not follow what the Prime Minister has advocated by taking steps to reduce overheads for the businessmen. Because many of today's high overheads have come about because of Government action. Let me elaborate. CPF contributions by employers and by employees. We all know that contributions have been rising very fast over the years until today it is 25% of salaries from the employer and 25% deduction from employee's salary. So for the employee, it means a severe deduction in the take-home pay, and for the employer it means a very heavy burden. Skills Development Fund. This has been already elaborated many times by pre- vious speakers. I do not intend to go into detail. But we all know that around $500 million has been collected by the SDF since 1979 but less than $100 million has been given out. And we heard yesterday that most of the money which has been given out has gone to all the big companies, all the multi-nationals. And guess who are the first to fire our workers and pack up and go when times turn bad? Payroll tax. Again, Sir, this is something which has been raised many times. It was implemented when we were part of Malaysia. The Malaysian government has already scrapped this.”
“What people want to see now is for the Government to take action. I can even give you further examples of why I think that sometimes the Government is not doing anything or being too defensive. Sir, a few countries around us impose exit taxes on their citizens travelling abroad. In spite of what we say, there is no doubt that these measures were, in fact, directed against their citizens coming to Singapore because they knew that their people were spending a lot of money here. There was the instance recently of two million-odd oranges stuck at the Johore customs. And again recently, there was this plucky businessman from Japan who decided to import oil from us. He could get it cheaper and he could sell it cheaper in Japan and he could buck the whole system, but he was stopped by his government. Sir, all these are protectionistic measures by the countries involved. But there was not even a whimper of protest from our Government. In fact, if I remember correctly, one or two Ministers even sounded apologetic, saying, "Well, these countries have their own internal problems and let's leave it at that." But what about our people's problems - their fortunes and their livelihood are being threatened by actions which go against the very principles of free trade which our Government so fondly expounds time and again? I do not expect the Government to make a big hue and cry over such matters. I understand the need for good government-to-government relationship. But I would think that at least a symbolic gesture on the part of our Government could have indicated to our people where our Government stood at times like this. 12.34 pm”
“Sir, I was quite taken aback the other day when I read in the newspapers of the new Minister for Trade and Industry saying that retrenchment and levelling off of economic activity is not unusual and that failures are part of the economic scene. Then, yesterday, his Minister of State said in the Straits Times that our economy is not that gloomy after all. Sir, I do not know if they are just trying to put a bit of bright spots into a very dark picture. They are trying to cheer us up. But I see the danger in making this kind of statement because, if they continue like this, we might tend to gloss over the real situation. I can assure both of them and the Government that today the real situation in Singapore is really very bad, worse than ever before. It is easy for Ministers to give an armchair view of the situation and say, "Well, don't worry, everything is all right." But try telling the couple of thousand workers who have just lost their jobs during the Chinese New Year holidays. Tell them that it is all part of the economic scene and let us see what they say. We used to tell ourselves that if people were retrenched there was nothing to worry about because they would find jobs easily the next day. So, nothing to worry about. But today, Sir, I am not so sure whether this is true or not. If you have read this morning's newspapers, you will find that there were 4,700 people queuing up for 400 jobs at a new hotel to be opened. Does this not tell us something? Are we not taking the situation seriously enough? Try telling the owners of the 400-odd companies that went bust last year that it is not that gloomy and see what they say. Sir, what I am trying to say is that the Government must not be too defensive about the situation.”
