Teh Cheang Wan
Singapore
“The Board does not propose to reinstitute the procedure for the resale of flats at the respective Area Offices in Ang Mo Kio New Town. As a pilot project, the Board has centralised the resale of Ang Mo Kio flats at Sales Section, Maxwell Road.”
“At the contract price or whatever it is, and this is due to the mistake made by the HDB, the HDB has been quite generous. If the mistake made by the HDB staff has been to sell the flat at lower than the posted price, then the owner has the benefit of this mistake.”
“The Member for Potong Pasir is asking a question which I have to check for an answer. I do not carry with me the millions of accounts of HDB flat-owners with me. So I cannot give him an immediate answer. But I can assure the Member for Potong Pasir that those people will be refunded.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, since the announcement by HDB on 4th July 1986, 49 HUDC lessees appealed to the Board to buy their flats. All were unsuccessful. As at 20th September 1986, 27 HUDC flat owners had sold their flats in the open market. Twelve of them sold their flats above their original purchase prices.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, since the implementation of the policy, HDB has resold 13 HUDC flats from among those flats HDB bought back from the HUDC owners. In addition, HDB has sold 44 new HUDC flats. The slow sale of HUDC flats is due mainly to the depressed property market.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have no figures readily available as to how many of these 49 HUDC flat-owners who requested the Board to buy back the flats have committed themselves to buying other property.”
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“Most probably at the time when he applied for the Ang Mo Kio flat, he had not made any arrangements for a marriage. But the Housing Board's rules are very flexible. A person who intends to marry can register his application to purchase a flat in the Housing Board's Application Waiting list, so long as he can give the name of his fiancee. If he is allocated a flat, the Housing Board will say, "Within the period of three months you have got to produce your marriage certificate." In some cases we find that the wife's name has been changed. We do not allow this. Otherwise some people will take advantage and say, "This is very good. I just register with somebody's name." Therefore, when they actually get married, they have to produce the marriage certificate, and if the name of the wife does not tally with the name in the application made earlier, then we say, "No". But in this case, when he applied for the Toa Payoh flat he was single. So he was not allowed to apply to buy another flat. That is the reason why when he got the flat in Ang Mo Kio, he was given a choice. In other words, the family of three persons is allowed to keep only one flat. So he either keeps the rented flat or he keeps the purchased flat. He is not allowed two flats, because at the time of application it was only one family of 3 persons and not two families. 4.00 p.m. On the point raised by the Member for Toa Payoh on the provision of cover for concrete benches, I think this is not practical because these benches are meant for use in the open, for people to sit in the evenings. We also provide concrete benches in the void decks. In case of rain, the people can still sit on the concrete benches in the void decks.”
“As her mental state is very bad - she has been making a nuisance of herself to other inmates, the HDB then arranged with the Social Welfare Department to send her to the Woodbridge Hospital. At present she is in Woodbridge Hospital. The position is that if she responds to treatment and Woodbridge Hospital considers her safe to be sent home, then I would say that the HDB would be agreeable to allocate a flat to her and her other daughter who holds a blue identity card. Alternatively, if this daughter changes her mind about looking after her mother, I would say that the HDB will be quite happy to allocate another unit on the ground floor for her citizen daughter and her grand-children to live with her. On the ground floor there is no danger of the old lady throwing the children over the balcony. The other matter is about a family of three people, initially, occupying two flats. Let me say that this is against the Housing and Development Board's rule. The Board's rule is quite clear. A family is only entitled to apply for one flat. In this case, it is the parents and the son - three persons. They have applied for a flat for rent in Toa Payoh. After that the son wanted to use the CPF to buy another flat in Ang Mo Kio. At that time the son was still a bachelor. He could not apply for the Ang Mo Kio flat in his name. So he included both the parents to form a family unit to apply for the Ang Mo Kio flat. By the time the flat was allocated to him, he was already married. So he thought that the best way would be for him and his wife to live in the Ang Mo Kio new flat and let the parents live in the Toa Payoh flat. According to the Housing and Development Board's rules, this is not allowed.”
“Sir, certainly it is not strong arm tactics. In fact, there was no arm used at all. Perhaps Members in this House remember the recent case of a very rich beggar who lived in a Housing Board flat. It took us two years before we finally used strong arm tactics to throw him out. But we would not apply force hastily. Usually we study the case very carefully and use force as a last resort. As Members can see, we considered and investigated this particular case for a period of two years before we evicted him. So when we say "a bit of forceful persuasion", we confine ourselves to "persuasion" and not the "forceful" part of it. The Member for Kim Seng brought up the carpark problem and also the question of redevelopment of Bukit Ho Swee. I will ask the HDB to look into this matter. I will ask the HDB architects to discuss with the Member as to how we can redevelop the estate and also the proposal of a carpark. At this point I would like to assure the House that on redevelopment of the constituencies, all the respective Members will definitely be consulted before we go ahead with the scheme because in these old estates the advice of the local Member of Parliament will be most valuable to the HDB, the architects as well as the Estates Division. Certainly we will discuss and consult with the local Member of Parliament on the implementation and redevelopment programme. The Member for Kuo Chuan brought up two points. One is about the mentally deranged old lady creating a nuisance to the family. From our record, our HDB Area Office had arranged for this lady to be accommodated in the House for the Aged called Bo Tien Temple.”
