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, I would say that opening up the university degrees through part-time studies would alleviate some of these problems that I have highlighted. In the case of Polytechnic diploma holders, they are already acquiring the necessary experience at the workplace. All they need is the theoretical education. I urge the Minister to consider providing them an opportunity to acquire an engineering degree through part-time studies. The concern about standards here can be overcome by having them sit for the same examination as the full-time students in the engineering courses in NUS and NTI. I propose engineering first because I perceive that there is a demand for this and being a purely technical degree this would be easy to implement. After this has been proven successful the concept of continuing education at the tertiary level can be extended to other disciplines. I hope the Minister will consider this favourably.”
“While there is a great demand for engineers, these professionals without a degree are quite frustrated in their quest for advancement. They would like to acquire better academic qualifications. To date some of them get enrolled into NTI. Failing that the only avenue left would be to go overseas which means interruption of their career and incurring large expenses. Some of these individuals become disillusioned about Singapore because once they are overseas they realize that the reason they were unable to advance their career is not the result of any limitations on their capabilities but because the Singapore system does not cater for late bloomers through the provision of continuing education, particularly at the tertiary level. They are aware of the argument that the country should not subsidize the education of any individual more than once, particularly at the tertiary level. To them, this argument is no longer acceptable. Not at a time when the continuing upgrading of even the unskilled or semi-skilled workers has been recognized so that these workers can keep up with the changing technologies as stated by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement. After these individuals went overseas, some of them decided to remain behind after their education as they found that the overseas countries provide better opportunities for them to advance and thereby contribute towards the brain drain. If we were concerned about brain drain then we shall be cognizance of these issues. Even if they return, some of them could harbour a sense of frustration towards the Singapore society and the Government since they will query our value system, having been forced to go overseas to upgrade themselves.”
“Sir, from today's proceedings, it is quite clear that there is a very strong urge among Singaporeans to acquire a university education. This urge takes the form of requests to use the CPF for education and call for a higher intake into the local universities. Enough Members have spoken on it earlier and the Minister has given his reply convincingly and comprehensively. Instead, I would like to address an issue that is equally emotional, and that is, the issue of part-time studies for a university degree for individuals who did not get into the university in the earlier part of their life. They were unable to do so for a variety of reasons. For instance, they might have been deterred by the stringent requirements of a second language at the'A' level and decided to get a diploma at the Polytechnics instead. Other reasons include financial difficulties, family demand for earlier work start date, etc. These individuals find that the lack of proper qualifications hinder their career advancement. They would like to make up the gap in their professional qualifications, ie, getting a Bachelor Degree. They will find that the opportunity to do so is rather limited in Singapore, especially on a part-time basis. As a specific example, let me refer to the professionals in the engineering field who fall into this category. These individuals could be of very high inert abilities indeed. They say that the very best polytechnic graduates are as good or better in calibre than the below average Engineering graduates. At the moment in Singapore it is quite short of engineers, especially electrical engineers and electronic engineers. A fresh graduate in this field commands a starting salary in the range of $1,800 to $2,000 per month.”
“At the moment Zhi Ma Lu Dou only depicts the social life of the Chinese segment of our Singapore society. The availability of a second language soundtrack would then encourage a more realistic representation of a cross-section of the Singapore society which is, of course, multi-racial. Then some scenes involving Singaporeans of all races can be easily incorporated into the current drama serials. I hope the Minister would consider my suggestions.”
“Sir, thank you for the opportunity. Everybody watches TV; as such, SBC plays a very important and effective role in forging a national identity. Here I echo the sentiment of the Member for Changi that the programme "Today in Parliament" has educated a large segment of our population regarding the nature and working of Parliament. The recent GRC Select Committee proceedings had also attracted the attention of a large segment of our citizens. In presenting this programme, I have found the editorial staff to be fair and unbiased, perhaps a bit more than fair. For instance, the time allocated to the sole Opposition Member, Member for Potong Pasir, is by far greater than the ratio he deserved, if one goes strictly by the proportion of the number of Members in the House. My only complaint is that the times allocated to the Backbenchers sometimes do not do justice to them. Besides programming improvement, I would also urge SBC to look into technical improvement as well. For instance, television with stereo soundtrack has been available in other parts of the world for several years. On this item, for instance, on many occasions when I watch cultural programmes on Channel 12, I wish they are in this stereophonic sound so that one can really enjoy the programmes. The other technical improvement I can think of, that is worthwhile looking into, is the simultaneous broadcasting of a second language sound track on a FM channel, for instance, in popular show like Zhi Ma Lu Dou. So this way when a popular show like that is broadcast, those who would like to listen to the English version can tune their FM radio to the second channel. So everyone watching the programme, regardless of their language preferences, can enjoy the show.”
“Among these habitual vagabonds, are there any non-resident Singaporeans who commute to Singapore to ply their trade?”
