Tang See Chim
Singapore
“In this Bill, Sir, 4 1/2 pages of the Bill out of 20 1/2 pages are devoted to the definition of terms used in the Bill and almost every other clause defines one term or another. Finally, Sir, what about the agent of the corrupt person, the go-between, the abettor of the crime?”
“Sir, maybe it was a misplaced metaphor. Maybe I should say a skunk smells just as evil by any other name. This is exactly the position. There is no point your telling us that conditions have now returned to normal when manufacturers are asked to pay a higher rental. They have to compete.”
“Sir, the Minister said that he has not increased rent but he just revalued the value of the land. This is exactly the same as increasing rent. I mean you call a rose a rose. You increase the rent whether you call it the rent or call it the base value of the property. To the manufacturer, it is still the same.”
“The Senior Parliamentary Secretary said that the rent demanded by the JTC is comparable to that for private premises outside. But I think the JTC has almost a monopoly on industrial property. I just do not see how the Senior Parliamentary Secretary could make such a comparison.”
“Sir, the difference is that once they get the entry visa, they will be allowed permanent residence in the United Kingdom. Whereas here, we may allow them to enter for two weeks and after that we will turf them out. Also, may I just take up this further point.”
“Sir, I just want to take up with the Minister on the regulations he read out from the booklet. Indeed, if all those conditions are met, the person will be given an entry clearance and then he will be able to enter the United Kingdom.”
The complete record
Every one of 698 lines we hold for Tang See Chim, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 13 of 14.
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Constitutional Commission was appointed in December 1965 with terms of reference the aim of which was to safeguard the rights and interests of minorities in the Republic of Singapore. After some eight months' study, the Commission presented its Report to the President in August 1966, and this Report was tabled before Parliament on 21st December, 1966. The Report is a unanimous Report. In it the Commission makes three main recommendations, and I shall today concern myself mainly with them. They are (1) the creation of a Council of State; (2) the establishment of the office of Ombudsman (or Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration); and (3) the entrenchment in the Constitution of certain provisions affecting the fundamental rights of the citizen. I shall take the last recommendation first. This relates to the manner of entrenchment of certain provisions in the Constitution. The Commission has recommended three methods of entrenchment, and these three methods are: (1) That any Bill altering the Constitution shall not be passed by Parliament until it is expressed to be one for amendment of the Constitution and contains no other provision. (2) That any Bill altering certain provisions of the Constitution shall not be passed by Parliament unless supported by a two-thirds majority vote in Parliament. (3) That any alteration to certain fundamental provisions of the Constitution, notably those relating to the right to elect the Government by secret ballot, shall not be passed unless by a two-thirds majority of all elected Members of Parliament and by a two-thirds majority of all the people qualified to vote at the referendum. Of the three methods recommended, the Government has accepted the second method of entrenchment.”
“Where the publication or distribution of any book would be in the interest of art, literature, science or learning and would be for the public good, the board should not classify it as undesirable.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am glad to note that the Minister for Culture and Social Affairs is appointing a board to advise him when appeals are made to him regarding the banning and detention of books. Perhaps he would like to put forward, for the consideration and guidance of this board, certain fundamental principles in deciding whether or not a book which has been banned on moral grounds should continue to be banned. While I realise the force of the argument in leaving the final decision to the Minister where publications are banned on political grounds, there is a lot to be said, where publications are banned on moral grounds, for the final decision to be made by a board of appeal. Perhaps the Minister would reconsider his decision and, if possible, at this late hour, amend the Bill. I think the board - be it an appeals board or just a board to advise the Minister - should take into consideration:- (1) The dominant effect of the book as a whole; (2) The literary or artistic merits, or the medical, legal, political, social or scientific character or importance of the book; (3) The persons, classes of persons or age groups for, or amongst whom the book is intended or is likely to be published, distributed, sold, exhibited, given, sent or delivered; (4) The price at which the book sells or is intended to be sold; (5) Whether any person is likely to be corrupted by reading the book and whether other persons are likely to benefit therefrom; (6) Whether the book displays an honest purpose and a seriousness of intention, or whether its contents are camouflaged, purely designed to render acceptable any indecent part of the book.”