“In that sort of situation, it is not the policy of the Housing Board to force a large number of residents to move away from the place against their wishes. Most probably we can ll right, if you do not want to move, we will allow you to stay until such time as your economic position improves and you are ready to move." Only after a large number of people have moved away, will we be able to re-develop the place. That is the reason why sometimes the plan has to be changed and sometimes some of the blocks have been cleared while others are not.”
“The purpose of the circular is to get the feedback as to how many residents want to move out. From this feedback we can do the planning. For argument's sake, let us take the Member for Kim Seng's case. There are four blocks, A, B, C and D. If the feedback is that in Block A 90% of the people are prepared to move out, then we will say, "All right, we will clear Block A first because 90% of the residents are willing to move." We give them priority in alternative accommodation. For the remaining 10%, we apply a little bit of pressure or we ask the local Member of Parliament to use a little bit of persuasion so that we may be able to move them out. Then this particular block can be pulled down and redevelopment can take place. That is the reason why no deadline has been given. In fact, the Housing Board has given itself a period of five to six years to clear the whole lot. It is a very long period and very much depends on the percentage of people who want to move. In those estates where a larger number of people want to move out, and quickly too, the clearance can be done faster and redevelopment can take place earlier. Just now the Member for Changi, who spoke on behalf of the Member for Katong, mentioned that there were only 16 families left in a block. So the Housing Board offered them good accommodation for them to move out quickly. The situation is not the same in other blocks. Therefore the residents are complaining that they are not being offered alternative accommodation in a locality of their own choice. Our feedback is that 90% of them are still there. I have not got the full information but I guess that most of the people have indicated that they do not want to move out. They would like to remain in the same housing estate.”
“I can assure the Member that all the defects in these 470 units of two-storey terrace houses will be rectified. If he is still not happy after they have been repaired, he can still bring this matter up either to the Area Office or to Mr Liu. On the question of lifts, its maintenance has improved considerably. The Housing Board has a monthly monitoring report of the number of breakdowns, the.kind of repairs undertaken, and the time taken to repair the lifts. I can assure the Member that the repair services have improved. From our record, in the last few years, the time taken to repair the lift has been shortened and those contractors who still take a long time to repair lifts have been called up by the Housing Board to improve their services. We have also put a penalty on the contractors for not doing the work expeditiously. As for those lifts which break down recurrently and continue to give problems, we usually send our engineers to examine them. If they cost a lot of money to repair and are beyond economic repair, then we will install a new lift in place of the old defective one. On the matter of demolition of one-room flats, raised by the Member for Kim Seng, as I have said yesterday in this House, we have altogether 17,000 of these one-room emergency flats. So it has to take quite a long time to relocate the residents and to demolish these flats either for redevelopment or as open-spaces for recreation of the residents. So because of this, in our circular to the residents we do not say when they are required to vacate because this involves a very large number of residents and not all of them who live in these emergency flats are economically in a position to buy or rent a larger flat. Therefore, in our circular we do not give them a deadline for them to move out.”
“the counter clerks or even the peons, the Board will investigate into the complaints, and if any complaint is found to be justified or substantiated, disciplinary action will be taken. In fact, if a Member of Parliament complains to the Housing Board that an estates officer is ineffective, then the Housing Board will arrange for him to be transferred. If the officer has breached the Housing Board's rules, then disciplinary action will be taken against him. If Members of Parliament feel strongly that they have justifiable complaints against any HDB staff, they should bring them to the attention of the central administration or to the attention of Mr Liu Thai Ker, the Chief Executive Officer of the HDB. That is why I have brought Mr Liu here so that by listening to the problems raised by the Members of Parliament he will appreciate them better. I therefore hope that he will be able to find the solutions to the problems much better than I can. I would say that if the Member of Parliament finds that his persistent requests to the Area Office still bring no result, then I would suggest that he write to Mr Liu direct and put the problems to him. I am quite sure he will be able to find a solution. If Mr Liu cannot find the solution, then he can come and discuss the problem with me, and I will try to find a solution. 3.45 p.m. On the ineffectiveness of my staff, raised by the Member for Mountbatten, I have already touched on it and so I will not repeat what I have said. The Member complained of defective doors which have not been repaired for some time. But from our record, more than 100 doors have been repaired. So action has been taken. We will soon call the redecoration contractors to repair the defects in these two-storey artisan quarters in the Guillemard Estate.”
“Even with this relaxation, the HDB is not able to recruit enough workers to do all the cleaning work. So in a substantial number of our estates, the cleaning work is being done by contract workers. As Members know, some contract workers are good and some are bad. The good contract workers with relatively little supervision are able to do satisfactory work, while the poor contract workers, even with very strict supervision, are not able to do satisfactory work. So in some of the estates, the cleaning work has been unsatisfactory. The point raised by the Member for Kim Seng and the Member for Alexandra is true, i.e. some cleaners have not been doing their work satisfactorily. The HDB keeps a record of the cleaning contractors. The contractors who are doing unsatisfactory work are warned and, if they do not improve, they will be debarred from tendering future contracts. In fact, such action is being continuously taken against contractors. Those poor contractors who are not able to do good work have been debarred from tendering Housing Board contracts in future. I am afraid this problem will continue. Perhaps next year the Member will again raise the same problem in this House, and most probably I will give him the same answer. As regards the staff in the HDB Area Offices, they have been told that they are employed to serve the residents in the estates and that they should try their best to deal with any complaints or problems brought by the residents to them. Generally, the Housing Board adopts the rule that if there are complaints against any officer from the top right down to the lowest level of the staff in the Area Office, i.e.”