“Sir, being your Deputy, I suppose I have to read your thinking. Sir, I have listened to the speeches in this House for the last few days and I must say that there certainly has been no lack of feedback. In fact, there never has been any lack of feedback in this House. MPs have always spoken up. What I suspect has gone wrong is that the Government has not been listening or refuses to listen. This time, Sir, the voices have been very clear, very loud. I know because I heard lots of it from my corner, and I hope the Government will listen and take appropriate action because this time if it still refuses to listen, then I suppose it must be pretty deaf. Sir, the President has stated quite clearly that the Government can only create the pre-conditions for fruitful efforts by our people. In fact, by and large, Government policy has been to create such conditions. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for us to make such rapid economic progress in the last 25 years which is a feat unparalleled anywhere else in the world. But what I suspect is that some of these conditions or some of these policies which have been introduced years ago, and which were good or which served their objectives at the time they were introduced, have outlived their usefulness. And what Government has to do now is to take steps to modify some of these policies or even to remove some of these policies so that they are more fitting with the times. In fact, I might add that some of the policies today, some of the conditions which are set by Government, are not conducive to a healthy economy.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, after listening to three days of debate, quite a number of the points one intended to cover have been covered by the previous speakers and, may I add, rather eloquently in this debate. So what- I had originally intended as a long discourse lasting 45 minutes, you might be pleased to hear, Sir, has now been reduced to a very short speech, and I shall confine myself to specifics.”
“Supplementary question, Sir. After listening to the Minister, I wish I had waited a bit longer! Now that the Government has entered the marriage broking business, would it not consider extending this service to graduates in the private sector?”
“And what will you have in the end, Sir, if people are forced to work in such a manner? You will end up with a work force of older people who are reluctant workers. They are not eager workers, not eager to continue working to earn more income for their families but merely because they have no other way out but to work until the age of 60 or 65 when they can withdraw their CPF. I am sure the Committee would have looked into other means of how to entice people to work after the age of 55. Perhaps it is between employers and unions to see if salaries could be made more attractive to draw back older people to the work force. Perhaps jobs can be modified and can be made more suitable to suit the mental and the physical capability of our senior citizens at the age of 55 or 60.”
“Again, here, there is a wrong assumption on the part of the Committee that if a person is allowed to withdraw his money at the age of 55, then there is no incentive for him to continue working; after all, he has his retirement benefits. This is a wrong assumption as shown in the Report because in 1981 as many as 3,000 people who attained the age of 55 years continued to work. And these 3,000 people chose to work with their same employer at lgwer salaries than what they were earning before the age of 55. Likewise, Sir, for those who attained the age of 60 years, as many as 1,500 persons continued to work with the same employer in spite of lower salaries. For these people who have chosen to work, it would be wrong to assume that by simply dragging the withdrawal age of CPF they will continue to work on. They continue to work for various reasons. They need to support their families, They feel they are still capable of working and contributing to the economy. And, I think, for the Committee to recommend that in order to encourage people to work after the age of 55 we must hold back their CPF, Sir, this is amounting to blackmailing people to continue to work. An hon. Member: Hear, hear!”
“I would not be surprised, Sir, if one day the Minister for Trade and Industry were to come to this House and inform us that all of us have to contribute X per cent of our salaries to the CPF, and from there to make it easier for the PUB to just deduct it from this account and all your PUB bills will be settled through the CPF. I think we have to draw a line and put a stop to what extent we can use the CPF. I quite agree with the Member for Rochore who told us in this House last Friday that there are civil servants who make up this Committee. To the civil servants, CPF is not as vital. They have their pensions. They have their gratuity. And I will go even one step further today, Sir, to ask the Minister to let us know how many members of his Committee have, in fact, collected their CPF already. Sir, my point here today is this: let us not deny our workers the fruits of their labour. The other Members have already said how they have looked forward to receiving this bonanza at the age of 55, what are the various uses CPF members apply their funds to. Let us not deny this right to them. We made a promise to allow them to withdraw when they reach the age of 55, and this is a sacred promise which, I think, we have to keep. We cannot just allow this to happen because in future there will be nothing to stop a future Minister for Health or future Ministers of whatever portfolio to come to this House and evoke the CPF, and to ask this House to approve that CPF payments be delayed for the convenience of Government. Sir, I now move to another issue, which is employment of people after the age of 55.”