“I shall say more about the constitution of this Board when we come to the Committee stage on clause 15 of the Bill. As far as legal liability goes, publishers are primarily responsible for the matter and the manner of publications. Printers, authors and booksellers should, therefore, be relieved of responsibility for undesirable publications. Booksellers cannot be expected to read all they sell, nor are they necessarily qualified to assess the legal propriety of a book, and they should only be penalised if they conduct their business in a way calculated to make a salacious appeal. Any form of censorship must take into account the fact that it is generally unwise to make publications attractive by labelling them forbidden fruit. As standards of education and discrimination rise, society itself would shun pornography and obscenity in publications which have no merit but sell in quantity.”
“Mr Speaker. Sir, legislation in the field of censorship is notoriously difficult, and so is the administration of the law. This is partly because no community is ever reasonably unanimous as to what it requires in the way of censorship, whether political or moral. The degree of frankness allowed in literature varies from place to place, from decade to decade, .and from person to person. I am particularly concerned here with publications classified as undesirable on moral grounds. However well laws against such publications, that is, obscene or pornographic publications, may be framed, they will always be open to abuse by reactionary authoritarianism, fanatical puritanism, official stupidity, and sensationalism of the Press. In the field of films, there is a safeguard against such abuses, as there is a Film Appeals Committee which can review, on appeal, films banned or cut by the Film Censor. But for books there is no Board of Appeal, although this Bill allows for an appeal to be made against the decision of the Controller of Publications to the Minister. The opportunity should now be taken to review and improve the legislation so that the final decision is not left to one man, but can be made by a Board of Appeal which should take into account particularly the special needs of libraries or restricted classes of persons who need to have available certain publications in the interest of scholarship or research. I, therefore, propose that a Board of Appeal be set up to review, on appeal, publications which have been declared morally undesirable by the Controller of Publications. It may also be advisable to give the Board power to review the categories of undesirable publications, that is, whether they are undesirable on political or on moral grounds.”
“A further supplementary question, Sir. Now that I have informed the Parliamentary Secretary that the literal translation of "Raffles Place" does mean Raffles being impolite or being abusive - "Lai fu si Buli", "Buli" meaning "impolite" - will he now consider taking steps to remedy the situation?”
“May I ask whether the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance is aware that the literal translation of "Raffles Place" is Raffles being abusive or impolite, and also whether he is taking steps to have that remedied?”
“Poultry and pigs, Mr Speaker, Sir. From this we can see how tremendous the pressure is on us. I recall a very expressive Chinese saving, Mr Speaker. Sir, and with your permission may I say it in Chinese? Chun jin che tu. It means an inch of gold for a foot of land. This precisely expresses the situation that is prevailing in Singapore. This Bill is therefore timely, it fills the gap in the land laws regarding the registration of titles to flats and, in so doing, it also facilitates the financing of flat purchasing. The referring of this Bill to a Select Committee where its detailed provisions can be further explored and interested bodies are enabled to make representations, is also welcomed. Sir, I support the Bill. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time. Resolved, "That the Bill be committed to a Select Committee consisting of Mr Speaker as Chairman and seven Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection." - [Mr Barker] ADJOURNMENT Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn to Monday, 13th March, 1967." - [Mr Barker] Adjourned accordingly at Twenty-three minutes to Four o'clock p.m. to Monday, 13th March, 1967.”