“On the point raised by the Member for Jurong about the difference in the rules governing the JTC and HDB flats, a few years ago the JTC had separate rules for the application of JTC flats. The hon. Member for Jurong is aware that the JTC previously did not allow Singapore citizens to apply for JTC flats unless they were working in Jurong itself or in the JTC industrial estates. As the JTC had a different set of rules, the JTC flat owners were treated differently. But, in the last two years, the JTC rules have been constantly amended and are now very similar to the HDB rules. Also, the function of development of public housing in Jurong has been taken over by the Housing Board from the JTC. So the Housing Board rules will soon be applied to the JTC. In other words, the JTC flat owners will soon be treated like Housing Board flat owners and will be allowed to buy Housing Board flats. On the point raised by the Member for Alexandra about cleaning contractors and the unsatisfactory work they do in the housing estates, to some extent this is true because the HDB finds great difficulty in recruiting daily-rated workers to do cleaning work. The HDB has to rely on contract workers, and even at the present moment the HDB's Daily Rated Establishment is still not filled up. The problem here is the same as in the case of toilet caretaker, i.e. not many Singaporeans are keen to become cleaners. In fact, the HDB has relaxed the requirement for DRE's. Previously, the HDB only employed male workers but it has since relaxed this requirement. Now, one-third of its workforce comprises female workers and two-thirds male workers so that the female workers can do lighter jobs while the male workers do heavier jobs.”
“Eventually, the HDB found a solution by stationing a permanent caretaker at the toilet. Thereafter, our public toilets in the markets and cooked food centres have been kept clean because of the permanent caretakers. So if we are going to provide toilets in individual blocks, we will have to employ an army of toilet caretakers. And that is not very realistic because Singaporeans are not very keen to work as toilet caretakers. On the question of smell from the bin centres, I think this complaint is not just confined to the markets near Bedok. It is found in many housing estates. This is quite understandable because the markets and cooked food centres have a lot of rubbish. Unsold fish and food leftovers are dumped at the bin centres by the hawkers. The offensive smell is bound to occur. What the HDB is now doing is to cover all the bin centres so that the smell from the bin centres will not spread a great distance away. Also, the HDB is trying to get its workers to clean the bin centres regularly, and will liaise with the Ministry of the Environment to do the regular carting away of the rubbish. I assure Members that the HDB is aware of this problem. We are trying our very best to minimise the smell nuisance from the bin centres. On the question of community halls, we had a discussion with the Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, recently on the launching of the Residents' Committees and we have decided to provide another community hall for those constituencies whose Residents' Committees have been initiated. In other words, in each constituency we will provide two community halls instead of one.”
“Therefore, if the HDB is going to provide these facilities, then it is going to duplicate the functions of other Ministries and departments. We provide accommodation for the People's Association for its community sub-centres. This is one example. If a Member of Parliament is able to persuade other organisations to run these facilities, then the HDB is very willing to wall up the void decks and rent it out to the MPs at a nominal rental. On the problem of urine in lifts, this is quite a, difficult one. In fact, in the early 1960s, there were a lot of complaints on this matter. At that time, many people thought that because of a lack of public toilets, therefore, the people had no choice but to urinate in the lifts. The largest number of complaints came from one of the blocks in Bukit Ho Swee. The lift in that particular block virtually was dirtied every day. So we said, "Let us build a toilet near the lift and see what is the result." The result was that the WC cistern was damaged and despite the damaged cistern people continued to use the squat pan. The wash basin was broken and the tap was stolen. Then the residents said, "Previously we had to put up with the smell of urine. Now an additional flavour had been added." They requested that the WC ought to be demolished and we demolished it. The problem of urine in lifts continues. As Members can see, the solution to the problem does not lie with the construction of the toilet. The construction of toilets is not a problem at all because it does not cost very much. Probably one unit of WC plus a wash basin will cost less than $1,000. The difficulty is looking after the toilets properly. That is the problem. In fact, previously the public toilets in the markets were very dirty.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member for Bedok has brought up a few points. I will attempt to answer them. One point raised is that the Housing Board should provide some recreational facilities in the void decks. This has, in fact, been done by the Housing Board on an experimental basis. The Housing Board has provided tables for residents to play chess. From our experiment it appears to be a success because chess does not usually cause any nuisance to the other residents. So the provision of tables for chess will continue. 3.30 p.m. On the question of table tennis facilities, we have provided these to a few blocks purely as an experiment. We are worried because teenagers and young people make a lot of noise when they play table tennis. This will disturb the residents on the first floor, and they may complain. From the feedback of the experiment, if the residents are quite happy and accept table tennis on the void decks, then we will provide table tennis facilities. But if we receive a lot of complaints from the first floor residents, then these facilities will not be provided. On the question of providing facilities like a club house or accommodation for community activities, in fact, the Housing Board has adopted a plan to partition the void decks and provide enclosures to be let out to MPs, the Social Welfare Department or other organisations willing to provide these facilities. The Housing Board on its own will not provide these facilities. If the Housing Board is to provide these facilities, then it may end up having a department or an organisation bigger than the Social Welfare Department, bigger than the Singapore Sports Council, perhaps bigger than anything else. This is quite obvious because we have about 65% of the population living in public housing estates.”
