Wang Kai Yuen
Singapore
“Sir, would MDA not, in monitoring these sites and when they have found such a content on its own, make it as tenable evidence and pass it to the Police rather than have the complaint from the public?”
“I would like to find out from the Minister of State when will the content of these blogs start becoming from being just mere offensive to tenable and verifiable evidence that could be tendered in court for an act committed in Singapore that is punishable under the Penal Code, such as homosexual act, oral sex and sex with underaged ladies.”
“Once they are disqualified, they might as well close shop. Sir, I am sympathetic to their plight and that it is unfair to apply the demerit points to a single company as a whole, regardless of the number of ongoing construction projects. This could act against big companies with multiple projects.”
“Individuals just make less money when they sell their flats. Hopefully, if they were to buy another flat, they could also pay proportionately less as well. However, when the market is on the way down, like in the last few years, or stagnate like now, the loss would be substantial, as many would be saddled with negative equity.”
“Sir, would the Minister agree that since the Singapore law is primarily based on the common law and since the UK Parliament has found it necessary to legislate that glorification of terrorism is a crime, would he agree that there might be a gap in our laws that our current law would not cover where the current UK law would now cover?”
“Thank you, Sir. The Minister indicated that he would monitor and would plug the hole when the need arises. Would he want to follow the UK example that they would only pass such a law after a terrorist attack in the tube? If a similar event happens in Singapore, would it be a bit too late to plug the gap? Assoc. Prof.”
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“Sir, the topic under discussion is one that I am rather familiar with. When I left the Institute of Systems Science in July 1989 to join the private sector, I have been with the Institute for seven years, the last three of which as its Assistant Director for Research. So in the course of my work I have gotten to know the key people in the IT R&D industry. Currently, I am a Board member of NTI GINTIC Management Board. So I think I am qualified to offer some opinion in this regard. To begin with, Sir, let me state that I am in full support of our effort in information technology R&D. As the Minister pointed out, compared to the effort in South Korea and Taiwan, the effort in Singapore was started a bit late and, in fact, our current effort can still be beefed up. However, as Dr John Chen mentioned in his speech, he has hit the nail on its head when he pointed out that there is a lack of a central coordinating body for our R&D efforts. I think the problem actually lies squarely with the Government. For instance, in FY 89 there was a budget of $50 million in R&D funds administered by the Ministry of Finance. Yet, out of the three IT institutes supported by the fund, two report to the Ministry of Education, and only one reports to NCB, which in turn reports to the Ministry of Finance. Thus, Sir, in my opinion, the line of control for these institutes is not very clear, especially for those reporting to the Ministry of Education. For instance, neither the Ministry's officers, Permanent Secretary or the Minister for Education are involved in the review of the performance of those two research institutes I have identified.”
“Sir, the Skills Development Fund administered by the National Productivity Board has been used to fund skills upgrading courses for the workers. This effort is laudable. However, the way the system operates is that NPB will refund part of the expense incurred by companies when they send their workers to training classes. Therefore, under this system, only those who are already employed can benefit from these skills training courses. Sir, there is another group of able-bodied workers who are unemployable workers for lack of skills. For whatever reasons, these people prefer current unemployment over jobs which require no skills at all. For some of them, I believe, it is a matter of pride. Some of these people constitute the current 2% unemployed in Singapore. They cannot benefit from the skills training courses funded by the Skills Development Fund. Since they could not acquire new skills, they could not find new employment. Thus, they are in this vicious cycle. Would the Minister consider the use of SDF in helping these unemployed persons to get back to work through some sort of incentives to entice employers to hire such workers? This incentive can take the form of partial salary offset during the first few months of the person's employment, thereby supporting some of the initial training cost.”
“In my opinion, such promotion should be reduced in the next few years anyway. The Minister has mentioned in this House earlier that we need to keep up with the promotion of keeping Singapore in people's mind and to attract big-spender tourists. I would say, by all means, we should do so. But the STPB does not have to spend more and more money to attract more and more tourists, especially when we do not have any place to house them. If we moderate our previously aggressive promotion effort to be more selective in our approach, would not the additional 1% cess generate more money than STPB can spend? And if that is so, would STPB consider reducing cess back to 3%? Sir, can I proceed to the next cut?”
“Sir, Mr Bernard Chen, the Member for Pasir Panjang GRC, has already touched on the boom and bust cycle of the tourist industry. I cannot agree with him any further. It is indeed very disturbing to see that history repeats itself in Singapore, especially in the area of hotel accommodation, especially when we pride ourselves as a nation with long-range planning and vision. Clearly, this current situation of hotel shortage represents very poor planning and forecasting by the industry as well as the various Government agencies tasked with tourist promotion and hotel construction. I would like to find out from the Minister what the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is planning to do regarding the current situation and how could a similar situation be avoided in future. According to the data compiled by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board and the Singapore Hotels Association, no additional hotel will come into operation until 1991. If all the hotels given in-principle approval were built, at best, another 1,300 gazetted rooms will become available at that time. And then after that, no additional room will be available until the year 1995 when the Suntech project is completed. Since we already have more than enough visitors as it is, I would also like to find out from the Minister whether the STPB would be moderating its promotion effort. For instance, the cess was increased from 3% to 4%, starting January 1990. I would like to find out from the Minister whether, when this increase was originally justified by STPB, the increase in tourist arrival rate and the hotel occupancy rate have been taken into consideration. Would not the increase from hotel occupancy rate by itself generate sufficient revenue to fund STPB's planned outlay?”
“So in that sense, Sir, a high-cost labour is a good thing in the long term, and low-cost labour through the influx of foreign labour is actually quite bad, not to mention, of course, in the process, low-cost labour means that our workers will be unable to share in the growth and prosperity of our country. I hope the Minister will balance these factors when his Ministry sets the quota on this revolving pool of foreign workers.”