“The law on land, however, has not kept pace with modern development. We have inherited a law which was made at a time when land was plentiful and there was neither the economic nor the social pressure to build flats. This pressure, however, is present in Singapore to a tremendous extent. Space is at a premium, and for the better utilisation of space we in Singapore not only build flats for dwelling purposes (with which this Bill is mainly concerned), hut we also have schools in multi-storey structures. We have multi-storey car parks and flatted factories. I remember during an adjournment debate not so long ago on the resettlement of farmers, the Minister of Defence even suggested that the Government should consider flatted structures for the rearing of pigs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I welcome the introduction of this Bill. How to convey a flat and give the purchaser legal title has long been exercising the ingenuity of legal practitioners. As you yourself know, Mr Speaker, Sir, in common law the legal owner of land owns also the air space above the land. He also owns any permanent structure built upon the land. Ti is, therefore, difficult in common law to give legal title to the purchaser of a flat which occupies only some air space above a plot of land. There is no way of giving him legal title to that air space. Common law does not provide for that. Conveyancing lawyers have devised ways and means of overcoming this problem. To a large extent, they have been successful and flats have been bought and sold. But, as the Minister has just pointed out, because of certain common parts that are relative to the flats, the ownership of which is not anybody's, the maintenance of these common parts has generally not been taken care of. Consequently this is one of the discouragements for flat owners. There is the further discouragement that there is always the nagging doubt that the purchaser may not get a perfect title to the flat, especially when disaster happens and the flat is destroyed. This doubt, I think, can be clearly seen in the reluctance of building societies and insurance companies to finance the buying of flats, although these finance organisations are quite willing to finance the buying of other forms of landed property. Mr Speaker, Sir, flat dwelling is a phenomenon of our modern over-crowded cities. Most modern cities are experiencing a grave shortage of land. This is especially true of Singapore where the total land area is less than 250 square miles. We, therefore, build upwards instead of sideways.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, would the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance give us a breakdown of the figures of the inquiries for the year 1966? It is no use giving us the total figure for the year and then the average monthly figure, because the increase may be spread gradually over the period of a year, so that the increase in the first two months of 1967 may be part of a trend and may not, in fact, be due to the incentives announced in the Budget.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I am afraid I am totally at a loss as to what the intention of the Government is in the event of an increase in the price of soap. My friend, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance, said that he would put a duty on imports. What does he mean by that?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, is it true that Professor Tinckler is considering leaving Singapore shortly?”
“Mr Speaker, from what I have said just now, I think it follows that I must necessarily withdraw my amendment. Unfortunately, Mr Speaker, we cannot speak on any Head unless a reduction in the vote is moved, as this is under Standing Orders. I hope the editor of the newspaper concerned will not think that because we move to reduce the vote, we must criticise. Consequently, Mr Speaker, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $1,308,420 for Head 0810 ordered to stand part of the Estimates. Head 0901 -”
“Yes, it is my own, Mr Speaker, Sir. In spite of the editorial comment, as I have said, I am here to hand a bouquet to the Statistics Department. I think Members of Parliament must be able to discharge their duties without fear or favour, to criticise the Ministers where criticism is deserved, and to praise them where praise is due. In this case, for example, Mr Speaker, I think the Statistics Department is doing a marvellous job. I have a copy of the Monthly Digest of Statistics here with me, and from what I can see the collection of facts and figures appears to be quite comprehensive. This copy, by the way, Mr Speaker, is for November 1966. We are now only in the middle of December and we could get the November issue within the first half of the following month with facts and figures for as recent as September. I think this is pretty good going, especially in view of the fact that there appears to be a shortage of statisticians in the department. The only point that I can possibly raise is that the collection of industrial production statistics does not appear to be quite comprehensive. The department appears not to have caught up with the fast pace of industrialisation that is at present going on in Singapore. This, no doubt, will be remedied by the department in time. On the whole, Mr Speaker, Sir, as I have said, the Statistics Department is doing a marvellous job and I am here to pay a tribute to it.”
“Yes. I happen to read Chinese, Mr Speaker, Sir. I am not blowing my own trumpet, but this in effect would be the gist of the editorial.”
“Yes. The name of the newspaper concerned is the Sin Chew Jit Poh and the editorial appeared in this morning's edition.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head 0810 be reduced by $100. I am here, Mr Speaker, Sir, to hand a bouquet to the Statistics Department. This I do in spite of an editorial comment in a Chinese daily to the effect that Back-benchers spend more time in praising the Ministers than criticising them, and that there is no substance in what Back-benchers said.”
“I have the Monthly Digest of Statistics here.”