“As there are only three more speakers on this Amendment, I would like to hear them first.”
“Phase 1 is at present under construction and it should be completed in about two years' time. I think Phase 2 will most probably follow the completion of Phase 1, a year later. This means that construction work on Phase 2 will begin a year after Phase 1.”
“I have already answered it just now. But it does not matter, I will repeat it. The HDB is developing a new housing estate at Ah Hood Road to blend with a group of private residential developments in that area. In our Phase 1 development, we propose to build three blocks of five-room flats of 288 units and one block of four-room flats of 115 units. Our architects are still planning Phase 2 and if we find that there is a need to provide a market, we will provide it in Phase 2.”
“Sir, I have, in fact, answered the Member's question. But unfortunately when I answered it the Member was not in the Chamber. Mr Sia Khoon Seong: Sir, I was here all the time!”
“This will cost the Housing Board $25 million. These few items which I have just mentioned will improve the condition of the old estates and will cost the Housing Board $106 million. It is a very large sum of money but we feel that this is essential because in Singapore the majority of Singaporeans are living in HDB flats. We should not allow a situation where a lot of facilities are lacking in the old estates while the facilities are better in the new estates. The Housing Board is spending large sums of money to upgrade the conditions in the old estates, so as to close the gap of disparity between the old and new housing estates.”
“These blocks of flats have open balconies and those two- and three-room rented flats built in the early 70's have metal windows. So we are now going to provide metal windows to these old flats to bring their standard similar to those built recently. This item alone will cost the Housing Board $26 million. We have also provided a central TV antenna to all old HDB flats so that the residents will have the benefit of a better reception. This will cost the Housing Board in the region of $3 million. There is another very important item. In the early 60's in order to save money we provided only one lift for ten-storey buildings. In case of breakdown or servicing of the lift the residents have to walk up because there is only one lift in that block, So we are now proposing to instal an additional lift to about 250 blocks of flats where there is only one lift per block. With this additional lift each of these blocks will at least have two lifts, so that in the event of a breakdown the residents will not have to walk up to their flats, as the other lift will still be functioning. This will cost the Housing Board another $3 5 million. The water pipes and water tanks in the old housing estates were installed more than 10 years ago. The residents find that the water pressure is not so good and sometimes the water tank is a bit dirty. We are introducing a supply system to improve the distribution of water to something like 1,550 blocks of old flats. We are going to change the distribution pipes and also to improve the water tanks so that the residents will have a higher water pressure and better quality water. I am not suggesting that at present our water is dirty or not suitable for drinking. It is good but we want to provide something better.”
“An example of such recreational facilities is the swimming pool we built off Mountbatten Road. The swimming complex which has been completed provides recreational facilities for residents in the Old Kallang Airport Estate and also the Tanjong Rhu Estate. There is totally no space for us to build a swimming pool in these two housing estates. We therefore built a swimming pool within walking distance of these estates, so that the people living in these old housing estates can go there to swim. Similarly, we have built a swimming complex in Geylang East, south of Paya Lebar Way, to provide recreational facilities for residents in MacPherson Estate and also Kallang Basin. We are building a sports complex off Alexandra Road which will consist of a swimming pool, a football pitch and an indoor stadium, to provide recreational facilities for residents in constituencies like Bukit Ho Swee, Delta and also Henderson. When this sports complex is completed, the residents in Henderson can walk to this complex. We are also building a swimming complex in Bukit Merah. In fact, this particular swimming complex has been given a lot of publicity because we had to pull down a temple. The building of the swimming complex has been delayed for almost a year because of the problem of clearing the Chinese temple. Otherwise, the swimming complex would have been completed by now. Unfortunately, because of this delay, we are just starting to build the new swimming complex and when it is completed the residents in the old housing estates of Bukit Merah and Tiong Bahru can go to the swimming complex. These few complexes will cost the Housing Board in the region of $17 million. Another point raised is in regard to the one-room, two-room and three-room rented flats built in the early days.”
“Because of this, the Housing Board has, in its latest development, built better flats and more four- and five-room flats, and also different and modern designs have been adopted for the new housing estates. The standard of the flats in the old housing estates which were built in the early and late 60's has been very poor. So our architects are looking into how to improve these old housing estates. 5.45 p.m. I come now to our proposals and methods of improving the old housing estates. The first proposal is to eliminate the poorest standard of housing, that is, the one-room emergency flats built in our first five-year building programme from 1960-65. At that time we had a group of citizens who could only afford $20 a month rental. Therefore, emergency flats were built specifically for this very low-income group of people whose family income usually ranged from $100 to $200 a month. This type of housing is no longer in demand. In fact, a few thousand units of this type of emergency flats have been vacant in various parts of Singapore. The Housing Board's proposal is to demolish these emergency flats in the next five or six years. Once these flats have been demolished, we will then be able to use the land to build four- and five-room flats which were not built during the 60's. Moreover, in some old housing estates there is not enough of open space. So once these emergency flats are demolished, the sites can also be used for open space. But even then we will still not be able to provide facilities equivalent to the new housing estates. For this reason, our architects are looking around the old housing estates to see what kind of recreational facilities can be provided near the old housing estates to supplement what is lacking in these old housing estates.”