“Sir, I am sure that the policy announced by the Government regarding the new concept of a revolving pool of foreign workers is welcomed news to the employers. We have been hard-pressed for labour. I also welcome the Minister's decision to allow market forces to determine how the foreign workers will be allocated. It is a wise move as Government should be more concerned about the social problems of the presence of a large number of foreign workers rather than with the details as to where the workers will be best utilised, whether in the industry or service sector. My understanding of the 10% rule in the new policy is that for small enterprises with fewer than 10 employees, they will not be able to hire any foreign workers. I would urge the Minister to re-consider this to allow greater flexibility by lifting this restriction and allow the market to decide where the workers should be placed. For instance, if a one-man operation can make better use of foreign workers than a large corporation, perhaps he shall be allowed to do so. Sir, while I am supportive of the new foreign labour policy in the short term, I am concerned about its impact in the long term. In the short term, the availability of cheap labour of course will maintain our competitiveness versus our competitor countries, ie, the other new NICs. However, we should also look at how other high-cost labour countries like Japan automates to reduce labour cost in their manufacturing processes. And in doing so, the Japanese industry has become very competitive in the world market. Therefore, any push in our industry to automate would definitely increase our competitiveness in the long term.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, Dr Ow and preceding speakers before me have already spoken on the extension of retirement age. So I shall be very brief. I would just like to find out from the Minister whether he is satisfied with the progress to-date in the private sector as well as the public sector. I would also like to find out whether he would like to amend the law to change the retirement age to 60, thereby bringing about faster changes. Furthermore, I am also aware of incidents where workers as young as 15 years old have been discriminated against when they are looking for jobs. So I would like to find out from the Minister whether the Ministry is considering making it an offence for employers to discriminate workers based on their age alone. Sir, can I proceed to the next cut?”
“This would mean that word has to go out to every Government department, statutory board, Government organisa- tion, to collect as much money as possible so that they can show a profit or at least break even or try not to show a loss every year. Sir, I do not expect to get a free ride or to get something for nothing. Sure, I think every Singaporean now knows that he cannot expect free services from the Government. But civil servants may be given the wrong signals and they think that they have only one aim and, that is, to make as much money as possible for their departments. With this kind of a policy, collections of money will be aimed at all fiscal changes of a policy. Cost will definitely rise and it will have a detrimental effect on our economy, as shown in 1985. The other aspect of this kind of a policy is to make Singaporeans very materialistic. Money is everything. We become very hardened and callous. We become selfish and individualistic. If our nation comprises such individuals, can we survive as a nation? Can we be a cohesive, refined, robust and vibrant society which are the stated aims of the Government? I do not think so.”
“The highest priority of Singapore, a young nation, must surely be nation building. And nation building is certainly not equated to the Government making hefty profits each year. Dr Augustine Tan, the Member for Whampoa, says that we should be grateful because we have a budget surplus each year, and not a deficit, like other countries where they have to borrow or beg for money. I hope Dr Tan do take note that in the case of other western countries, like America and Australia, they have suffered budget deficits because they have to carry heavy loads of welfare programmes. In the case of Singapore we hardly support a welfare programme at all. In fact, in the strictest sense of the word, we do not have a welfare programme. Without spending heavy sums of money in this area, I cannot see how Singapore can go into a deficit. If we look at the comments made in the Overview of the Ministry of Community Development, there is no mention of allocation of funds for welfare. Sir, instead what do we see? Instead of money being given to the aged and needy, we see that the MCD allocates funds for Residents' Committees, group secretariat, Citizens' Consultative Committees and the People's Association, which are political front organisations of the PAP. My reason for saying that these organisations are political fronts of the PAP is that the Opposition is not allowed into these Government sponsored grassroots organisations. Sir, what are the implications of a policy where budget surpluses are aimed each year? The main implication is that the Government must make money from the people.”
“Sir, I believe, contrary to public perception, the Inland Revenue Department has done an excellent job in preventing tax evasion. However, justice must not only be done, but it must be seen to be done. It would really go a long way, Sir, in assuring the public, the Minister can lay down a guideline under which any one who purchases big ticket items such as cars, homes and landed properties would have their income scrutinized by the Inland Revenue Department. For instance, if a person with an annual reported income of, say, $10,000 goes out and buys a brand new BMW, his income should be audited. If he goes out and buys a landed property, then Inland Revenue Department should actually go through his income tax report with a fine comb. With everything in the civil service now being computerised and networked, it would be easy for the names of individuals who have registered their cars and properties to be counter-checked with the Inland Revenue Department's records. I am confident that the National Computer Board, which reports to the Minister, can accomplish this easily. I urge the Minister to consider doing this to dispel once and for all the myth that self-employed individuals can evade tax. It would be reassuring to the tax-paying public that the tax burden is borne by each and every one of us. Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): Sir, I shall be speaking on budget surplus. Sir, aiming for a budget surplus seems to be the policy of the Government. This Government runs the country as if it were a private company. A business concern is set up only for one purpose, and that is to make a profit. But a nation is not a private company. A nation has other priorities other than making a profit each year.”
“Sir, at least one of the representations submitted to the Select Committee on Land Transportation Policy, of which I was a Member, expressed a sense of injustice deeply felt by some law-abiding salaried men who could not hope to own a car in their lifetime. These salaried men and women paid their income tax dutifully since how much they have earned are clearly spelt out in their IR8A forms. There is no escape. They do not begrudge paying taxes per se. However, the system would be unfair if some can get away without paying their fair share of tax. The sense of injustice arises when the salaried men see around them successful cooked food hawkers, market stallholders and other unsavoury characters, like bookies, driving around in big luxury cars. Sir, rightly or wrongly, the public think that many of these individuals have not paid their fair share of their tax burden. By under-reporting their incomes or not reporting their incomes at all, the tax they avoided has allowed them to pay for the cars that others have to work very hard for. Worse, since Government controls the number of cars on the road, their having a car would have squeezed out the person on salary. This would have become all the more obvious under the vehicle quota system in future. Similar sentiments have been expressed in the Straits Times Forum page. Of course, Sir, car ownership is only one of the more obvious purchases of this group of individuals with low reported income or at least perceived to have low reported income. Purchases of homes and other high priced properties are less obvious but, nonetheless, equally unjust if the purchasers have been able to do so by evading taxes.”
“In this region, Sir, Singapore being the richest consumer market, there are always temptations by various private media organisations, in particular foreign ones, trying to tap the rich Singapore advertising market by offering advertisements prohibited in Singapore. Radio Zoo from Batam and TV3 from Malaysia are good examples. Besides cigarette advertisements, some of the programmes on TV3, such as their Cantonese programmes, actually take advantage of our Speak Mandarin campaign. It is also conceivable that in future a TV Zoo might emerge to beam television programmes into Singapore. A cable TV system would pre-empt that. A private company can be set up to assume ownership of the cable network I mentioned earlier in HDB estates. This system can be transferred to the company which could provide additional channels, like 24 news and movie channels, much like a TV version of Rediffusion. Much like Rediffusion, these channels could also be required to carry programmes like SBC News and Today in Parliament, so that we can still carry on our nation building process. With good programmes, I am confident that the residents would pay for these additional services on the cable TV. Having a private company to take over the CATV systems would also lighten the load of town councils by removing another expense from their list of infrastructures to maintain.”