“They have not achieved a satisfactory quality in their manufactures. So, in my view, in order to instil further confidence in the manufacturers and to prospective investors and to arouse further interest in our local investments, I feel that the Minister himself should think of these manufacturers by opening up a better consumption market locally. He must take all possible steps to encourage our own people to use our own products, because if our own people do not use our own products, how can we expect foreigners to use our products? This is very inconsistent. That is the situation that I know so far. I am aware that some Government departments do not even encourage their officers to buy local goods. For example, some articles used in Government departments may be available locally. For instance, the towels, soap, and toilet paper in the Parliament House lavatories. Some towels are from China, soap from other countries, and even the toilet paper comes from a foreign land. These are very common items of local produce available here. If we do not encourage our own people to buy our own goods, how can we expect our manufacturers to sell abroad? Are we asking them to put up their shutters? So without encouraging consumption of local goods, we cannot encourage further investment in our local industries. So I hope the Minister will take positive and effective steps to encourage further consumption of local products. He can put up certain encouraging slogans and give more publicity to encourage our people to use local products. This will go a step further to assist our economic development and bring about a brighter future.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I just want to ask the Finance Minister to clarify a point that was left out in the Budget debate. In his speech he enumerated certain export incentives, and I just want to know, if he could tell the House, whether those export incentives apply to exports to West Malaysia and Malaysia as a whole. Madam Chan Choy Siong(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, from the Budget speech of the Finance Minister, we can see that we are able to achieve a balanced budget without tax increases. This, of course, is very encouraging to everybody in Singapore. However, we are still concerned about the increasing population in Singapore which, if unchecked, may go beyond our control. This population growth is getting bigger and bigger, and in order to consolidate our economic position, we have all agreed to rely a great deal on industrialisation in addition to entrepot trade. That means to say that we have to concentrate all our energies and efforts on developing our industries in the various fields. Mr Speaker, in this connection, I would like to request the Minister to give me some clarification in regard to the factories already set up in Singapore and their manufactures. What kind of protection is given to the manufactures of existing factories in Singapore? What steps has he taken to see that the products of these existing factories can have a place in a foreign market? At the same time, how is he going to ensure that there is local encouragement for the consumption of our own manufactures? Sir, we are encouraging a lot of investors to come here and set up factories. We are doing a lot in this respect. But after these investors have come here to invest, it appears that their manufactures have not reached the standard required.”
“So I would like the Minister to see to it that record books are placed in each and every ward of the hospitals so that patients are given the opportunity to say good things of the good nurses and make complaints against the bad nurses, and awards or punishment may be meted out accordingly. The Chairman: Madam Chan, if you want the Minister to reply, I am afraid you have to stop. Madam Chan Choy Siong(In Mandarin): Yes, I will try my best to shorten my speech as far as possible. In this way, the public servants in the hospitals will be better able to carry out their duties so that members of the public will have closer contact with them. This is what I am going to say in this respect.”
“But whether it is or not, we can still say that from the complaints made by Members of Parliament, nothing seems to have improved very much. I remember that the Member for Moulmein last year did make a complaint to the department concerned about the discourtesy of some nurses towards patients or other members of the public who sought help from the hospitals. At that time, I remember the Parliamentary Secretary replied that because the complaints from the public and patients were unspecified - no names were given, no descriptions of the nurses were given the department concerned was unable to take any action. So I hope the Ministry will pay attention to what I am going to say. My suggestion is whether some measures may be taken to give a number to each and every nurse in Singapore. In other words, something like the numbers shown on the police constables' uniforms. Say, in group one you can have "E" or "B" or other identification numbers which may be used on the nurses' uniforms. I do not think this will present any difficulty. If you have these identification numbers on the uniforms of nurses, then persons who want to make complaints against the culprits can take down the numbers for the purposes of record and make their complaints. This will enable the department concerned to take the necessary action against the culprits. At the same time, there is another point worthy of consideration. With the numbers shown on the uniforms, the nurses will realise that those who have made mistakes will be punished and those who are good will be praised by members of the public.”
“I am not moving. Madam Chan Choy Siong(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head 0701 be reduced by $100. Mr Speaker, the health services in Singapore are the best in the whole of South-East Asia. They are highly commendable. However, we must not say that they have no defects. Whenever we detect some defects, I hope the Minister will take steps to remedy them so that our health services will reach a stage of perfection as far as possible. 4.00 p.m. We all know and appreciate that the work in the hospitals, apart from that of the doctors, is passed over to the nurses and other attendants. Comparatively speaking, it is the nurses who are in close contact with the patients. Because of their illness, some patients are particularly grumpy. This is, of course, inevitable. The services performed by nurses are different from those performed by other public servants. In other words, when they have accepted their responsibility as nurses, they must appreciate their role which is quite extraordinary and more responsible than that of the ordinary public servant. They must pay special attention to their patients. The life of the patients depends on the nurses who must serve them carefully and patiently. But because of certain grumpy patients, some nurses cannot do their work in a kind or patient manner. Because of this, these patients are dissatisfied with their services. These nurses have not shown enough tolerance and kindness to the patients who, in turn, will make complaints, sometimes to Members of Parliament and sometimes to other departments of Government. Of course, we do not say for a moment that this situation is widespread. It is not.”