“Sir, I feel that sometimes we are over-protecting our citizens. We are always telling them that they have got to learn to stand on their two feet and they cannot rely all the time on Government to provide for them from cradle to grave. And yet we are told here in this Report that many do not have the expertise to invest or to manage large capital funds. Sir, we all do make mistakes. Even the Government can make mistakes. Have we all too soon forgotten the issue of Granite House in London when an investment of o22 million became less than o10 million overnight? I am therefore not so sure if we can really say that our citizens do not have the expertise to invest and manage such large funds when the Government can also make mistakes. And what makes the Committee so sure that if a person is unable to manage his CPF funds at the age of 55, that he can do so when he arrives at the age of 65? Personally, Sir, I feel that by the time I am 65, I might be more senile, senile in mind and in body because, at 65, I think I would have lost or diminished my mental capacity to make decisions involving such large sums of money. I would also have lost the capacity in body to have, what you might call, a last fling in life. So today, Sir, CPF is used as a convenient tool for Government. CPF has been evoked for Medisave, for special accounts. When an employer contributes to the Skills Development Fund, you even make payment to the CPF Board. When you pay your payroll tax, the money also goes to the CPF Board. What is the CPF then? Has it not lost its original objective to cater for security in old age? It appears to me, Sir, today with all these recommendations, the CPF is ending up not as the Central Provident Fund but the Collection and Payment of Funds for the Government.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, as I read through the Report of the Committee on the Problems of the Aged, I felt that the Committee had gone through all the problems and the issues with a telescope. But as I arrived at Chapter 3, which is the chapter on financial security, I could not help but feel that one or two lenses must have dropped and the whole telescope had gone out of focus. Sir, much has already been said by my fellow Backbenchers about the issue regarding raising the withdrawal age of CPF and I would like to add on to it. In fact, I can foresee what the Minister would tell us in his reply already because he has lamented on the fact that most of us or everyone tends to talk about this issue and detract from the other issues of the Report. But then he should know that anything that hits the pockets of Singaporeans is bound to evoke an outcry and nothing else would really matter. Sir, as the Member for Thomson has said, according to the Report many people are known to have lost their savings overnight through speculation. And like the Member for Thomson and the Member for Jalan Kayu, I would be interested in finding out from the Minister just really how many people have been involved. How many people have lost their money through speculation or through wrong decisions? Give us the statistics. Otherwise, Sir, I feel that this is merely a sweeping statement in the Report, put in as an attempt to lend credence to the proposal. I do not believe, Sir, that there are that many people who have been in such a situation. If at all there are any, it must be a minority. And should the majority of Singaporeans be made to pay and to suffer for the sins and the ills of the minority by having their CPF funds held back for another five or 10 years?”
“In the past, the HDB always told us, "You've got to change into the original kind of windows because externally all windows have got to look the same." But nowadays it is possible to replace them with the aluminium type of window which still looks like the original design. It would not look different from the rest of the steel casement windows. The HDB has so far not agreed to this proposal. I wonder why this is so because aluminium windows are more practical. They do not corrode as fast as the steel casement windows. And again I must ask for a decision quickly because many of the windows are corroded so badly that I think some of them are liable to drop off and land on somebody's head one of these days. So before some disaster occurs, I hope the Minister could accept what I consider a rather sensible solution. 4.15 pm”
“As a result of this, the trucks from the Ministry of the Environment are unable to drive into the bin centre and collect the rubbish. Therefore, rubbish has to be carried out and loaded on to the trucks. As a result of this, rubbish drops and when they wash the bin centre the dirty water flows out of the bin centre and alongside the drains. This occurs everyday. For years it has been going on like this. Residents have been complaining. And really the only thing to do is to do something to the floor of the bin centre. This matter has been brought up and nothing has been done. Even when the Hon. Minister of Defence and Second Minister for Health visited my constituency last April, this matter was brought up. In fact, the HDB did reply to him saying that it was looking into the possibility of carrying out improvement work to the bin compound so as to reduce the smell nuisance. Again, Sir, that was one year ago and every time we approach the HDB, they tell us, "Our architects and structural engineers are so busy. They are involved in housing programmes. Really, could you just wait a while?" And each time they assured us that they would look into the problem as soon as possible. Sir, this matter has been going on for years, and I think it is high time the Minister gave me a definite answer when he is going to rectify the bin compound. Sir, the last issue I wish to raise concerns the steel casement windows which are fined to all the windows in old estates like mine. Many of these windows have corroded over the years. A lot of residents want to replace these but with aluminium type windows, not sliding windows but casement windows made of aluminium anodized to look like steel.”