“This demand for better programmes will build slowly but surely. If this demand is not met, I believe there will be attempts to use dish antennas to pull down programmes from the satellites sooner or later. To-date, SBC has done a good job in trying to satisfy the needs of Singaporeans. Channel 12 is a good example to meet some of these specific demands. However, in trying to reach out to the greatest number of audience, it also leaves those with different tastes behind. A measure of this unmet demand can be gauged from the prevalence of VCRs in our homes and the brisk business done by video rental stores. Over a cable TV network, subscribers who pay for the privileges can then gain access to the specific programmes they like. The market decides what will be available, subject to certain moral and ethical guidelines which the Government can lay down and enforce, as mentioned earlier by Dr Hong Hai. Indeed, the infrastructure for a nation-wide cable television system is already in place in Singapore. 86% of our people live in HDB flats. Each HDB block has a community antenna TV or CATV system. Whether we have intended it or not, we have laid the backbone of a nation-wide cable television system in Singapore. All that is left for us to do is to tie all these CATV systems together and we will have our cable television network. The technical details can be left to the engineers. There are advantages which a cable network can offer and we should consider it carefully. Typically, the bandwidth over the cable is owned and controlled by the cable company. Those who want to be carried on the network must obtain permission from this cable company. Whereas in comparison, the airwave is free and less readily controlled.”
“Thank you, Sir. Experience in other advanced countries like Japan, US and Western European countries indicates that, as the population of a society becomes more educated and more affluent, their demand for TV entertainment would become more focused. This is known in the industry as fragmentation of the TV industry. In these countries, the market responded with specialised channels targeting to these specific market segments. In the US, cable networks have sprung up with dedicated channels for news, sports, movies, merchandising, Christian evangelism and others. Even in neighbouring countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan, there are now satellite dishes scattered over the countryside pulling down television programmes to be re-transmitted over cable to the subscribers. In Hong Kong, a pay cable TV franchise has been awarded to Hong Kong Cable Communications which will start to provide pay television programmes 24 hours a day with 25 channels by 1995. In Singapore, our people, especially the younger generation, have good education and increasingly higher disposable income. They have more leisure and more diverse interests. Our consumer behaviours are basically similar to other people, Sir. We like hamburgers, pizzas, hot-dogs. I am also confident that we will love cable television. It is fair to say that our TV audience has also become fragmented. The figures released by SBC to the advertisers show that different people tune in to different programmes. Sir, Singaporeans also travel quite a lot. A fair number of us also have studied overseas. After our people have visited countries with pay television they will find our choices of television channels rather limited. I believe there exists a craving for more variety and better programmes.”
“Contrary to Dr Augustine Tan's opinion, I think it is good to have Skodas and other inexpensive cars on the roads. In this way, it provides the aspiring owners something to aim for. Furthermore, the discrepancy of income in our society would not be so obviously displayed. The First Deputy Prime Minister in his discussion with grassroots leaders recently has correctly pointed out that when the ARF is reduced and replaced by a fixed levy, it would then become easier for car owners to upgrade their cars. This means that there will be proportionally more expensive cars on our roads. This is good from the car owner's point of view. After all, since he is already paying so much for his car, he might as well drive a big car rather than a small one. However, from the national interest perspective, that would be a bad development. To begin with, more big cars mean greater leakage of foreign exchange to foreign manufacturers, not to mention greater air pollution from poorer fuel efficiency. Thus, a reduction in ARF benefits the individuals and the foreign corporations. The greater leakage of foreign reserves for the same number of cars on the road would be a negative development in that sense. Furthermore, to me, to have more luxury cars running around is an unnecessary flaunting of wealth. It only makes those who cannot aspire to own cars that much more resentful. I would urge the Government to leave the ARF scheme basically intact as it is. If a reduction of the ARF were to be made, I would urge the Minister to take the point I raise into consideration. Sir, can I take the second amendment together?”
“Sir, additional registration fee (ARF) as a measure to control car population has one important worthy social benefit from the country's point of view. Basically, most of the money people pay for their cars goes to the Government. Only a third goes to the foreign car manufacturers. In this way, ARF can be considered as a measure to conserve our foreign reserves. The ARF also, being a percentage of the value of the car, is a progressive tax. Being such a hefty amount, people buy the car they can afford. The rich buying a luxury car pays more and the less rich buying a utilitarian car pays less. As such, it is also readily accepted by our people. The levies collected by our Government via ARF are spent for the public good. The amounts are substantial, so much so that Mr Heng Chiang Meng has called the MCI as the other Ministry of Finance. If one mentally tags the money collected by MCI and the money is spent by MCI as the same dollar, then one can visualize that the ARF money is being transferred to build the MRT. Viewed this way, then the MRT becomes one of the largest income redistribution programmes of this Government. Such income redistribution programmes are the hallmarks of a socialist government. So Dr Richard Hu was right in his rebuttal to Dr Lee Siew-Choh when he pointed out that one working example of a socialist government he knew of is the PAP government. In this sense, the car owners are the ones who paid for the MRT. People who scratch other people's brand-new cars out of frustration, jealousy and envy have got it all wrong. They should instead be thankful to car owners for funding the MRT instead. The ARF also resulted in a spread of different types of motorcars on our road, from the very small and, very basic to the very luxurious.”
“Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply and beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“I would like to find out from the Minister whether the Ministry of the Environment has a Master Plan for STWs, much like the Master Plan for roads in the Ministry of National Development, and whether the plan makes provision for some of the older STWs to be closed and relocated. In the case of the Ulu Pandan STW, I would urge the Minister to consider closing down the treatment works at an early date.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head M be reduced by $10 in respect of Code MD 1500 of the Main Estimates. Sir, most of the Sewage Treatment Works (STWs) currently in operation were built in what were then sparsely populated areas. However, over the years, as more and more residential properties were built, some of these developments start to encroach onto what could be considered buffer zones surrounding these STWs. As we all know, Sir, Singaporeans, with increasing affluence and higher expectations have become quite a demanding lot, especially when it comes to the living environment. A sniff of the offensive odour from such STWs would bring a chorus of complaints from the residents living around such STWs. The Ulu Pandan STW is a case in point. When it was built it was sited in what was a rural area. Today, the districts surrounding it have become suburban. Residential and light industrial development has brought more and more people within close proximity of the Ulu Pandan STWs. When the prevailing wind is unfavourable, and especially after a shower, residents' olfactory organ will be assaulted. Sir, I understand the STWs must be located somewhere within the confines of Singapore. However, STWs and residential housing cannot be located close to one another. The land use Master Plan would definitely have provided sufficient buffer zones around each of these STWs. None- theless, for those STWs where the surrounding lands are becoming developed, the Ministry of the Environment should consider relocating them. After all, to cater for the increased population, new STWs would have to be built. It might be better to build a few large centralized STWs and close some of the smaller peripheral ones.”