“On the question of primary education, Sir, it is noted that it is not compulsory, as was remarked by the Minister for Health. Perhaps the Minister for Education will note this and possibly will also introduce compulsory primary education. In a developing society, Mr Speaker, Sir, there is not only the question of general education, but also the question of technical education to be considered. I am glad to note in the Finance Minister's Budget Speech that steps are being taken to set up technical and vocational schools. I would like to inquire of the Education Minister whether steps are being taken to co-ordinate the education system in this respect and see that we get sufficient technicians for the requirements of our industries. I would also recommend to the Education Minister that he should coordinate with the Economic Development Board to see that the requirements of industry for technicians are met. Mr Bernard Rodrigues (Telok Blangah): Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of what has been said by our Prime Minister at the opening of the Third Asian Teachers' Seminar that "teachers are anonymous, faceless, listless, etc.", may I know what immediate steps the Minister for Education is taking to rectify the situation?”
“On this point, Mr Speaker, Sir, I am supported by good authority and, with your permission, may I quote from the Republic of Plato on "the Education for the Guardians". This is the Conford Edition, Mr Speaker, Sir, at page 99 - middle of the page: 'There are then these two elements in the soul - the spirited and the philosophic. And it is for their sake, as should say, and not (except incidentally) for the sake of the soul and body that heaven has given to mankind these two branches of education. The purpose is to bring the two elements into tune with one another by adjusting the tension of each to the right pitch. So one who can apply to the soul both kinds of education blended in perfect proportion would be master of a nobler sort of musical harmony than was ever made by tuning the strings of the lyre.' Therefore, in our education system we must not only concentrate on literary education but also concentrate on what Plato calls, and I think it is generally called, physical education. In this connection, Mr Speaker, Sir, may I inquire of the Education Minister what has happened to the idea of setting up an elite school? This is a very important subject and perhaps Members here will be given an opportunity to consider fully the question before this elite school is set up. I am glad to note in the Budget that as usual Education has taken a lion's share in the coming year's expenditure. It is also noted that the emphasis is now shifting from primary education to secondary education. In this connection, it may be relevant to ask the Education Minister whether, and if so when, he would take steps to provide free secondary education?”
“On the other hand, a mere literary education makes us soft and dispirited, something that is not good for us. Ferocity, Mr Speaker, Sir, is the outcome of the spirited element in us. Proper training would produce courage. But if that element is over-strained, it naturally becomes hard and savage. Gentleness, on the other hand, is characteristic of the philosophic disposition. Here again, too much relaxation will result in over-softness. The right training would produce a gentleness that is steady and disciplined. We all know the saying: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." All class-work and no field activity would, therefore, take away the high spirit that is in us and will make us weak and unstable, bad tempered and peevish. On the other hand, there are consequences of hard bodily exercise and high living with no attempt to cultivate the mind or use the intellect in study. At first the sense of physical fitness fills a man with self-confidence and energy and makes him twice the man he is. But suppose he does nothing else and holds himself aloof from any sort of culture? Then even if there is something in him that is capable of desiring knowledge, he is starved of instruction and is never encouraged to think for himself by taking part in rational discussions or intellectual pursuits of any kind. And so his mind grows feeble for lack of stimulus and nourishment, and deaf and blind because the darkness that clouds perception is never cleared away. Such a man ends by being wholly uncultivated and a hater of reason. Flaying no use for reasonable persuasion, he gains all his ends by savage violence, like a brute, and he lives in a dull stupor of ignorance with no touch of inward harmony or grace.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, education is essential in any society. In a developing multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious socialist society like ours, however, education is called on to do more than just training our young. It is also called on to make us good and useful citizens, to weld our nation together. In the past we lived not as a nation. We could not have done that because we were then a subject race. In the past we lived in separate communities. Things are now different. We are now independent and our destiny is in our own hands. We are responsible for our own future. We are, however, a small nation living on a small island with no natural resources. The only resources that we can boast of are our own people our skill in training, in manufacturing and in other fields. The purpose of education, therefore, should be to train and nurture these skills to make us good and useful citizens. Education, however, does not consist of cramming up all the facts that we can lay our hands on - in being what we call a book-worm or a walking dictionary. The aim of education is to make us a complete man, a man who can think and act for himself, a man with a disciplined mind and a healthy body. We can only achieve this by two branches of education, namely, literary education and physical education. In the very recent past, Mr Speaker, Sir, our education system was defective to the extent that we attached far too much importance to literary education and not enough importance to physical education. A devotion to one branch of education to the exclusion of the other branch would not serve the purpose of education. Unmitigated attention to physical education, for example, would produce a sort of ferocity in us, a sort of uncivilised harshness that we should avoid.