“On top of that, by doing so, we will also be rid of the unpleasant situation that we find ourselves today. Every so often people will be fined and made an example of for not having a licence when they operate a receiver. Every so often one will hear messages over the radio and television reminding us that an inspector will be visiting your home or is in the vicinity of your home very soon and please have your licence handy for inspection. All this, Sir, I say will contribute to a sense of a big brother government which I think is unnecessary in the first place. I would like to ask the Minister to look into this legislation as it has obviously become outdated. It has also become difficult as well as counter-productive to enforce. I urge the Minister to consider doing away with the current radio and television licences requirement and to compensate for SBC's loss in revenue Government could collect the equivalent amount through another existing revenue channel such as property tax or income tax. I hope the Minister will consider this proposal.”
“So clearly whatever the rationale requiring a licence to operate a TV or radio receiver was, the current regulation has become mainly a means of collecting revenue to fund the SBC. Under current regulations, every television or radio set outside the home requires a separate licence, for example, a radio in a car or boat or the one a person carries with him, like the Walkman set. Technology has also thrown a monkey-wrench into the enforcement of this legislation since there are now radio sets as small as a credit card. TV sets are also getting smaller. When a person walks down Orchard Road merrily listening to his credit card radio, he is indeed violating the rules if he does not carry a licence. In terms of cars, for every 10 cars in Singapore, I would say probably more than half would have a radio in them. I would also imagine that many motorists are indeed violating the rules daily. Sir, I would say that SBC shall be funded and will be funded one way or the other. However, since the ownership of radio and television is already universal, would it not be simpler if the revenue collection is done via some other means? I would say that let's be done with licences. One possibility would be to collect the SBC due together with property tax. In this case, the rationale will be that every household in Singapore should contribute to SBC. The other way to collect the revenue will be via income tax on the rationale that every working adult should contribute since he is likely to listen to radio or watch TV in the course of the financial year. Doing so shall result in a better utilization of our resources and in savings of manpower since the duplicate revenue collecting agency is thereby removed.”
“The licence is also not meant to grant permission to someone to engage in money-making occupations. When a person turns on a radio or TV set, he is not engaged in any trade nor does turning on a radio or TV require special skills. So a licence here is not meant to certify that the person is fit to operate one. So why a licence? The only reason I can think of is that it is used to collect revenue. It is used to collect revenue for the broadcast of radio and television programmes in Singapore, in this case, SBC. Indeed, if one looks at the Annual Report of SBC, licence fee collection forms a major item of its revenue in the range of 29-30%. Thus, I believe the term "licence" here is a misnomer. I think we should call a rose a rose. The licence in this case is just a receipt for the money we have paid to help SBC to put programmes into the air waves, like Today in Parliament. The rationale for acquiring licences for operating a radio or television set might be appropriate during the time of the enactment of this legislation. When it was first implemented, there were very few radio receivers and indeed no TV set. From a subsidy point of view, it is and it would be unfair for radio and later television to be subsidized by the public at large while the audience were mainly the elite of the society. However, Sir, times have changed. Now ownership of TVs and radios is universal in Singapore. There is also no attempt to control who can own and operate a radio and TV set. In fact, SBC should be and is actually encouraging an ever-increasing number of people to tune in to their programmes. Indeed, if the number of people who tune in to SBC programmes declines, that would be bad news to SBC.”
“Sir, my topic this afternoon is on radio and television licences. The operation of a radio or a television set in Singapore requires a licence under the existing regulations. With almost universal ownership of these radio and television sets in Singapore homes today, I think this piece of legislation is showing its age. The more I think of it the more I would contend that a radio and television licence is not a licence in the normal usage of this term. When is a licence not a licence? To answer the question, let us look at some examples. One can think of a driver's licence. In this case, a motor vehicle can be a dangerous thing in the hands of an untrained or unsound individual. So a driver must be certified to have acquired certain skills in order to be allowed on the road. A driver's licence is therefore a licence of competency. It is used to control who can and who cannot operate a motor vehicle. Similarly, a pilot's licence is to ensure that a person flying a plane has the skills to do so. One can also think of a hawker licence. In this case, a person with a hawker licence is one who has been given permission by the Government to participate in a certain trade to make a living. In this case, the number of hawkers in Singapore can be controlled via the issue of a licence. Similarly, one can think of a whole host of other licences, like liquor licence, etc. In this usage, the term "licence" is a permission given by the Government to an individual or company to operate a certain trade. Are radio and television licences being used to control the number of radio and television sets in Singapore? Other than during the Japanese Occupation, I believe the need for such control, especially today, is not evident.”
“Another point is if it depends entirely on market forces, sometimes the tender price could be high or sometimes low, then the existing method by the HDB allowing the person concerned to re-tender might solve the problem. Therefore, I would suggest that if we could make some modification and improvement to the tender system, then businessmen who are interested in such shops can make their own calculation and see under what kind of condition they can carry out what kind of business and not blame the Government for any consequence. So I hope the Minister will pay attention and give serious consideration to this matter.”