“Sir, I will reply to the Member for Moulmein first. The Housing and Development Board is developing a new housing estate in the Ah Hood Road area. Ah Hood Road is a good residential area. There is a lot of private development and, therefore, the HDB development will be of a better design. At present, we propose to build three 5-room point blocks consisting of 288 units of flats and a four-room slab block consisting of 115 units. This is the Phase one development. At present the architects in the HDB are working out the Phase two development. They are studying into the possibility of whether or not there is a need for a market. If they find that there is a need, then a market will be provided in that area. On the question of the improvement of the old housing-estates raised by the Member for Henderson, I think the Housing and Development Board is well aware of the discrepancies of the facilities and the standard of housing provided in the old and new housing estates. As Members know, the public housing programme built by the Housing and Development Board is based on demand. That means to say, we see what is the demand on our waiting list. For argument's sake, in the early 1960s we find that 40% of our applicants were asking for one-room flats, 30% for two-room, and 30% for three-room flats. This shows the income of the people at that time and therefore the type of housing they could afford. Therefore, the Housing and Development Board in the early 1960s had to build that type of housing to meet the demand of the people. Subsequently, as a result of our economic growth, the income of the people of Singapore has substantially improved and they can now afford four-room flats and five-room flats, and in the last few years even HUDC flats, costing more than $100,000 each.”
“Sir, I am agreeable to the suggestion of the Member for Toa Payoh, i.e. as I have mentioned earlier, I will ask the PWD and the Housing Board engineers to look into ways and means of improving the traffic flow. I think there is no difference of opinion on this matter. I am sure the Member, the staff of the Housing Board and the PWD, including myself, would like to see the traffic in that area move better and therefore causing less frustration, and above all reducing the number of traffic accidents.”
“On the proposal to provide a U-turn along Jalan Toa Payoh, the traffic engineers consider it undesirable because Jalan Toa Payoh has been designed as a Pan-Island Expressway to take a high volume of traffic. Once we have U-turns, then cars making a U-turn will obstruct the flow of traffic. So it is considered undesirable. On the question of providing a pedestrian crossing for the people from the Toa Payoh Town Centre to the garden, I think there is a conflict of interest here. If we want the traffic to flow smoothly, we cannot have a pedestrian crossing there because it will obstruct the flow of vehicles. A pedestrian crossing means that when the lights turn red, the vehicles have to stop to allow the pedestrians to cross. But the HDB has already constructed an overhead bridge to allow pedestrians to walk to the swimming complex and the Toa Payoh garden from the town centre. So the pedestrians should use this bridge. Singaporeans should cultivate the habit of walking at least 50 metres. It is not a very serious exercise. We should not expect to have either a crossing or pedestrian bridge at every 50 metres. On the Member's general observation that in Toa Payoh the traffic flow is not so good, I will ask the HDB and the PWD engineers to look into this problem and to see what other measures we can introduce to improve the flow of traffic in Toa Payoh.”
“As regards trees which are planted very close to traffic lights, I will ask the Parks and Recreation Department to look into this matter and, if necessary, we will cut down the particular tree which the Member complained of. On the question of having an interchange for Jalan Toa Payoh to enable traffic to move in and out of Toa Payoh, I think that is not a very good idea. The reason is that unless the traffic moving into Jalan Toa Payoh is able to disperse very quickly, the end result is that the traffic gets stuck in Jalan Toa Payoh. So it does not really help the movement of the traffic at all. At present, the Jalan Toa Payoh traffic usually gets stuck at Woodsville area. The Woodsville area is a major intersection of Jalan Toa Payoh, part of the Pan-Island Expressway which gets into Jalan Kolam Ayer, and there we have Serangoon Road which carries a lot of traffic to MacPherson Road. Traffic from all these major roads converge at one point, Woodsville, and that is where we have this piling up of traffic. The PWD proposal is to construct a flyover in this Pan-Island Expressway so that traffic from Jalan Toa Payoh is able to go along the Pan-Island Expressway into Jalan Kolam Ayer to enable the Serangoon Road traffic to move smoothly without interruption. After the construction of this flyover, I think the congestion in this area will be substantially eased. Take the flyover constructed at Bukit Timah Road. Once it was completed, it eased the traffic congestion at the junction of Bukit Timah Road and Farrer Road. So this proposed flyover has been planned on the same principle.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member for Toa Payoh has raised several points on traffic and I will try to answer them point by point. He has raised the question of traffic lights installed at major road traffic junctions. I would say that the close proximity of the traffic lights is not just found in Toa Payoh but perhaps all over Singapore. In order to control the movement of traffic, we have to install traffic lights. I agree with the Member that at present the control of traffic lights has not been very satisfactory. For this reason, the PWD is at present studying a major programme of trying to link the traffic lights, including those leading to Toa Payoh, into what they call a Computerised Area Traffic Control system. This system is under study and will be implemented. The aim is to bring the areas with traffic signals under a centralised computer control. This system will initially cover the area bounded by the inner ring roads, i.e. from Crawford Street, Lavender Street, Balestier Road, Moulmein Road, Newton Road, Scotts Road and Paterson Road, to Outram Road, Cantonment Road. In short, the whole city area will be covered by this system. It is hoped that this centralised control system will be able to coordinate the traffic lights and to provide what we call "green wave" to allow the smooth movement of traffic and also to be able to control the traffic at various junctions to enable peak and non-peak hour traffic movement to flow smoothly. This system is expected to be operational in 1981. That covers the Member's general comments on the traffic light system.”