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to ask the Minister whether he is aware that adult education in Singapore is a self-liquidating process, that is to say, the better you train and the more effective you carry out your job, the sooner you go out of business! In fact, by the present going, I think the Adult Education Board is doing very well, and here I must pay a tribute to the Board. All I want to know is what plans the Minister has for the future of the Board.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I just wish to ask the Deputy Prime Minister how is it that, in spite of the fact that the Immigration Department is asking for a deposit in respect of all people who come in on visit passes - in fact, in a particular case, as the Deputy Prime Minister has said, the Controller had been injudicious in asking for too huge an amount - we still have to make provision to the tune of $14,000 in respect of Maintenance, Removal and Repatriation Expenses? Is this item of expenditure confined mainly to the repatriation of illegal immigrants?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of the Deputy Prime Minister's explanation, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $1,609,230 for Head 0302 ordered to stand part of the Estimates. Head 0304 -”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to he allocated for Head 0302 be reduced by $100. Mr Speaker, Sir, there are two very short points I wish to take up on this Head. The first is the stranglehold on the economy of Singapore that is being exercised by the Shipping Freight Conference. I am glad that this point was answered by the Finance Minister in the Budget debate yesterday. He fully realised this problem and is, in fact, taking positive steps to alleviate the situation. The second point that I wish to raise is this. I shall frame what I want to say in the form of a question, Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to ask the Minister in charge of Marine whether he has any proposal to replace the present expatriate personnel by Singapore citizens.”
“I just want to say that the Minister of State has not touched upon the Traffic Unit that has been set up in the Ministry of National Development to look into the question of traffic in Singapore as a whole. He has not replied to my general question, that is, Government should not consider the problem of public transport in isolation, but should consider the question of vehicular traffic in the island as a whole. At present, it would appear that this Traffic Unit that has been set up is bogged down with details and that it is just tinkering with a little bit of diversion here and an overhead bridge there without going into the whole problem of a rationalised system of vehicular traffic in the island as a whole. I see that they are cutting away half of Orchard Road Circus - in fact, cutting down all the greens now. This may be able to relieve the traffic along Orchard Road, but it does not solve the basic problem of vehicular traffic in Singapore as a whole. I would urge the Government to look into this problem.”
“But this cannot be done without our having an efficient and rational public transport system, because if private cars are excluded from the city centre, there must be some other means of transport to convey workers to work and back to their homes. I, therefore, recommend to the Government that while the public transport system at present is a problem, they should not look at it in isolation but should consider it in connection with the whole system of vehicular transport in the island.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I see that the hon. Member for River Valley does not support my idea of nationalising the public transport system. He wants the Government to participate financially, I suppose. But I wonder what his ideas are about participation. Is he thinking that Government should just go in and have a financial share in the bus companies without achieving a major degree of shareholding so as to control the policy of bus companies and also their general running? The Member for River Valley has also said that the public bus transport system is, in fact, one of the public utilities. If he is of that opinion, why should he be so afraid of the idea of Government taking over the running of the system altogether? To have a rational traffic system, I think the whole question of roads and transport system must be looked at as a whole. We cannot just resolve the traffic problem today without looking into the whole system of public transport vis-a-vis private cars. For example, our roads are now chock-full of private cars and the number of cars is on the increase day by day. We are now doing our utmost to solve this road traffic problem, but I feel that the attempts are somewhat ad hoc and piecemeal and there is no overall planning to solve it. I think that the public transport system and the traffic problem must be looked at as a whole. In order to solve the traffic problem, we may have to have a more rational public transport system. 4.15 p.m. I wonder whether what I am going to say is far too bold for the liking of the Government. For example, possibly we can exclude private vehicles from the city centre.”