“I think the Minister will agree that for someone to see others continuously pre-empting him on this first-come first-served queue can be quite frustrating. Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Yuhua)( In Mandarin): Sir, today what I would like to talk about is the system of shop tender by HDB. According to general feedback, at present there are some shophouses built by HDB which are still empty and unoccupied. Some have been vacant for more than several months or even one year without anybody wanting to take them. It is really a waste. It may be due to the problem of poor locality or the paucity of population in those housing estates so that reserved tender prices could not reflect market conditions. For instance, certain lowest tender rate is $2,000. Perhaps market price was even lower than this figure. Therefore, businessmen would not like to tender for such shophouses or sometimes giving them up after half way through. Therefore, there is this phenomenon of empty shops. I would request the authorities concerned to pay attention to this phenomenon and try to resolve the problem. I suggest that the tender system by HDB should entirely depend on market conditions, ie, supply and demand. That is to say, we should not fix the minimum tender price and should allow the prevaling market to determine its prices and let the interested businessmen to tender for the shops. This is more flexible and can actually reflect the real condition of demand. Otherwise some shops could be vacant for months or a whole year. Market condition as determined by supply and demand is also in keeping with economic principles.”
“Sir, the topic of my presentation this afternoon is the impact of priority allocation on the waiting time for HDB flats. Sir, the allocation of an HDB flat has always been based on a time-honoured system of first-come first-served. This system is fair and nobody can argue or will argue with it. However, through the years, the Government has introduced a series of incentives to promote desirable social behaviours through priority allocation. The result is that those on the queue for housing without priority tend to get pushed back, at a times seems ad infinitum and especially if the counter staff at the HDB reinforce that idea. For instance, let us take the three-tier family scheme. By itself, it is a good scheme, promoting Singaporeans to continue living with their parents although at times due to basic incompatability between in-laws, getting them to stay together actually contributes to greater conflict among them. Nonetheless, the motivation is commendable. However, there are Singaporeans who, by turns of events, do not have parents to participate in this scheme. So these people, through no fault of their own, see themselves pushed back time and again from the queue, especially when highly desirable locations were put up in the market. One recent allocation of this highly desirable location happens to be in my constituency in Bukit Timah and enough applicants have complained to me to make an impression. Would the Minister elaborate on the whole allocation procedure and on the impact of various current priority allocation schemes on the waiting time for those without priority? Would the Minister consider setting some maximum waiting time for those who do not enjoy any priority but who have joined the queue purely on the first-come first-served basis?”
“Could we be over-providing for some Ministries? In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would say this is a budget that is very difficult to find fault with. As such, I find it easy to support.”
“I am sure the EDB will announce in due course the details of the criteria under which this double deduction provision will apply. I hope they will be clear to everyone involved. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have some comments on the new block vote allocation and control system announced by the Minister. By and large, to peg the expenditure of Government and each Ministry as a percentage of the GDP would ensure prudent fiscal policy. This is to be welcomed. My comment is on the amount set aside for recurrent expenditure for each Ministry. The Minister calls for maintaining the Ministry's recurrent expenditure per capita be maintained at the current level in real terms. My focus will be on the per capita provision. Under this guideline, as our population increases, while the per capita provision remains a constant value, the total sum provided for the Ministry will increase proportionally to the increase in population. This increase will come on top of the increase due to inflation. For those Ministries that deal with the public, I think the per capita provision is appropriate. As the number of Singa- poreans increases, it is logical that the provision will increase correspondingly. As an example, I can think of the Ministry of Community Development and Ministry of Health amongst others. But for Ministries that function mainly within the Government or those that deal with a fairly constant population pool, I am not so sure that this provision will not over-provide for the recurrent expenditure of that Ministry. The Ministry of Defence which has a constant force base and the Ministry of Finance seem to come to mind under this category. So my question to the Minister is whether all Ministries should be given the same proportional increases.”
“I would also like to see SDF - supported training to be as broad-based as possible. I find the Minister's decision to extend double deduction for research and development to selected service industries to be a commendable one. The double deductions were previously available only to manufacturing companies. Presumably in this case, the condition under which the R&D expense will be allowed would also apply to the service industries. The service industries include computer software, information services, agrotechnological services, laboratory and training services, medical research services. These are all target industries, the promotion of which will help their growth. And R&D forms a major expenditure for these companies. These are also sunrise industries that all developed countries would like to foster. As such, even in developed countries such as the US where R&D is already a well established mode of operations Government still provides fiscal incentives such as tax breaks. On top of that since the resources needed for such industries are trained brain power, these are ideal industries for Singapore. At this instance of time, any help provided to these industries will be most effective in fostering them. I welcome this move by the Minister. There are, however, operational questions on how to ascertain activities in these industries are indeed R&D related and thereby would qualify for double deduction. For instance, in the software development industry, the output is always computer codes. It can be rather difficult and subjected to dispute to decide whether a certain category of codes is indeed the output of R&D effort or another category of codes is not.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister in his Budget Statement touched on the Skills Development Fund. The SDF was established in October 1979 to provide financial assistance for the promotion, development and upgrading of skills of employees. By applying the levy only on those earning below a certain threshold, one gains the impression that these are the group of workers that need upgrading most. In his Budget, the Minister announced that the Government will be more liberal in disbursing SDF grants to support skills training for workers on a more extensive scale. This is to train the workers to adapt to technological changes in the industries. SDF disbursements will be increased substantially to achieve the target of increasing skills expenditure to 2% of payroll for the training of all employees by 1989 and to 3% by 1992. This is a good move that I am sure will be supported by employers and employees alike. Based on the current SDF levy, the outflow of funds will exceed the collection plus interest. The Minister has indicated that well before the SDF funds are depleted, the Government will consider how best to increase the SDF collection. I would say that there are three ways to increase the SDF collection. Firstly, to increase the levy; secondly, to increase the base the levy is imposed; and thirdly, both of the above. As to which shall be adopted, I would suggest that we look at the beneficiaries of the SDF disbursements. If that disbursement covers all employees, regardless of whether they are subject to SDF levy or not, then I would urge the Minister to consider broadening the base of SDF levies to cover most of those employees, perhaps by raising the threshold to a higher level. I believe this method of increasing the collection to be fair.”