“Even in the United States where labour cost is very high, the schools employ janitors and watchmen so that the public can make use of the school halls for badminton, volley ball and other sporting activities in the evenings. Besides, Sir, by opening up the schools to the public in the evenings, we not only give access to such school facilities, but we also draw the public into the schools and thereby making the schools part of the community, as they should be. For neighbourhood schools in particular, there should be strong interaction between the residents and the schools. After all, these residents are parents of the pupils and students studying in those schools. Locking up the schools and leaving them in darkness at night is definitely not the way to integrate such schools into our community. Sir, I would advocate the MOE to consider measures that would allow easy access to the facilities I have talked about in our neighbourhood schools. If bringing back the familiar jaga is the way to do it, perhaps we should re-consider it. The cost must be a drop in the bucket of MOE budget. Furthermore, if MOE only hires retirees on a contract basis as watchmen, it will also provide gainful employment for retired persons.”
“Sir, I am on an entirely different topic. I would like to address the use of school premises in the evenings. Sir, as a result of the Ministry's decision several years ago to eliminate school watchman as part of its cost-cutting programme, the facilities of our schools became off-limit to the public in the evenings. Without school watchman around, theft and vandalism of school property have also increased. It seems that the Ministry of Education is prepared to bear such costs of replacing stolen property and lost property rather than keep school watchman around on its payroll. Since the recurrent expenditure of keeping these school watchmen around is not very high, it is likely that these posts were eliminated in the past in the zeal to reduce staff head count. Sir, school facilities such as basketball courts and halls are scarce resources, especially for schools located within HDB estates, which I will call neighbourhood schools. Easy access to these facilities will be most beneficial to the public as the demand for such facilities is rather high. Currently, for people who want to make use of such facilities, they will go to the community centre. In other words, Sir, as a people, we are duplicating these facilities at substantial cost. By speaking up here, I do not mean to scale back the scope of community centres. They are fulfilling a very different and useful mission. But I am pointing out that community centres are unlikely to fully meet such demand for facilities. As the First Deputy Prime Minister has also called for a return to the rugged society, we can definitely put the school sporting facilities to better use. By eliminating the school watchman, Sir, the Government saves some money. But how much money are we talking about?”
“Sir, I was proposing a simple and yet cheap solution to the inefficient operation of the traffic light junctions when Parliament adjourned yesterday. As a matter of fact, I have brought this matter up previously in this House. At that time, the Minister replied that we must be mindful of the cost incurred and that was the end of it. However, the road improvement programme proposed by the Prime Minister and the First Deputy Prime Minister as well as the master plan called for by my colleagues, such as underground road network, road widening, grade level separation, such as viaducts, tunnels and underpasses, would have cost in excess of S$1 billion. Sir, my proposal is much more modest than that. It involves burying vehicle detector loops at road junctions so that only when a vehicle is waiting to merge with the traffic would the traffic light be tripped into operation, that is to say, changing from red to green. Otherwise, the major through traffic will not be disrupted. This could also be applied to right turn green arrow at traffic junctions. Such simple devices cannot be very expensive to install. In fact, vehicle loop detectors are already in place at all the traffic light camera junctions. Anyone who has been caught jumping the traffic light at such junctions knows how effective those detectors are. Sir, as it is, our traffic management system is a bit archaic. I would urge the Minister to consider the simple proposals I have recommended and implement them together with the master plan, where applicable, so that our road management system could be brought up to the 21st century as befitting Singapore's image as a sophisticated city.”
“Sir, in addition to the proposal made by my colleagues, Dr Koh Lip Lin and Mr Ng Pock Too, I have two small suggestions to make which will improve the traffic flow on our roads. These proposals are unlikely to incur huge expenditure of public funds. Sir, I am sure many of us have waited at traffic light junctions when, in fact, there is no cross traffic that conflicts with the possibility of making a left-turn when the traffic light is red. In the United States where they drive on the right side of the road, certain cities, in fact, allow right turn on red where traffic conditions permit. This has in fact shortened the waiting time of motorists at the traffic junction. I think similar rules can be considered in Singapore. There are in fact many junctions in Singapore where the Public Works Department could selectively permit left-turn on red to ease the traffic flow on the road. I urge the Minister to consider this suggestion seriously. The second suggestion I have, Sir, is with regard to the efficient use of traffic lights at a junction where a minor road joins a major road. Many times the traffic light is green for the minor road and allows the traffic to join the main road when indeed there are no waiting vehicles on the minor road to join traffic on the major road. Under those circumstances, all the vehicles on the road have to stop to wait for the traffic light to change and everybody just waits there twiddling their thumbs. Sir, time is money and I believe the pace of life in Singapore has reached a point where such inefficient use of traffic lights is no longer acceptable to Singaporeans. In fact, the solution is very simple.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, most of the points I want to raise under this heading have been covered by my colleagues. So I am not going to say anything further, but to urge the Minister to resolve the problem within the Resettlement Department so that outstanding payment to the resettled farmers can be paid out expeditiously.”
“Sir, the racial balance policy for HDB estates was implemented by the Government to prevent the emergence of racial enclaves in our HDB estates, since such racial enclaves would bring about a whole host of problems, undesirable ones. This is a policy that I support and will continue to support. However, HDB's implementation of this policy has resulted in a situation where, for certain highly desirable estates, there are indeed apartments which remain unallocated for several years. Such a situation could be found in the Toh Yi Drive Estate in the Bukit Timah Constituency. In this estate, the apartments are mainly 4-room, 5-room and the Executive types. As a result of the characteristics of the estate, the minority communities do not find it suitable or desirable. Hence, those flats set aside for the minority communities have not been taken up since the estate was first allocated to the public close to two years ago. To apply the racial balance rules rigidly would mean that there is every likelihood that these apartments will remain vacant for many more years to come while, at the same time, there are many families who would be more than happy to move into these apartments. To me, this is a bit ironic and a waste of public funds. Truly, this could not be the aim of the racial balance policy. I think it would be useful to rationalise this policy. One way would be to release these apartments set aside under the racial balance rules to the public at large after a certain period of time when the estate has been allocated to the public. This period could be one year, 1 1/2 years or 2 years. I hope the Minister will review the implementation of the racial balance policy in HDB estates and be flexible so that the shortcomings I have identified can be remedied.”