“In view of the Minister's assurance, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $916,090 for Head 0105 ordered to stand part of the Estimates. Head 0107 -”
“As you please, Mr Speaker, Sir. I think I will now go on to the other point that I have got to make, and that is the policy of the Attorney-General's Chambers to leave an officer in one post for a considerable length of time without giving him the benefit of a transfer to other posts in order to gain experience. And then when he comes up before the Legal Service Commission for consideration for promotion, he would be faced with the difficulty that he has not gained enough experience in other departments. Such a handicap is not of his own making, and consequently I think the Attorney-General's Chambers may do well to consider amendments to this particular procedure.”
“It relates to such appointments, Sir, because my criticism is that they are being left in one department for a very long time, and when they come up for consideration for promotion before the Legal Service Commission, the Commission would just say that they have not had enough experience. The Chairman: If you can relate your remarks to "State Counsel", I think you will be in order.”
“I am sorry, Mr Speaker, Sir. I think the appointment of newly-qualified persons as Magistrates and District Court Judges comes under the Attorney-General's Chambers and not under the Judiciary.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the total sum to be allocated for Head 0105 be reduced by $100. Mr Speaker, Sir, there are two points I wish to raise on the general policy of the Attorney-General's Chambers. The first point relates to the appointment of newly-qualified persons to the Bench. We all know, Sir, that a newly-qualified person -”
“I am not moving. The sum of $2,150,810 for Head 0104 ordered to stand part of the Estimates. Head 0105 -”
“I beg leave to withdraw the amendment, Sir. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I move, That the sum to be allocated for Head 0104 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 2012. Mr Speaker, Sir, I am glad to note that Singapore students are still allowed to stay in Malaysia Hall in London and that the Government is still continuing to contribute towards its running expenses. I have very vivid memories of my stay in Malaysia Hall. It was then called Malaya Hall. This is a place where students from both Singapore and West Malaysia - the whole of Malaysia, in fact - can meet in an atmosphere of goodwill and discuss the problems confronting them in their studies as well as their other problems. It would be a matter for regret, Mr Speaker, Sir, if Singapore students and Malaysian students so far away are being separated. The decision to separate them, however, may not be within the control of our Government. But as I have said, I am glad that the Government is continuing to support the running of the Hall, and I do urge the Government that, as long as it could do so, it should continue to support it.”
“I am glad to hear the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House say that he is very sympathetic to us on this point, and no doubt as Leader of the House, he will be able to influence the Finance Minister and get us a supplementary vote on books next year. In the light of this, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $681,210 for Head 0103 ordered to stand part of the Estimates Head 0104 - The following amendment stood in the name of Inche Mohd. Ariff Bin Suradi - That the sum to be allocated for Head 0104 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (2) of subhead 2004.”
“This small vote for books for Parliament is surely an unnecessary handicap to Members and I strongly urge the Minister for Finance to remedy it.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head 0103 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (3) of subhead 2001. Mr Speaker, Sir, we have a cosy air-conditioned library, a charming and helpful Librarian, but alas no books - hardly any books. I was trying to do some research the other day on the Finance Minister's Budget Speech and I found that there was only one title on public finance. There are no books on economics at all, none on sociology, a handful on the parliamentary system, hardly any on the comparative system of government and practically none on politics. There is not even a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica or a set of encyclopaedia on the social sciences. 2.45 p.m. I noticed from the Suggestion Book in the Library that in 1961 a Member did suggest that the Library acquire a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica, but this suggestion was turned down by the then House Committee, by a majority, but without giving any reasons. Possibly the then House Committee consisted of Members who had no use for reference books! Mr Speaker, Sir, you will agree with me that the present stock of books in the Library is hardly adequate. This lack of reference material hampers the work of hon. Members, and this year's estimate of a miserable sum of $800 is hardly sufficient to meet the situation. From a cursory look into the estimates on the book votes for other departments, most of the departments, however minor, appear to have a larger vote for books than Parliament. I will just give a few examples: the book vote for Postal Services, $920; for Civil Aviation, $2,000; for the Trade Division, $1,250 and for the Foreign Ministry, $6,000.”