“The very fact that we have foreign musicians is a very clear indication that we did not cultivate our own talent 20 years ago. Surely, we should not be in the same position 20 years hence. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Paper forms the basis for the future development of Singapore. I support the motion.”
“Since the growth of our population is limited, economic growth that funds future developments must come from increased productivity through the use of modern technology in every sphere of our activities, computer being only one aspect of this. Communications is another. For instance, we should introduce toll-free international telephone service in Singapore to promote the service-oriented industries. New services, such as Cellular radio telephones and teleview services should also be introduced aggressively to improve our productivity. On the subject of creativity, I believe the ability to be creative is inherent in our people. Right now, however, owing to the relentless pressure to excel in school, most children devote their energies in academic pursuit. This has resulted in the pressure-cooker syndrome in our education system. In fact, one of the reasons for some of our professionals to migrate to other countries is precisely this. So the question is: do we really want our children to grow up without the experience of joy of childhood where they only remember the rigours of school work? I believe, as we move into a more cultured society where people of all skills can make a comfortable living, the pressure to train everyone either as an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer, shall abate somewhat. This Green Paper calls for the promotion of arts and culture. We should evolve into a society where people who enrich our cultural life can make a reasonable living, just like the SSO musicians who are now making a reasonable living. However, most of these musicians are non-Singaporeans. Perhaps an SSO scholarship scheme should be introduced for aspiring young Singapore musicians.”
“For instance, we have reached a point in the evolution of our education system that a double-session school system is probably no longer appropriate for the optimum development of our students. We should implement expeditiously the full session school for secondary schools as well as extending this concept to the primary schools. Sure, such a step will be very costly but I believe it will be worth it as our future generations are involved. Recently, there also emerged public opinion calling for a review of our university admission policy. In the past, the number of university students has always been tied directly to manpower projections. This is a prudent policy. However, historical data have shown that the projections have been conservative year after year. This not only has led to a tight market for university students, graduates in general, but also in engineering and computer professionals in particular. Besides higher labour cost for these skills, this conservative forecast has resulted in aspiring students going overseas for education for those whose families can support them. How about those who are less fortunate? Hence, the recurrent calls to use CPF for education. As a result, to fill our needs in manpower, foreign graduates are hired to fill existing vacancies. I would call on the Government to work on getting the manpower projections to be done more accurately. If we were to be more aggressive in these projections and err on the liberal side, I think we should. From past experience, the chance of large numbers of unemployed graduates is low if Singapore continues to manage its economy well and achieves good economic growth. On the building of a technological society, the use of modern technology in our society should be continued and accelerated.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I was reading the Green Paper on the Agenda for Action - Goals and Challenges - a basic theme leaps out from the pages, ie, people, people and people. This is a people-oriented document. It covers the issues facing Singapore comprehensively but the thread that ties all these issues together is the focus on the people of Singapore on the full development of their potential as individuals as well as members of a nation. That this is so is not surprising at all since the document is a summary of a nationwide discussion that has been going on at every level of the society. It represents the distillation of the thoughts of thousands of Singaporeans, ordinary Singaporeans, men and women who make Singapore what it is today. It contains the aspirations for themselves and for Singapore. I believe all of us in this Chamber, including the Member for Potong Pasir, will find that in this document we are listening to the voices of the people of Singapore. Of the issues discussed in the Green Paper, I shall restrict my comment to only a few. On education, I believe this Paper echoes the aspirations of every Singaporean when it states in no uncertain terms that each member of the Singapore society shall be given the maximum opportunity to achieve his or her potential and that no student shall ever be denied an education he deserves for lack of money. The Ministry of Education is already introducing innovations in our education system by the implementation of the concept of independent schools. Besides this, I believe we should pursue the improvement of our schools at every level.”
“In my opinion, it is a privilege accorded by a country to protect the authors and the artists of their creative work. Like all privileges, it is something the host gives to the honoured guests, in particulars foreign guests. For foreign publications that dabble in Singapore's internal politics, they have forfeited their honoured guest status. Thus it is only logical that such privileges be withdrawn from them. Hence, I consider this amendment does not violate the fundamental principle of copyright. One final remark, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the operational aspect of this Bill. New section 17 (3) of this Bill stipulates that those who reproduce copies for circulations with the approval of the Minister cannot do it for profit. I would like to find out from the Minister how the Government proposes to monitor such policies. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support this amendment.”