“While we may pay him an allowance, $150 or $200 a month, in fact the opportunity cost of hiring him, the shadow cost to the economy of doing without him, maybe $500, $600, $700 a month, if he were out as a construction worker or in a factory or doing some other job. So we must use national servicemen as if they were costing us $500 or $700 a piece, and not as cheap labour. There was a time when we had drivers for staff cars. We scrapped those. There was a time when we had GD men, also called Maintenance Assistants, whose job was to keep the grounds clean. We did away with those. We redeployed all the men we could into combat and combat-related jobs because that is where you cannot hire civilians to replace them and do the duty. Where the job can be done by a civilian, for example, a clerk, to type or to operate the telephone and computer, and does not involve either military training or exposure to combat conditions, we have, even where it has cost more, converted national service posts into regular posts or into civilian posts so as to save on national service manpower. We must continue to do this because notwithstanding the increase in the birth rate over the last two years, we are not going to see the dividends for 17 more years, until the babies now born have grown up. Meanwhile, we must use manpower very cautiously. Indeed, even if we had more people we would still have to do that. That is one reason why we are very reluctant to call up women, apart from the valid reasons which Dr Aline Wong pointed out just now. To call up women is to take, at considerable cost to the economy, additional manpower, or women power, which Mindef will then use as if it is cheap. I do not think that is a good thing to do.”
“BG Lee Hsien Loong: Sir, Mindef has no model to assess how much extra growth we will get if national service is shorter. We can do a back of an envelope calculation, that if each person works for about 40 years of his life, between the age of 20 and 60 years, every extra year you can get out of a person's working life means one part in 40 of output, which means about 2 1/2%, and therefore multiply it out. The problem with the model is not the arithmetic. It is how do you model war, tribute, danegeld. You can have shorter national service. Will you have greater security? Will you have enough security? If because of much shorter national service, confidence in the safety of the economy is shaken, by how much will the manufacturing sector shrink because investment will go elsewhere? How much will the finance sector shrink because people will no longer deposit their savings in Singapore and manage their funds in Singapore? By how much will the overall economy shrink because Singaporeans will themselves eventually lose confidence and may migrate in even greater numbers than presently? I do not have a model to solve those answers. I do know that with the present dispensation, two years of national service for other ranks, 2 1/2 years for "A" levels, corporals and officers, we have managed 8% growth per year for a long time and we should be able to manage 6% growth per year for a long time more. I would suggest that that is not an inconsiderable rate of growth, and if the formula has worked we should leave it be and continue along the present path. As for using national servicemen wisely, that is a very important corollary of what I have said.”
“Sir, in his reply to an Oral Question submitted by Dr Ong Chit Chung, the Member for Bukit Batok, the Second Minister for Defence (Services), BG Lee, mentioned in passing that he was aware of the impact of the length of national service and the call-up of reservists on the national economy. By retaining the NS men in the SAF, Mindef is effectively withdrawing this valuable pool of manpower from the national economy. If full-time national service could be shortened, then conceivably our GDP would have shown a higher growth rate. How much, the Minister did not say. For instance, if NS is shortened by six months, how much faster would the economic growth be? 1/2%, 1%? This additional growth that we would otherwise have enjoyed is indeed a hidden cost of our national service. Hence, the use of NS men comes with a cost to the society, a cost to the country. Mindef therefore should make use of these valuable resources wisely. I would like to find out whether Mindef has an economic model simulating various lengths of national service, say, 1 1/2 years, 2 years, 2 1/2 years, etc, and a model yielding various corresponding GDP growth figures. I know for a fact that other countries with compulsory national service, including a few NICs, have done such studies. I would not be surprised if Mindef or its R&D arm, Defence and Science Organisation, has looked into this. It will be interesting to know those answers. Sir, in effect, we are actually committing more of our GDP on defence than the 6% that the Government has come to use as a yardstick. I would urge the Government leaders to acknowledge this higher than publicised cost publicly or reduce the percentage of GDP claimed by Mindef by an amount equivalent to this hidden cost.”
“With 2-2 1/2 years head start, the girls have gone ahead over the guys. Of course, over the long term, when this young lady gets married and starts to bear children, this initial head start in career they have gained would fizzle out as the women take maternity leave to have babies and tend to their families. However, for those women who have chosen to remain single, this head start advantage becomes permanent. Furthermore, if the employers take into consideration the annual leave of the reservist which is typically three weeks for the entry level reservist and their reservist obligation which could stretch from 3-5 weeks annually, these employees will be absent from their jobs for as long as two months in one year. For small and medium-sized companies, it is a problem the employer would prefer to avoid, where possible. Like it or not, other than those who work for the Government, the reservists face real disadvantages in the job market, compared to male permanent residents or single females. Of course, as I said earlier, in a tight market, these advantages do not manifest themselves in a noticeable extent. Nonetheless, these are burdens which the reservist must bear. Sir, I support the call to give greater recognition to the contributions of our reservists. This recognition could be fiscal or non-fiscal. Personally, I would advocate fiscal incentives. One possibility would be a tax free allowance pegged to the military rank when they are serving in their reservist training.”
“Sir, I would like to add my voice to my colleagues on this issue of recognition for reservists. We all recognise that the reservists perform indispensable service to the nation. The prosperity of Singapore today is built on the bedrock of a strong SAF. The reservists are the backbone of the SAF. Yet, in terms of benefits and recognition, other than some of the sports and recreational facilities at various reservists' associations, they are not given very much. True, reservists serve the country not for any benefit, but for the love of the country and the obligation of a citizen. Still, I think we should recognise their contributions. After all, they have to overcome certain disadvantages in competing for jobs or if they want to start their own business, even though at the moment the reservists do not face any blatant discrimination in the workforce. Let me elaborate. For companies that are too small to duplicate the skills so that someone can cover the reservists when they are called for training, the employers would prefer to favour permanent residents or females. For reservists who are self-employed and running a small-scale business of their own, the long reservist training is disruptive to their business. Currently, of course, the tight labour market also makes it very difficult or uneconomical for them to find any help to carry them over during those periods when they are called up for training. Furthermore, for those reservists who have gone through tertiary education in the polytechnics and in the university, they are also saddled with a disadvantage compared to their female counterparts. When these reservists start work, more often than not, their immediate bosses at work are females of their own age group who do not have to serve national service.”