“Sir, perhaps the PWD engineer had been persuaded by the Member for Kampong Kembangan that it was a fair request. That was why improvements had been made. But what I want to add is that Jalan Eunos as it exists now is not good enough because it is well below the flood level. The road level of the new Jalan Eunos to be built in the future will be raised by 1 1/2 metres. Due to the poor drainage in the Perseverance Estate, the whole estate goes under the flood level during a heavy rain. Therefore, when the new Jalan Eunos is built, drainage in the whole area will be substantially improved. 5.15 p.m.”
“Eventually when the road is completed these facilities will be scrapped. So in a way it is an unnecessary expenditure of public funds. As we all know, the Member for Kampong Kembangan is a very enthusiastic representative of the people. In fact, from the record, he has made a representation to the PWD in November 1978. According to the PWD's record, the temporary lighting was brighter than the existing street lighting. But the Member was still not happy. He said it was not bright enough. With regard to the footpath, the Member was asking not just a temporary earth footpath but that it should be a better footpath. For this reason the PWD changed the lamps to provide a much brighter street lighting, provided a concrete footpath and also widened the drains to improve the drainage. The facilities have, in fact, been improved after the Member had taken up the matter with the PWD.”
“Sir, perhaps I may reply to the last speaker first. The proposal for the improvement of the traffic flow in Queenstown will be carried out in two stages. First, there is the signalization of Queens Circus and, secondly, the widening of Queensway and Commonwealth Avenue. We propose to start work on the signalization of Queens Circus towards the third quarter of 1979. Work on the widening of Commonwealth Avenue and Queensway will be carried out in the next financial year. That is the reason why there is no provision in this year's Budget for the widening of Queensway and Commonwealth Avenue. On the points raised by the Member for Kampong Kembangan, one of them refers to the collapse of the flyover. This matter is at present under investigation. I think it also involves the question of responsibility for the fault. So until we receive a report, there may also be a possibility of a court case if the Public Works Department and the contractor concerned are unable to agree as to who should be responsible for the collapse of the flyover and to pay for it. It is perhaps not very wise for me to make a guess at this stage. In fact, I myself have not yet received the report. On this matter, we have to wait for the report. On the other point, when a major road project is under construction, the PWD and the Housing Board always provide temporary footpaths, drains and lighting facilities for the safety of pedestrians and other road users. But in this particular case, perhaps the matter lies in a difference of opinion. Here, a footpath has been provided. The lighting and drainage have also been provided. During the construction of a project, such facilities provided are of a temporary nature only, because we will have to spend more money to provide a higher standard of facilities.”
“Sir, the signalization of Corporation Circus will be completed by June 1979. At present, the traffic to Jurong is congested because Upper Ayer Rajah Road and Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim appear to be the only major roads leading to Jurong. But the Public Works Department and the Housing and Development Board are at present going ahead with three additional projects. One is the Pan-Island Expressway from Rifle Range Road to Jalan Boon Lay. This road, which is expected to be completed by 1980 or early 1981, is to provide access from the Centre of Singapore to Jurong Town. Another project is the extension of Commonwealth Avenue, which more or less runs parallel with Upper Ayer Rajah Road and Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim. At present, the PWD is undertaking extension of the road up to Townhall Road. From there the Housing Board, which is at present developing the Jurong housing estate, will extend Commonwealth Avenue to Boon Lay Housing Estate. That is the second road. The third project is the construction of a coastal road, that is, the West Coast Arterial Road. This is along the reclaimed land to Jalan Buroh. All these road projects will be completed by 1980 or 1981, which date is being timed with the completion of the two bridges across the Jurong River and Pandan River. So after the three additional high capacity roads have been completed in two or three years' time, access to Jurong will be through four roads instead of one as at present. By then, traffic congestion along the present road will be substantially reduced. 5.00 p.m.”
“Sir, the Government is still considering the feasibility of the MRT project. Members of the House know that this would perhaps represent the biggest public investment in Singapore. The total investment at today's price will be in the region of something like $2,300 million. Certainly this will be the biggest single investment if we decide to go ahead with the MRT system. If we construct the MRT system, then with inflation the final cost will be very much higher than the present estimate of $2,300 million. At present, the Public Works Department is still undertaking the Preliminary Engineering Designs study with the help of consultants to obtain a more accurate cost estimate of the MRT system and also to provide more accurate information on the MRT routes. The study is estimated to take about 16 months. Upon completion of the study, the Government will be in a much better position to decide on the project.”