“Sir, I intend to speak on three specific matters. My constituency is pan of an old housing estate. Some of the flats were built about two decades ago and inevitably there are many problems facing the flats and the flat dwellers. The first problem I refer to is the request of residents to provide aluminium flashings above the kitchen casement windows so as to prevent rain from seeping into the kitchen. Sir, this request has been put to the HDB quite a number of times and in November 1982, the HDB responded saying that they had agreed to provide the aluminium flashings above the kitchen casement windows of the flats in Queenstown Neighbourhood 4. Provision of these flashings to the flats will be carried out when the flats are due for repairs and redecoration. Following this letter in early 1983, the HDB Area Office informed us that the flashings would definitely be installed and they gave in their letter a programme which showed that different blocks would be fined with these flashings from 1983 through 1984 until 1985. Sir, 1983 has come and gone and the first flashing has yet to be put up. I would like to inquire from the Minister what is the reason for this delay and if something could be done to expedite this matter as we have already informed residents that this programme would be carried out. Sir, the second point I would like to raise concerns the rubbish bin centre outside the Mei Ling Street Market. Residents have for years been complaining about the nuisance of smell coming from this particular bin centre. I know that we cannot do much about smell coming from rubbish bin centre. But I think this particular centre needs special study. It has been constructed such that the floor of the bin centre is not at the same level as the road level.”
“Sir, I am satisfied and I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“But what I am most irked is that they did not want to respond way back in 1980 when we first pointed out the whole problem to them. What happened is that a lot of public funds have already been wasted to build this nice overhead bridge which is not really going to serve much purpose in the end.”
“That was in April 1980 and about four months later, in August, the PWD wrote back to say: 'Sorry for the delay in replying. Please be informed that traffic lights are not recommended as vehicles have no difficulty in coming out from Commonwealth Drive to Queensway.' Sir, I would not bother the House with all the details that followed after that. There were a lot of discussions. We also did surveys on our part to prove to the PWD that, in fact, traffic congestion did occur at the junction, particularly during the peak hours. For quite some time the PWD continued to insist that the traffic volume coming out from Commonwealth Drive was still very light and did not warrant the signalization of the junction. Then sometime in late 1981, they came to us and said: 'Queensway is now being widened into a three-lane dual carriage way. After conducting studies we think that it might be good to construct a pedestrian overhead bridge at the said location instead of a signalized pedestrian crossing.' That was in 1981 and the matter dragged on. We insisted that there should still be traffic lights. Finally, the overhead bridge was put up sometime last year. It was quite a pretty overhead bridge, the hew type with tiles and creepers dangling down the side. It must have been quite expensive. But what really surprised me was a letter which we finally received from the PWD in early November last year. Now they tell us that because the SBS is studying the re-routing of Service 61, the SBS has recommended that the PWD provide an opening on Queensway to allow the buses from Commonwealth Drive to turn right to Oueensway, which means to say, Sir, that we are going to get our signalized junction after all. That is after four years of fighting with them.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead TC-01 of the Main Estimates. Sir, the Public Works Department, in particular, the Roads Division, is in my opinion doing a marvellous job, providing us with a fantastic road system. However, I cannot help get away with the feeling that at times they are a bit insensitive to local community matters. I would like to relate to you a series of events which occurred in my constituency which would show to be a classic case of bureaucratic feet-dragging. In my constituency there is a road called Commonwealth Drive. This is a small road that leads into a major road, Queensway. Commonwealth Drive is the only outlet for motor vehicles going into Queensway to the city area. Way back in 1980, my community leaders requested the PWD that in view of the heavy traffic jam at this junction, it should turn this into a signalized junction. This was because the heavy traffic coming along Queensway all the time did not allow vehicles from the small road, Commonwealth Drive, to turn into Queensway. We also pointed out to the PWD that the advantage of a signalized junction would enable pedestrians to find it easier to cross the road at this junction, because at that time the pedestrians were frequently complaining that with so much traffic congestion, it was difficult to cross the road. We also told them that with a signalized junction, SBS Bus Service No. 61, which used to turn left into Queensway, made a U-turn round the old Queens Circus, then headed back into the direction of Alexandra Hospital, would find this advantageous because the bus service would then be able to turn directly from Commonwealth Drive and turn right into Queensway.”