“Many of us have read Shakespeare. Whenever I read the Merchant of Venice during my student days, I always loathed Shylock for the way he extracted repayment. I was young then. I consoled myself that, despicable though he is, Shylock is only a figment of imagina- tion. I am now wiser. So I would leave my fellow hon. Members to conclude in response to my earlier question. I can only say that next time when this man extends his hand to help, watch out. As the magazine reflects the man behind it, Singaporeans should read FEER in future with a new understanding, a new insight. Bear in mind the man behind those words. An additional 500 copies is a small number; not to circulate these does not hurt FEER any further than what it is now. However, by doing so, FEER completely deprives Singaporeans of the freedom to have access to the magazine. This is truly a regrettable act. In making the copying of a declared magazine by approval of the Minister free from the Copyright Act, this amendment will allow Singaporeans access to declared magazine that enforces a self-imposed ban. This amendment will ensure that free flow of information will continue to be practised in Singapore. Let me conclude by giving my own view on the concept of copyright. There are persons who hold the opinion that copyright is a basic right. Since it is composed of two words, "copy" and "right", so it must be a right. To take away a basic right seems like a very drastic measure. In response, I will ask this question: is copyright a basic right, like a birth-right, or is it a privilege? There are countries in this world where there are no comprehensive copyright laws. So clearly copyright is not a fundamental right.”
“For FEER, the publication of the advertisement has not been a cost-free one, just as a non-publication or a publication as a letter would not have been cost-free. FEER must have realized that. What they did is viewed with bad taste in the journalist circle. They quickly offered to donate the money to charity, in this case the Singapore Kidney Foundation, in a belated attempt to repair the damages. Clearly, it is on flimsy ground for, if one stands on sound principles, there is no need to shift. Is FEER a magazine of character? Now, since a publication is an inanimate object, its moral must reflect those of the man behind its editorial policies. So I shall rephrase my question: is the editor of FEER a man of character? I do not know the man personally, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, but one learns a lot from the following incident which was reported in the newspapers. A few years ago the editor of the FEER donated HK$500 to help a heart transplant patient who was a fellow journalist. When this journalist recently expressed a viewpoint different from the editor's, the editor said that he might now begin to regret that particular act of charity. Upon learning this, the journalist returned the HK$500. This editor's reaction, as quoted in the South China Morning Post, was, "I don't know how he [meaning the heart transplant patient] could return me the $500 unless he gave me a piece of his heart." The good editor considered that only by returning a piece of the heart could the journalist repay his $500. An hon. Member: Shylock.”
“When the Government agreed to its proposal with the condition that all advertisements be removed, it became very clear that Asian Wall Street Journal's motive was driven more by the need to protect the bottom line than by the principle to serve its readers. I for one was disappointed by the FEER when it decided to stop circulation entirely in Singapore. Its editorial proclaimed that it was "banned". We know, by any definition of the word, one cannot say that the magazine has been banned in Singapore. Why would FEER do this? It is clear that financially the additional 500 copies make no difference one way or the other to the fortune of FEER. Either way the 5% advertisement discount is inevitable, once the restriction order took effect. Perhaps through this action, FEER would like to show the world that it is a magazine of principle, that it is a magazine of character. But to stop circulation entirely is to prevent the access of information. To stop circulation entirely is to stop serving its readers, many of whom might have been subscribers for many, many years. Unilaterally, FEER has caused the cessation of its circulation in Singapore. To project itself as a magazine of principle, I submit, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, FEER has violated a greater principle of service and freedom of information as a journalistic publication. So we can conclude that FEER may not be a magazine that upholds service to its readers as an important principle. But how about the principle of fair and impartial editorship? FEER refused to publish the latest letter from James Fu claiming that the letter was sub judice. But for HK$30,000-odd, they swallowed their pride and principle.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, when the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act was debated in Parliament in 1986, one of the key principles that is enshrined in the Bill is the free flow of information. After a publication is deemed by the Government to have engaged in domestic politics, its circulation will be drastically reduced when it is gazetted as a declared publication. However, even though its circulation has been reduced, for those who like to have access to the publication for general interest or for research, they can still refer to the copies in the library. Thus, as long as there are sufficient copies in circulation, free flow of information is preserved, contrary to what the Member for Potong Pasir has asserted. Of the four publications gazetted so far, three of them continue to supply the maximum number of copies allowed to their customers. It is obvious that circulation revenue of these copies would hardly cover the expenses of printing and circulating these copies. Yet Time magazine, Asian Wall Street Journal and Asiaweek elect to do so. They do so perhaps to maintain links with their readership while waiting for the eventual removal of the restrictions, as in the case of Time Magazine. Perhaps by doing so, they intend to uphold another principle, that is, to continue to serve their readership. If that were the case, the motive is an honourable one. I for one would give them the benefit of the doubt. Of course, Asian Wall Street Journal carried that principle a little bit too far when it offered its papers for free to Singaporeans provided they were able to maintain their circulation.”