“Sir, the condition is that the children must be working in the shop. In other words, they must be assisting in the running of the shop with a view to an eventual take-over. This is the rationale behind this. When the parents get old and they retire from the business, the children who are working in the shop can carry on with the business. Permission is granted on that condition. If there are grandchildren who are working full-time in the shop, I think we are prepared to consider that.”
“Sir, I understand that the request to me was for only one son to be included as a partner which I have agreed. But if the request is for the inclusion of three sons as partners, I would also agree to it. Dr Ang Kok Peng: Thank you very much. The Minister is in a very generous mood. An hon. Member: Ask for more!”
“Sir I agree with the hon. Member for Whampoa that the road graders should not be obstructing the road during the peak hours, and instruction will be given to PWD.”
“Sir, I am glad to inform the Member for Buona Vista that both of his requests can be agreed to, that is, HDB dwellers can be allowed to own commercial properties to do their own business, but on two conditions. The first condition is that the commercial property should not exceed the value of $250,000 because if he is very rich we do not expect him to stay in a- HDB flat. The second condition is that he must obtain the prior permission of the Housing and Development Board before he purchases the commercial property to do his own business. On the, second point of allowing the children of shop tenants to be included as partners of the shop, this will be allowed. In other words, an unlimited number of sons and daughters working full time in the shop could be included as partners of a family business.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, a proposal from a private organisation to develop Kampong San Teng has been rejected. My Ministry is currently drawing up plans for the development of the area. LOANS UNDER SMALL INDUSTRIES FINANCE SCHEME 4. Mr Yeo Toon Chia asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how many local entrepreneurs have been granted loan classified as "establishment of new viable business" by the Economic Development Board under the Small Industries Finance Scheme up to the latest convenient date; and (b) in order to encourage more local professionals to become industrial entrepreneurs, whether the EDB will release a list of "viable industries" from time to time so that local engineers, technicians and industrial managers will be able to work out their plans for the establishment of industries under that Scheme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, some of the farmways in Lorong Buang Kok and Lorong Cheng Lim have already been metalled. As the cost of metalling the farmways is substantial, it is planned to complete the work in phases over the next two years. DEVELOPMENT OF KAMPONG SAN TENG 3. Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for National Development whether he has rejected an application from a private organisation to develop Kampong San Teng and, if so, whether the Government has any plans to develop the area.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, 68 street lamps have already been installed in Lorong Buang Kok and Lorong Cheng Lim. As the cost of lighting all the farmways is very substantial, it is planned to complete the work in phases over the next two years. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE SCHEME (Particulars) 10. Mr Yeo Toon Chia asked the Minister for Trade and Industry, since the implementation of the Product Development Assistance Scheme in March, 1978, (a) the number of applications received by the Economic Development Board; (b) the criteria for approval; and (c) how many local companies have benefited from this scheme and the amount of assistance they received from the EDB.”
“Sir, recently I had a discussion with the Director of Primary Production Department in my Ministry and I have asked him to expedite this matter. I hope that agreement on this subject can be reached with the Port of Singapore Authority. LORONG BUANG KOK/ LORONG CHENG LIM (Installation of street lights) 9. Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for National Development when street lighting will be installed in all the farmways in Lorong Buang Kok and Lorong Cheng Lim.”
“Sir, since 1977 up to February this year, the Primary Production Department has received 14 enquiries on commercial fish farming and five enquiries on green mussels cultivation. No farming sites have been allocated because the Port of Singapore Authority is still considering the demarcation of suitable sites for commercial marine farming. The Primary Production Department, however, has approved applications from 20 kelong operators for fish farming activities in the kelongs.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, there is little fishing activity in the Singapore Territorial Waters. There were reports of illegal fishing activities in the Straits of Johore. Illegal trawlers normally operate under cover of darkness using very fast boats. They are therefore difficult to apprehend. The Primary Production Department in 1978 carried out 38 enforcement patrols along the Straits of Johore. Arising from these patrols, the PPD arrested four persons for illegal trawling and seized four fishing boats. The offenders were prosecuted in court. COMMERCIAL MARINE FARMING 8. Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for National Development how many applications have been received and how many have been approved from 1977 up to the latest convenient date for commercial fish farming as well as for green shell cultivation in the Singapore Straits.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, cycle tracks have been provided along major roads, such as, Queensway, Alexandra Road, Lorong Chuan, Adam Road, Lornie Road and Nicoll Highway. Industrial areas which have been provided with cycle tracks are Commonwealth Avenue between North Buona Vista Road and Queen's Circus, and Corporation Road in Jurong Town. However, these cycle tracks are poorly used by cyclists. The provision of cycle tracks along major roads has, therefore, been discontinued. Provision of cycle tracks will not reduce road accidents unless cyclists use the cycle tracks and observe the traffic rules. We will consider providing cycle tracks in new housing/industrial estates in future if a clear need exists. TRAVEL AGENTS (Particulars) 11. Mr Yeo Choo Kok asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how many travel agents have been registered; (b) how many of them have violated the law; (c) how many complaints have been received by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board from the travelling public that they have been cheated by travel agents; and (d) in the light of the operation of the Travel Agents Act, whether the present law is adequate to protect the welfare of the travelling public.