“I think I have touched on most of the points that have been raised, and before I sit down, Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like -”
“Lastly, to come to the Member for River Valley who wants me to give an explanation why certain taxes which were imposed during Malaysian days have not been removed. It is not true to say that the cost of living has gone up because there is a tax on diesel oil, and that electricity rates have gone up because of the tax on diesel oil. In fact, the P.U.B. is given exemption from paying this tax, and because of its desire to raise loans from the World Bank, it is now forced really to look into its system of trading and put it on a very firm trading basis, as a result of which it has found that it is in a very peculiar position, in that the more it sells, the more it loses! Therefore, before we can get a loan from the World Bank, we first have to put our house in order, that is, the P.U.B. in order, and to see that it really conforms to the organisation and to the principle of a trading concern, that is, the more you sell, the more you should be able to make, and not the other way round. So it is not true that the increase in electricity is due to the diesel oil taxes. In any case, the P.U.B. is not paying tax because it has been exempted from the tax on diesel. His point on shipping is noted, and it has been exercising the minds of the officers of my Ministry to see in what way we can break the stranglehold that the Shipping Conference have on shipping rates. We will try as far as possible to see that this monopoly does not in any way put up an insuperable barrier to our industrialisation programme. In fact, we have managed to get the Australian-Singapore run to accept two of our local steamers to be members of the Conference, so that goods manufactured here could be exported to Australia in their bottoms and at a rate competitive with freight rates elsewhere.”
“I have not the slightest desire to nationalise public transport nor would I recommend it, because that is the quickest way to lose Government revenue. The Member for Choa Chu Kang, while agreeing that we should industrialise, felt that not enough emphasis has been given to the agricultural sector. I cannot agree with him on this. Within our limited confines we are doing everything we can to promote agriculture - not agriculture in the sense of planting rubber trees - and we have not done too badly. Mr Speaker, Sir, if you will remember, about three or four years ago we were importing pigs, poultry and eggs, but now we are in a position to export pigs, poultry and eggs, and I think we have got a really good herd of locally-bred stud pigs which I think very few countries in South-East Asia have. Therefore, the Primary Production Department, under the Ministry of National Development, is pushing ahead and improving pig-rearing, husbandry, poultry rearing and market gardening methods. So within the very limited space in this island, we are doing everything we possibly can in order to take full advantage of modern technology in intensive farming poultry breeding and its allied lines. The Member for Serangoon - is it Serangoon? - Telok Blangah, yes. Mr Speaker, he proposed that we should look after the unemployed by bringing in a national unemployment insurance scheme. I can assure him that we are trying to get an actuary to work out unemployment insurance for this country, and so far we have not been successful. But I hope during the course of next year to be able to put up a scheme for consideration by the Cabinet and by this House.”
“I do not think I said that unless and until the property tax is reduced there would be no progress. I think I said that the concession was not generous enough or not general enough to embrace the whole of the economy and possibly a reduction in the rates would serve as an incentive to the building trade. Mr Lim Kim San: Mr Speaker, Sir, I probably misunderstood him. But I thought it was implied that if no reduction in property tax is given to commercial building, there would be no progress in commercial building. I would say that under the urban renewal scheme it is exactly to commercial building that the reduced rate will apply. As for the removal of rent control, Mr Speaker, Sir, the time will come, much sooner than we at first expected, when it would be possible to remove rent control without great hardship to the majority of the poorer tenants, because with the success of the low-cost building programme, we find that more than 50 per cent of the people who were living in the city have now moved into low-cost houses, and very soon more and more will go out and then that would be the time to consider removing rent control. I am very sure that if we were to pass a Bill now to remove rent control, the House would be really divided on this issue. But for the information of Members who feel that something should be done in order to assist the development of the city, we are thinking along the lines of setting up a tribunal in order to be able to settle compensation payable for removal for development purposes. On the question of the nationalisation of public transport, I personally feel that once you nationalise public transport, it may be more rational, but it would not be more efficient. That is one thing I am very sure of.”