“To a large extent, I believe such reporting cost him the Presidency. That is the style of the Western reporters. What do the ordinary Americans who are familiar with such journalism think of their press and how they would deal with the reporting in the papers? A survey published in TIME magazine dated 13th December 1983 showed that only 13.7% of the Americans, that is, only one person in seven, has a great deal of confidence in the press, the overwhelming majority does not. To quote the TIME magazine: 'The roster of complaints gainst the press is diverse, even contradictory. But there is an instructive consistency to the questions that the public ask most often. Are reporters accurate? Or will they shape a coat, ignore a fact or even concoct an anonymous source in order to make a point? Are they fair and objective?' The article goes on: 'The most fundamental of this question is: can you believe what you read and see?' A more recent survey was published by the US News and World Report in its 23rd February 1987 issue entitled "Lying in America". In the lead article, "A Nation of Liars", there is a portion which relates to the press. The survey shows that 20% of Americans, ie, 1 in 5, believe that the American press does not often tell the truth. In contrast, only 8%, ie, 1 in 12, believe that the press always tell them the truth. Thus in the American readership, they have built up a certain credibility filter when reading the newspapers. In Singapore, the situation is quite different. Our journalists take their profession seriously and their job is to report the news factually and accurately. They are individuals with strong moral characteristics. In fact, some hon. Members of this House come from that profession.”
“I will take my 5 minutes. Sir, in the Asian Wall Street Journal episode, we have found that editors and publishers are prepared to engage in false and irresponsible reporting to tarnish the reputation of the Singapore Government while knowing full well that, in so doing, the livelihood of every Singaporean would be affected ultimately if the falsehoods were perpetuated. Singaporeans who have very little experience with the American and Western style of journalism may have been surprised and shocked at how Asian Wall Street Journal, an international paper of some repute, could publish such a malicious article with its obvious bias and unfounded allegations about the Singapore Government. However, if we were to look at the matter more closely, it is not difficult to understand why. We see that the American press has evolved under a clause in the US Constitution covering the freedom of press. There, under the concept of freedom of the press, journalists have developed a certain righteous arrogance since they can write practically anything they wanted. At one stage the so-called investigative reporting has descended, in fact, to garbage reporting. If Members could recall how Mr Kissinger's daily garbage was inspected thoroughly by the reporters. Through its ability to influence public opinion, the newspaper can indeed make or break a Presidency. All we have to do is to look at how the Kennedy Presidency was glorified, Camelot, Man and the Moon, etc, while the Bay of Pigs fiasco was played down. On the other hand, we can look at how President Ford and President Carter who were presented in less than favourable circumstances by the press. I believe we all will remember how President Ford kept pumping his head into door frames, helicopter doors, and so on.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, as I have an amendment No. (2) on this Head, may I be allowed 10 minutes to speak and join in the debate right now?”
“Sir, what step is the Ministry taking to export the expertise built up in managing our airport to outside services?”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, although I do not agree with the Minister of State, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Sir, my assertion is that 3% is still too lenient on our developers. Would the Minister of State agree?”
“I do not have a whiteboard; so I use my son's drawing block. I would say that given this distance, even the ordinary layman, using a measuring tape from the handy store, would make an error of, at most, about 1 cm in such measurement. So if our builders can make such an error, can we trust the safety of the structures, given his engineers and surveyors using the latest laser measuring devices? Can they be trusted to build safe structures of this nature? Should they be licensed in the first place to build multi-storey condominiums using his faulty yardstick? Surely in this day and age, 3% variation in floor area by the construction industry is not defensible. I would urge the new Minister for National Development to review this matter and tighten this rule and thereby give the ordinary citizen better protection when he makes his biggest investment in life, that is, buying his own home.”
“Of course, this is not to scale, Mr Chairman. I would suggest that even a primary student can work out what is the distance from here to here [indicating]. By my calculations, it will be the square root of 97, working out to about 9.85 m. The difference between 10 m and 9.85 m is about 0.15 m which is precisely about 15 cm. What is the distance of 15 cm, Mr Chairman, Sir? I have drawn it over here using a ruler - this is a distance of 15 cm. Dr Ahmad Mattar: You should use a whiteboard.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead TC-03 of the Main Estimates. Sir, over the past several years, there were many reported instances of floor area shortfalls in many private condominium developments. Some of the area shortfalls even exceed 10% and some reach as high as 13-15%. As a result, Government has instituted a regulation stipulating that area shortfall within 3% is tolerable. However, within this limit the buyer has no protection under this regulation from the developers except by resorting to bring the developer to court under a civil action. To begin with, I believe the 3% ruling for the residential property area shortfall is still too generous and favour the developers. What is the 3% shortfall? Mr Chairman, Sir, with your indulgence, I would like to illustrate the matter by a drawing done on my son's drawing block which I have borrowed. On this chart I have drawn a square representing the floor plan of a square floor area, to a scale of 10m by 10m. On one side I have drawn out the measurement of 10m, and on the other side of the square, of course, another 10m, giving a total floor plan of 100 sq m, which is of the order of an average apartment. An average apartment floor area will range from about 100 sq m to 200-300 sq m. Take this plan of about 100 sq m, a 3% variation means that there is a shortfall of 3 sq m. In other words, the resulting floor plan will be 97 sq m. On this chart, I have illustrated that the builder will build a smaller square of this nature, the shaded area will be the area of shortfall, giving us the resulting area on this block of 97 sq m.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I thank the Minister for his reply. I also note that the Minister has kept up to date with the latest development in technology. On this note, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“Indeed traffic flow has shown that between a stop sign and a traffic light, motorists would obey the traffic light, more readily because the traffic light system is perceived to have more intelligence than a dumb stop sign. So if traffic lights are perceived to be dumb as well, it is not difficult to understand why motorists would disregard red lights. So I would propose that PWD embark on a programme to convert all traffic lights at junctions where a minor road joins a major one to demand-actuated lights, ie, there will be devices on the road surface to sense whether there are vehicles in either direction or not, and that when there is no vehicle on the minor road, the lights on the major road will remain green. Sir, besides speeding traffic flows, I would say that the better use of our road system would delay the future road tax increases. Perhaps also by introducing a more intelligent traffic light system, we can restore the respect Singaporean motorists have for traffic lights and there would be no need to install any more junction- surveillance cameras. It would also reduce the time wasted by all motorists while waiting for the lights to change at empty road junctions.”
“Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head T be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead TC-01 of the Main Estimates*. Sir, it was reported in the newspapers recently that PWD is introducing high technology into our expressway system. I am sure when this work is completed, the traffic condition of the expressways will be greatly improved. Indeed, travelling on such expressways will be fully a 21st century experience. The driver will be monitored, taped, or whatever. However, if the traffic management system of the other routes of Singapore were not correspondingly improved, at some future date once one exits from the expressway system, one would be back to the present situation where some of the technology used on our roads have hardly been changed since the time they were introduced; traffic lights being one of them. I would like to say that there is already a large number of signalized traffic junctions which are not integrated with the computerized green wave system. This number is increasing. Often times a driver would stop and wait at such a junction when there is no cross-traffic at all, in particular in the late hours of the evening or small hours of the morning. I would like to highlight to the Minister the frustration of many a motorist who waits at such a junction facing a red light, with no cars coming from the other directions, especially when the cross-road is a minor one. I would say that, through many of these experiences, the motorist would acquire a distaste for dumb traffic lights and perhaps a disrespect for the red light. This might indeed be one of the reasons why Singapore drivers are beginning to disobey the red light in increasing numbers, until the recent introduction of junction-surveillance cameras.”
“Would the Minister consider placing confirmed cases of AIDS and also AIDS carriers in quarantine if they were known to ply the world's oldest profession?”
“Sir, would the Minister state categorically that public health has not been endangered by the course of action the Minister has pursued?”
“Overseas Missions (6) That the sum to be allocated for Head O be reduced by $10 in respect of Subhead OA-03 of the Main Estimates.”
“Question for the Minister, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir. In the integration exercise of the various modes of land transport with the advent of MRT, has the role of taxis been taken into consideration? And would the Minister foresee the need to adjust the taxi fare to tie-in with the new fare structures for buses and MRT?”
“For instance, we can establish an Education account within the CPF scheme itself where individuals can contribute into this particular account and when their children go to school in Singapore, to NUS or NTI, for instance, they can use the money for these purposes, very much along the line of the Medisave scheme, ie, using the savings in the Medisave scheme to pay for their expenses in Government hospitals and private hospitals. These are my suggestions and I am sure, in order to make them work, they would require thorough examination of the various ramifications. However, if these suggestions were adopted, I believe that the CPF scheme would become a more flexible and a more comprehensive system of savings for retirement. Mr Speaker: We have one minute left. Let's call it a day. Debate to be resumed what day, Dr Hu?”
“Secondly, a tax-deferred scheme to allow for early withdrawal of the money in excess of minimum sum under specific circumstances. Thus, the tax can be used as a regulatory mechanism to regulate early withdrawal. Let us look at the advantage of the proposed scheme. Individuals who are unemployed for prolonged periods can count on their CPF savings to tide them over tough patches. This is very much like the drawdown of the Consolidated Fund to finance budget deficits. For those who withdraw their CPF money to take care of expenditure at a subsistence level during the period they are out of work, the resultant tax would indeed be negligible. On the other hand, if people were to splurge and use up all their money in excess of the minimum sum, that would be their very own decision. In any event, their old age would be taken care of. For individuals who plan to go for further studies to build a better life for themselves and their families, they can contribute more than the current 25% to shelter their incomes during the years they are working and to withdraw their savings at the reduced tax rate when they are studying. The use of CPF for children's education has been urged by many fellow Members in this House. In fact, with the recent announcement of the increase in University fees and the prospect of a further increase, it is time for parents to save for their children's education. The Minister of State for Education has, in fact, called on parents to emulate the Americans in saving for their children's tertiary education. However, in the American tax system, it allows for tax relief schemes for savings for their children's education. Perhaps the additional voluntary contribution I mentioned earlier can be used for such purposes.”