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I think in the next month or two. CYCLE TRACKS 10. Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for National Development, in view of the increasing number of cyclists killed or injured in road accidents, if he will consider providing separate lanes for cyclists along new roads, especially in industrial estates.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Housing and Development Board will soon be submitting for Government's decision a proposal to raise the income ceiling for eligibility to purchase HDB flats.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the stallholders' complaint was about the vibration and BCD wanted to ascertain from the developer the actual position before replying. It is not good enough for the developer to say, "We will investigate it." I think the stallholders would not be happy with such a reply which is more or less not a reply. SUPPLY AND SUPPLEMENTARY SUPPLY BILLS (Business Motion) 2.43 p.m. Resolved, That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, the second and third readings of the Supply Bill for the financial year 1st April, 1979 to 31st March, 1980 and the Supplementary Supply Bill for the financial year 1st April, 1978 to 31st March, 1979 may be proceeded with immediately on the conclusion of the proceedings on the Budget for the financial year 1st April, 1979 to 31st March, 1980. - [Mr Goh Chok Tong]. MAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES OF SINGAPORE FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 1ST APRIL, 1979 TO 31ST MARCH, 1980 Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [1st Allotted Day]. [Mr Speaker in the Chair] 2.45 p.m.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, on 24th May, 1978, stallholders complained to the Building Control Division (BCD) about the floor vibration. After inspecting the site on 31st May, one week after the complaint, the Building Control Division requested the developer of People's Park Complex to investigate and submit a report. In spite of reminders, it was only in late October 1978 that the developer informed BCD that the vibration was caused by the unbalanced cooling tower fans on the podium roof and that he had commissioned his engineering consultants to rectify the defect. He attributed the delay to problems encountered with his consultants. BCD inspected the site again in December 1978 and reminded the developer to speed up the works. In February 1979, the developer informed BCD that he had ordered spare parts from the United States as stocks were not available in Singapore. Repairs are expected to be completed by May 1979. These vibrations do not cause any danger to the occupants or to the building. Far from being inactive, the BCD has been pressing the developer and will continue to do so until the repairs are completed.”
“Sir, when the tenancy is in the name of a company and there is no change of name, then there is no transfer of tenancy. For example, if Singapore Finance has a branch in Toa Payoh and the take-over company continues to use the name of Singapore Finance for that shop premises, then there is no transfer of tenancy at all. But if Hong Leong wants to change the name of that shop to "Hong Leong Finance Company", then of course the HDB will adjust the rental for that premises. BILLS INTRODUCED CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Cinematograph Films Act (Chapter 239 of the Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Communications and Acting Minister for Culture (Mr Ong Teng Cheong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament and to be printed. SALE OF COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES BILL "to regulate the sales of separate units of commercial properties in a commercial complex, and for purposes connected therewith", presented by the Minister for National Development (Mr Teh Cheang Wan): read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [5th March, 1979] "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1st April, 1979 to 31st March, 1980.". - [Senior Minister of State for Finance]. Question again proposed. 2.50 p.m.”
“Sir, this is administrative charges. I read in the newspapers today that fees up to $30,000 are being charged. Generally there is no complaint about this charge of $500.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, theoretically yes. But, in practice, as I explained earlier, it is not done usually.”
“Even though the Housing Board premises are not rent-controlled premises, we do not adjust the rental upwards if the market rental has been increased in that area. But if a shopkeeper wants to assign the shop to other people and thereby collect tea money, it will not be allowed by the Housing Board. That is the reason why we find that the shopkeeper usually takes in new partners first and, after a while, transfers the name of the shop to his new partners. This is, in fact, a roundabout way of trying to assign his shop. In such a case the Housing Board will say, "It is not allowed. If you want to assign the shop to your new partner which you have taken in, then you have to surrender your premises back to the Housing Board.because you will not be allowed to take the tea money."”
“Sir, I agree with the hon. Member that no two situations are identical. However, the assessment of rentals for shops is usually based on the prevailing rates in the surrounding area. If, for example, in a particular neighbourhood the tender for rentals for a provision shop is $800, then we look at it this way. If the particular shop premises that we are considering raising the rental is less favourably located, then the rental will be less than $800. But if that particular shop is better located, then the rental will be higher than $800. I might add that the reason for the reassessment of the rental is this. The Housing Board policy on tendering out shops is to base the rental on the highest tender for that particular trade. It is not the highest tender for the shop. Let us say in the Neighbourhood centre we have a number of shops for rent. We usually try to provide the widest range of services possible so that the residents will have a barber shop to go to for a haircut, a bank to bank in their money, and perhaps a pet shop to purchase their birds. So for a shop to sell four digit lottery, the tenant like the Turf Club usually pays the highest rent. For a bird shop, the tenant pays a low rent because he cannot afford to pay a high rent. So if the HDB rents out a shop to the Turf Club, the Club pays a high rent. And if the HDB rents out a shop to a barber, the rent is low. That is the reason why we cannot allow a barber shop to change its trade to, say, a bank or a finance company because that would mean a great difference in the rental. If it wants t change its trade to a bank, then it will have to pay a higher rental. That is the reason why, when a shopowner requests a change of trade, an upward adjustment of the rental is involved.”