“Sir, may I suggest to the Minister that these leaflets educating people on how to use the expressways -”
“Sir, I thank the Minister and beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, one last point which he did not answer. Can I have his assurance that Government departments will not be hawking off imitation goods that have been seized?”
“I could not believe what I read in the newspapers. On the one hand, we know that our Government would certainly protect the interest of all manufacturers and honest businessmen, but here we have a Government department offering counterfeit goods to members of the public. Sir, I hope this was merely a departmental error, but certainly whoever was responsible should be severely reprimanded. I would like to ask the Minister what happens to the counterfeit goods which are seized in police raids. Can I have an assurance from the Minister that what has happened recently would not happen again?”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head Q be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead OD-03 of the Main Estimates. Sir, before I carry on, may I just declare that I have no particular interest in this matter except that I speak the views of a number of businessmen in Singapore. Sir, in moving this amendment, it is my intention to draw the attention of this House to the increasing number of people in Singapore engaged in the manufacturing or in the trading of imitation goods. Sir, by imitation goods, I refer to articles which bear the trade marks or trade names of well-known manufacturers who are the rightful owners of such names or trade marks. Such goods are generally of an inferior quality and sold at a lower price to deceive customers. Sir, I believe we have to protect Singapore's reputation as a manufacturing and commercial sector and such activities do not help us in any way. I do not want to give names but there are at least two other countries in the Far East which have gained rather dubious reputations for making counterfeit goods. You name it, they have it. If they do not have it, they will make it for you. Sir, in the past couple of years or so we have read in the press of the Police rounding up quite a number of such cases. People who have made imitation recordings, counterfeit jeans, counterfeit fashion wear, counterfeit leather belts, counterfeit watches. I would like to find out from the Minister whether the Police are properly equipped to deal with the increase in such crimes and whether our existing laws are adequate enough to give the Police the necessary powers. Sir, the other point I would like to raise is this. I refer recently to a press report which said that the Central Supplies Office sold imitation watches to the public.”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. 4.00 pm”
“Sir, the situation was already bad since 6 am throughout the whole island. Why was there a need to continue collecting revenue at certain gantry points? Why was the restriction lifted only at five gantry points? Mr Chua Sian Chin: Sir, the gantry points are manned only from 7.30 am. Before that, they are open. There is no question of the Police collecting money because, in any case, the Police do not get the money. As I said, they do not lift the restriction at gantry points just like that. It all depends on the situation. That is why the Police were deployed to monitor the situation to see whether flood waters were rising or failing. The other point is about SBC having a separate channel. I will take up the suggestion of the Member for Alexandra. But it would depend on whether the SBC would agree because it is now a statutory board.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister why on the 3rd March the CBD restrictions were lifted only at five gantry points and not at all the points leading to the CBD. I hope it is not typical of this Government that on a day like this with such an emergency, it would still be interested in collecting revenue from frustrated motorists. Second, I would like to make another suggestion to the Minister. Perhaps this can be taken up during the meetings that his Police Force would have with the SBC on how to deal with floods in future. In some countries there is what is known as a special roadusers' channel over the air waves. This is a special channel devoted strictly to broadcasts of warnings regarding traffic congestion and this could be useful not only in situations like this but it could also be used to educate motorists in road safety. Perhaps he would consider asking SBC to allocate a special roadusers' channel which would definitely be useful in emergencies.”