“I hope the Minister will sympathetically consider these special cases and further demonstrate in a real and meaningful way how we as a people could help ease the burden of the families concerned and raise the quality of life. Sir, a key concern of the future is how to enhance the competitiveness of our economy. The other newly industrialising countries are intensely competitive. They have greater resources and, in some cases, a more highly educated population. Europe after 1992, as pointed out by the previous speaker, will present new challenges and opportunities to many countries. Hence, our constant search for higher productivity, more value added and knowledge intensive industries. Our wage increases should not outstrip the productivity gains. More importantly, we as a people, must pull together to achieve common goals. In our pursuit of excellence we should not forget those who are unable to run on the fast track. All Singaporeans can and must make their contributions. The financial policy for 1990 has provided us the framework for Singapore to achieve sustainable growth. Let us work together for a brighter future for all Singaporeans. 2.16 pm”
“Sir, in November 1989, it was announced that the foreign worker levy would be raised from $250 to $280 from February this year and to $300 from August 1990. It is well accepted that the demand for foreign workers has to be contained and controlled. However, such increases introduced in quick succession have given rise to difficulties to small businesses especially. Their operating costs have been increased. In particular, some contracts have been priced based on the previous foreign worker levy levels. The viability of some of these projects has been adversely affected. Sir, there are certain sectors where the value added may not be the highest, but the need for foreign workers is equally, if not, more acute. For example, cleansing services, grasscutting and emergency repairs of utility pipes. The quality of our environment will deteriorate if the contractors concerned could not afford to engage the required number of foreign workers because of the higher levies. Sir, I am very glad that the tax relief for aged parents and handicapped dependants has been raised to $3,500 from Year of Assessment 1991. This is in line with the policy of encouraging families to care for the parents and handicapped dependants. I recall raising this matter on more than one occasion last year and I wish to thank the Minister for making this gesture. I would like this year to renew the call to grant some flexibility in granting tax relief. In certain cases where the aged parent or handicapped child requires costly medical care and rehabilitative treatment, eg, speech therapy, physiotherapy, which are not exactly inexpensive, perhaps we can consider granting a higher maximum relief.”
“May I make a couple of additional suggestions which could perhaps further promote Singapore as a financial centre? The first point relates to the tax on unit trust profits or gains. At present, the profits made by unit trust managers are subject to tax. A concessionary rate is applicable, ie, 10% of the corporate tax rate which is now 31%, giving an effective rate of 3.1%. The amount of tax collected is relatively small. However, the imposition of the tax serves as a psychological deterrent to potential investors. When investors buy and sell shares on their own, whatever gains made are not taxable. Investments in unit trusts whose gains are taxed at 3.1% are therefore less attractive. From the point of view of the unit trust managers, the computation of tax, generation of reports and submission of statutory returns are complicated by the imposition of this 3.1% tax. Whilst the Government is rightly concerned with efficiency and effectiveness of the Ministries, it is equally important to simplify procedures in the private sector as well. It is noteworthy that the unit trust gains are not taxable in Hong Kong. I hope the Minister will further review the rationale for this tax. The second point relates to the tax incentives given to off-shore investment management. At present, investment managers who look after the portfolio of non-residents enjoy tax exemption in respect of the investments in equities, bonds, foreign currencies and financial futures. However, the qualifying assets do not include gold and other precious metals. Could the Minister review the suggestion to widen the scope of qualifying assets to include these metals? This will make the scheme even more attractive to the non-residents who may have a preference for these assets.”
“In this way, we would be able to ensure our future economic viability and progress thus bringing about better economic prospects for all of us. Mr Lau Ping Sum (Yio Chu Kang): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister for Finance last week gave a clear and comprehensive account of how our economy performed in 1989 and the various ways in which we could strive to grow at high and sustainable rates. The overall growth rate of 9.2% for last year was commendable as it was better than those for the other NICs. Although there was slower growth in the electronics industry, 10% as compared to 28% in 1988, which was brought about by a slow-down in world demand for disk drives, the manufacturing sector managed a 9.9% growth. In the case of the construction sector, the 1.3% growth rate last year was remarkable, compared to -9.8% and -4.4% in the two preceding years. The level of activities in this sector has been raised by renewed demand for quality residential properties and office space. It is encouraging to note that in recent years, some contractors have ventured overseas. And with considerable experience in public housing and high-rise buildings, they are well placed to put their experience to good use in similar projects overseas. Last year, the best growth rate was registered by the financial and business services sector and, in particular, the financial services sub-sector grew at 22%, which was 7% higher than in 1988. This was brought about by expansion in all areas of domestic banking, Asian dollar market, financial futures, foreign exchange and fund management. This is indeed good news for it means that we are making good and steady progress in developing Singapore as a financial centre.”
“This will also be of benefit to them. On the other hand, we should also encourage our local companies to export more to these countries and even expand their businesses and operation into these overseas markets which should be of mutual benefit. Sir, the Eastern European countries will in 1992 form a common market with the Western European countries which will be an important economic and trading bloc. Therefore, the Economic Development Board and the Trade Development Board should consider setting up offices in these countries and organise industrial and commercial study delegations to these countries. Exhibiting our products there would encourage them to be interested in us and enable our companies and people to make some inroads into their markets by setting up joint enterprises to overcome their trade and tariff barriers as the Japanese have done. This would be of mutual benefit. Japan is a country whose economy depends on exporting their goods to foreign countries. In order to make inroads into the foreign major markets and avoid trade barriers, they have joint businesses with countries in such manufacturing fields as motorcar production and others. As a result, Japan's cars and products are freely available in most of the US and European markets and has help Japan to earn billions of trade surpluses every year. Mr Chairman, Sir, for our long-term economic benefit, we should not depend on only a few foreign countries for our international markets and be subjected to their changing conditions. We should have more businesses and economic relationship with more countries and encourage our commercial, industrial and economic enterprises to advance into more international markets by diversifying our products and economic activities.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, we should encourage our talented who have the initiative and ambition to set up or develop their companies and businesses locally, even to help them expand, as this will benefit our nation. We must realize that multi-national companies which sited their establishments or operations in Singapore are usually based on profits and benefits which they can derive from their operations. If other neighbouring countries could provide them with better benefits and profits, then they will move their factories away to such countries. Only our local companies and entrepreneurs who have a stake in our country will stay in our country for good. Mr Chairman, Sir, American and the Western European Markets take up approximately 50% of our total exports. Therefore, their economic performance have a great bearing on our export and economy. Last year, their economic recession had caused a reduction in our export to 8.5% growth as compared with 32% in 1988. According to economic reports, the American economic growth in 1990 has decreased to 2.3% from 2.9% in 1989. This year, the economic growth of Britain and West Germany will be lower than last year. We should therefore strive to develop our trade with the other international markets over the coming years. Recently, at an international economic conference held in Switzerland, our Prime Minister appealed to the Western European countries not to neglect the Asia-Pacific Rim economies which are rapidly advancing but take part in their development. Only the United States and Japan are having more invest- ments in this region. So the Western European industrialized countries should pay more attention to the Asia and Pacific Rim countries and invest more and take part in the economic development of this region.”
“From the Economic Report, we understand that every year many companies have benefited from it. However, these are only the well-established companies. Enterprising people and professionals who want to start a company or newly set-up companies usually have to seek aid from private banks because the EDB does not have any financial assistance scheme for them. But the banks would required these people to provide collaterals as security before loans could be made available to them. Such people who have the talent, initiative, good plans and foresight to start new enterprises would usually be put off as they are bogged down by capital financing. They are then in a quandary as they do not have the financial assistance to start up. I feel that EDB should encourage and help these people, particularly our experienced managerial personnel and our ambitious and enterprising professionals, especially those who have the experience working in multi-national companies and who have good plans to set up their own businesses to enable them to fulfil their ambitions. EDB should also identify those with viable projects and give them all the necessary help including providing them with loans, through a special fund, for the initial set up of their businesses. EDB could also give them indirect economic aid, such as appointing local banks to give them loans at low interests rate. EDB should also consider to allow permanent residents who have deposited of half to one million dollars to finance these viable projects by helping our experienced professionals to set up businesses, and at the same time take part in our economic development.”
“If the Minister could also give increased tax deductions to include the wife and the children, then this budget would make everybody very happy. Sir, stock exchange has become an important component in our financial market development. In order to encourage our stock exchange market to be more competitive, electronic transfer of shares would be exempted from stamp duty, thus reducing cost. The Government had announced in 1987 that certain statutory board and government-owned enterprises would be privatised in 10 years and would seek enlistment on the stock exchange. This measure will surely encourage people to use their CPF savings to buy the shares of these corporations as the shares are expected to be good quality blue chips. I believe that with more people investing in these corporations which are well managed and organised, more people will enjoy the benefits of such shares, thus contributing to our economic growth. In this respect, I hope the Government will provide ample opportunities for the ordinary man in the street to buy the shares of these corporations. Besides allowing CPF holders to subscribe to these shares, perhaps the Government should also consider to allot these shares into smaller units, say 500 per lot instead of 1,000 to enable more people access to such shares. With more people having a share in the benefits of these corporations, I believe they will feel that they have a stake in the economice welfare of our country, thus leading to better national consciousness. Mr Chairman, Sir, in the past few years, the Economic Development Board has been encouraging and helping medium and small industries to develop. There are various aids, capital as well as practical technical assistance to help them organise and develop.”
“Moreover, the MCD budget for this year actually shows a decrease in the social transfer provisions under Welfare Services, which means that the rank of the public assistance recipients is getting thin. This probably means that the people on the public assistance scheme are slowly dying off. I myself am not in favour of comprehensive social welfare like those found in the Western countries. But for the unfortunate in our midst who are dependent on social welfare, I think we can be more generous. Mr Speaker, Sir, I hope the Minister will be generous in this respect. Let us make this Budget a "Celebration Budget" for everyone this year - the 25th anniversary of Singapore's independence. Mr Yeo Toon Chia (Ang Mo Kio)( In Mandarin): Mr Chairman, Sir, 1989 was a year when our economy had the greatest achievement. Our growth was 9.2% and we had a surplus of $4,800 million. This is the highest on record. In the new Budget, our total revenue is estimated to be $15,600 million and minus the estimated total expenditure of $14,100 million, there will be a surplus of $1,500 million. This is all due to our new economic policies, management measures and business acumen which led to steady economic growth and to the completion of various major development projects. The Minister for Finance in making his Budget Statement announced that there would be no increase in all the existing taxes. Even liquor and tobacco which were usually subjected to yearly tax increases, are not affected in this budget. On the contrary, there would be various tax concessions. In order to encourage early procreation, young couples who have their children early are given income tax rebates increase of $20,000. There is also an increased tax deduction of $3,500 for maintaining old parents.”
“Secondly, Mr Speaker, Sir, I understand that the welfare benefits that Government provides are tied to two concepts - firstly, the minimum household expenditure; secondly, the annual inflation rate. I also understand that Ministries, other than the Ministry of Community Development, are involved in the determination of what goes into the minimum household expenditure basket and what goes into the consumer price index basket which yields the inflation rate. I would urge the Government to review the basket of items that make up the minimum house- hold expenditure and to determine whether these items are still relevant in today's Singapore. There may be many items that are optional 25 years ago and which are considered basic necessities today. For instance, telephone services might be considered a luxury item in the past. But I think most people would agree that it should be considered a necessity today. Correspondingly, I would urge the Government to re-evaluate the basket of goods that go to make up the consumer price index to determine whether they are still appropriate. Hopefully, with this review, the support given to those on public assistance scheme can be increased. The current monthly support for one person on the public assistance scheme is $120. Mr Speaker, Sir, just for comparison, there are many things that the middle-class Singaporeans would spend on in one month, and they would spend more than $120 a month on those items. For instance, the average motorist would spend more than this on petrol in one month. I understand the reluctance of the Government to increase social benefits. However, the criteria to qualify for public assistance scheme are already very stringent. As such, the chances of abuse are rather low.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this Budget reflects the pragmatic fiscal policy of the Government which is pro-business and pro-individual initiative. By reducing the tax rate for companies, the Budget gives those profitable companies greater incentive to do even better. By giving the individuals a once-off 5% income tax rebate, the Government is giving the individuals the incentive to work harder and to better themselves. Furthermore, by returning more money to the people, the Government is giving more disposable income to those who can decide for themselves how best to spend them. This would debunk the false public opinion that we have heard quite often that this Government, in its policy implementation, is interested primarily in enriching its coffers. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Straits Times has called it a "Celebration Budget". I think, but for one small element, albeit an important element, this is indeed a Celebration Budget. The Minister did not really give away any goodies but his Budget does tax everyone who is paying tax a little less. However, for those unfortunate in our society who are paying little or no tax, in particular those on public assistance scheme, this Budget has nothing for them. To them, there is little to celebrate; to them, this is a tax less Budget. I am making the request that the Minister review the plight of the people at the bottom of the pile in our society and give them something to celebrate as well. I am bringing up the issue here, Mr Speaker, Sir, rather than at the Committee of Supply for two reasons. Firstly, helping those on the public assistance scheme is a matter of principle. This is the time to discuss issues of principle. Setting this principle straight is important before we get into the details.”