“Let me now come to my point of substance, Sir. I notice that the Drug Enforcement and Rehabilitation expenditure pro- jected for this year is in excess of $19 million. This compares with $25.6 million for the treatment of offenders, that is, those who are sent to the regular prisons. If one were to look at the establishment figures for drug rehabilitation, we get a figure of 463 as compared with 999 for the treatment of offenders. These figures seem to suggest to me that the problem of drug addiction is really growing at an alarming rate. Now, I do not have figures for 1983 to talk about here. Perhaps the Minister can tell this House something. But the SANA Report of 1982 gave us a figure in excess of 6,500 drug offenders at various stages of rehabilitation. Perhaps the Hon. Minister can inform this House what is the latest situation in this regard and whether the relapse rate in the treatment of drug offenders has improved in the last year or so.”
“First, as I have said earlier, policemen should be deployed further away from the flood prone areas or flood stricken areas to warn on-coming traffic. Secondly, we should have signs ready and they should be put up again far away from the flooded areas to warn the motorists and to detour them. Thirdly, Sir, the Police should enlist the help of the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation in giving more regular warnings to motorists over the air. Although I know that the SBC does not fall under this Ministry, I would like to say that when the floods came on 3rd March, the SBC gave warnings over the radio, but these were too few and far between. Most of the warnings came during the early hours of the morning when the programmes were transmitted live. But after 9.00 am, when pre-recorded programmes came on, announcements were only made in between programmes which means at half-hourly or hourly intervals and which, in my opinion, are too far in between. Dr Augustine Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to register a protest because I felt a little frustrated as I began researching on the Ministry of Home Affairs. Now, I do understand that some aspects of his Ministry's activities need to be kept secret or confidential. But I could not find any report on the Ministry of Home Affairs. I could not find a Police Report. I could not find any report on the Prisons. There is a publication called "Police Life", but that is all about the social activities of the Police Force. The SANA Report on drug addiction is one year late. The 1982 Report is available. I hope that perhaps the Minister can do something to help Members of this House better appreciate all the efforts that he is doing. We ask questions on this side of the Bench in order to help the Ministry to do better.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head 0 be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead QA-01 Object Group 1100 of the Main Estimates. Sir, two Saturdays ago Singapore experienced one of its worst floods in recent years brought about by a sudden heavy rain. As a result of the floods, traffic came to a standstill in many parts of the island. It is my opinion that the Police were not properly prepared to deal with the situation. In raising this amendment, it is my intention to find out where the Police were on the date the floods came and what can be done to deal with such an emergency in future. Sir, I had the experience myself of having to drive from MacPherson Road down to Orchard Road, a journey which would normally have taken me 15 minutes. But on the day in question it took me one hour and 15 minutes. On driving along Jalan Toa Payoh and the Pan Island Express Way at the exit into Stevens Road, there was a heavy line of motor vehicles. No policemen were in sight. Subsequently, I found that only a few policemen were posted at the flooded area in Stevens Road. Likewise, in other parts of Singapore the situation was the same. You would find that policemen were posted in the flooded areas themselves, some knee deep in water or ankle deep in water, unable to do much. The point here is that the policemen could have done a better service if they had been properly deployed further away from the flooded areas where they would have been in a better position to forewarn on-coming motorists and to divert them to accessible road. But this, however, was not done. Sir, I would like to suggest that the Police draw up a plan which can be implemented during an emergency like this. May I make a few suggestions.”
“Sir, in view of the assuring reply from the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Yes, my friend has just mentioned the Ministry of Education and I think they have to be congratulated for teaching our students how to adopt good habits in the school toilets, And if the Ministry of the Environment would like a theme for this national campaign, perhaps they would like to take a cue from a sign which I saw in a restaurant toilet not long ago. It goes like this: We aim to please. So please aim.”