“Sir, is it not true that under the Housing and Development rules, private developers are prevented from imposing exorbitant administrative fees? In this case, would Pidemco, as a private company, be subject to the same rules from imposing, what the market would call, such exorbitant administrative fees or, what you would call, a levy in that specific case?”
“Sir, is it not true that under certain circumstances, before a property can be transacted, Pidemco would have to give its permission and, under those circumstances, Pidemco would normally levy a certain administrative fee?”
“May I ask the Minister whether under the quota system the premium to be paid by a taxi operator under the prevailing rate will be for a 10-year period. I am sure the Minister is aware that the taxi has a mandatory lifespan of seven years. Would he consider allowing the taxi operator only to pay 70% of the prevailing rate rather than 100%? I have another question for the Minister. To prevent speculative bidding by individuals, would he consider levying an administrative charge every time a bid is tendered?”
“Sir, would he then explain why CPF would not recognise the rate of fees of SGH as the official rate so that Medisave can be used to offset the costs incurred by the patient?”
“I do not think a motorcycle is an equivalent substitute for a car. One way out is not to grant a perpetual licence under the quota system which is equivalent to saying that if a person wants to drive a new car, he or she would then have to obtain a licence by bidding for the licence every time he wants to own a new car. This modification would be equitable. Mr Lew Syn Pau has already proposed this, and I agree with him thoroughly. The quota system, Mr Speaker, Sir, in my opinion, is a good one and should be implemented in Singapore. There are of course many details which the Committee has not touched on. Rightfully, they fall under the ambit of the MCI. If the Government accepts the recommendations, then MCI would have to study all these alternatives thoroughly before introducing the system so that it will be fair and equitable to all concerned. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion standing in the name of Dr Hong Hai.”
“Under the proposed quota system, if that is the way it will operate, if a person can afford it, it will be wise for him to lock in the market early by buying several cars as soon as the quota system is implemented so that he can keep it for his own use or to ensure that his children can be assured of driving a car. As such, Mr Speaker, Sir, a lot of people will see the proposed quota system to be very unfair and only benefiting the rich. Quite unlike real estate investment, if a person cannot afford to live in a private property, he can live in an HDB flat. But in car ownership, either he owns a car or he does not. There is really no equivalent substitute. An hon. Member: Motorcycle!”
“If we allow an existing car to be scrapped for a new one, while it seems logical since doing so does not contribute to an increase in the car population, however, if that is true, then when the very first auction is held in future under the quota system, we will know what is the bid price for the quota. If existing car owners can buy a new car by scrapping their old cars, then it is equivalent to giving all existing car owners a windfall gain equal, if not greater than the lowest bid in the auctions. I think to many people this will be very unfair. Of course, this can be overcome by requiring all existing car owners to bid for a licence as well when the quota system is introduced, ie, only new cars registered under the quota system can be scrapped one for one. If that is the case, I do not see why people should speculate now by buying old cars. There is also really no reason for old car prices to increase since the Report was released. Even with this one-time limitation, the question of fairness still remains when an existing car can be scrapped in exchange for a new one under the quota system in a steady state. As several Members and also the Minister have mentioned, it is equivalent to a perpetual licence. In other words, once a person obtains a licence, he gets to keep it for life. Not only that, he will be able to pass it on to his children. That would be just like buying a house in the private market. Clearly, a perpetual licence will be worth a lot of money in 10-15 years' time.”
“Even with the ERP system, the car population will still need to be controlled since there is no stopping the occurrence when car owners of Singapore all decide to go to the same place at the same time. It is already happening to a limited extent on festive seasons when a large number of Singaporeans decide to go to Malaysia at the same time. Several of the Committee Members also started with strong preferences for usage measures as well, like other Members of the House. But as we delved into the matter deeper, we all converged to the same conclusion, ie, car ownership measures would work, and not usage measures alone. Since Committee Members are all rational, logical like everyone else, I would urge Members of the House to weigh the pros and cons of the recommendations carefully in evaluating them. The beauty of the proposed quota system is that the number of new cars on the road can be controlled precisely. Price will then fluctuate according to demand. Of course, as the Minister has mentioned, before the quota system can be implemented, there are many issues which we must address. Dr Hong Hai earlier distributed a diagram showing how the quota system would work, ie, one can buy a new car in two ways: bid for a licence which the Government will auction regularly, or scrap an existing car. Unfortunately, I think the diagram is a bit misleading as it conveys certain assumptions and certain implications which already lead to specu- lative activities on the car market right now. Let me go one step further in analyzing these assumptions.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, to begin with, I would like to express my gratitude to the House to allow me to serve on the Select Committee on Land Transportation Policy. I have also enjoyed working with the other Members on the Select Committee, in particular Dr Hong Hai who chaired the Committee. Dr Hong Hai is a hardworking Chairman. Under his stewardship, the Committee was able to make very good headway within a very short period of time. The Committee is unanimous in agreement with its recommendations. Of course, of these recommendations, the proposed quota system for cars is obviously the most controversial one. The Committee supports the quota system because it is the most reliable method of controlling the car population on the road. Given the recent emphasis on usage measures, I think the general public are a bit surprised that the Committee is seen to take a 90 degree turn when it proposed the quota system which is an ownership measure. The Members of the Committee, after going through all the submissions and all the oral evidence presented, came to the conclusion that the primary mechanism for controlling traffic congestions on the road would be through ownership measures, and that usage measures will and can only serve to permit a slight increase in the car population, maintaining the same level of congestion on the road through distributing the traffic more evenly. To expect usage measures alone to manage traffic congestions on our road is unrealistic. Moreover, when people talk about usage measures, many of them assume the existence of a comprehensive and operational ERP system. Of course, as we all know, even the most rudimentary ERP system will not be ready for at least four to five years.”