“So really for people who are younger and who have more than the minimum sum in their CPF account, there is no strong reason why they, when in dire need, cannot make use of their CPF so long as they are utilizing money in excess of the minimum sum. Also, to allow greater flexibility in the CPF scheme is good. Through this, Government's interference in how people run their lives would be reduced and individuals would be vested with more responsibility in managing their own money. The only problem I can see is that CPF money is tax-free. To ensure that people would manage their money judiciously, I propose that the concept of tax deferment, rather than tax exemption, for CPF contribution be examined, ie, when the employee puts his money into the CPF account, the contribution is not tax exempted, as it is now, but tax on it will be deferred till the time it is withdrawn. Of course, if the money is withdrawn after age 55, the money would continue to enjoy the benefit of tax exemption. However, if the money is withdrawn before age 55, the money would be considered as income in the year it is withdrawn and subjected to tax. In other words, it is deferred income. The tax payable would then be computed on the total income for that year. Since this money withdrawn will be taxed, I believe we can count on most people, who need to withdraw from CPF, to be very careful about using such money. Government can also stipulate the conditions under which early withdrawal is allowed. These could include hardship for being out of job for a certain period of time and beyond, or for the younger people to stop work in order to go for further studies either locally or overseas. Let me summarize my ideas on the CPF. Firstly, additional tax free voluntary contribution for those who desire it.”
“Other than this, Government has remained very rigid regarding the use of CPF money for other uses such as to tide over an unemployment period or education for children. During the recession that we have just experienced, there were a fair number of people who have been out of job for a significant period of time. Of this, I am sure there must have been individuals who have used up all their savings and run out of all sources of borrowing but have a sizeable amount of money in their CPF accounts. They are in a situation of having their retirement well taken care of but in the meantime they and their families are living as paupers. While the number of such cases may not be very high, the sufferings of these families going through such rough and trying periods are nonetheless very real. Withdrawal of CPF money to tide them over such things would have been most useful. I also believe that rigidity regarding early withdrawal is unnecessary since the Government has introduced the concept of Minimum Sum earlier, and this concept is further reinforced with the various announcements in this budget. Let us see what is the Minimum Sum. The Minimum Sum, I would define it as a sum of money which the Government has deemed sufficient for retired people to live on in their retirement albeit on a mere subsistence level. Under the current policies, as long as there is this minimum sum in cash or in kind in their CPF account, the individual is at liberty to do what he wants or what he likes with the rest of the money so long as he is older than 55 years, ie, past the age of withdrawal of CPF monies. I would say that it is quite obvious that the magic number of 55 as the retirement age is losing its significance as people today are healthier and also live longer.”
“Tax exemption makes good sense since CPF money can only be withdrawn after the retirement age at 55 years. The use of CPF contribution for consumption of any kind prior to 55 years has always been denied. However, through the years, Government has allowed the use of CPF money for the purchase of homes, investment in stocks and gold and Medisave accounts have been established. The Minister for Labour has stated in Parliament that the use of CPF account for homes actually entails an element of consumption in it since interest payment is a drawdown of the CPF contributions, particularly during the years of soft property markets. Similarly, instead of using cash which has been taxed, Medisave scheme allows tax-free money to be withdrawn for current medical expenditure. I would say that, in both the home-ownership scheme and the Medisave scheme, the concept of early withdrawal of CPF money for current consumption has been established. Thus, the notion that no early withdrawal of CPF money for consumption has been breached. More importantly, I would say that the concept of tax-exempted money for retirement has already been changed. In effect, through these two schemes, the State has subsidized CPF contributors by providing tax-free monies for consumption which, if not for the CPF scheme, would have been taxed. This can be illustrated very clearly. For instance, if Government were to decide to reduce the employees' CPF contribution rate, the additional take-home pay would then have been taxed at the employee's current tax rate. Therefore, I would conclude that the Government has already allowed early withdrawal of CPF money for current consumption under very specific circumstances.”
“However, since the end-result is the same, for all intents and purposes, one can view the topping-up cash as additional cash contributions into one's own CPF account which is then transferred to the parents' account. For the self-employed, similar tax relief for cash contribution into his own account is also provided. In the latter case, the contribution is entirely voluntary. This policy of granting tax relief for additional cash contributions is a new one. It introduces a new concept which I would term "tax-free voluntary contribution into the CPF". The question that begs to be asked is this: can individuals, other than the self-employed, contribute additional cash under this tax-free scheme into their own CPF accounts? At first glance, one might wonder why on earth would anyone want to do so in the first place, and then why should Government even consider such a proposal since significant tax revenue might be lost if a significant number of people go for this scheme? However, if the CPF scheme can be made more flexible to allow early withdrawal of funds under specific circumstances, such as extended period of unemployment, then I would say the proposal would start to make some sense. Early withdrawal would also remove the current rigidity of the CPF scheme to allow the individual greater latitude to manage his own money and his own life. It is also timely, I believe, to bring this matter up since recent Government announcements regarding the CPF scheme have indeed laid all the groundwork. Let me review the basic premises of the CPF scheme briefly. In the beginning, CPF was meant to be savings for old age and, as an incentive, contributions into CPF, which are really deferred income, have been exempted from income tax.”
“However, since the message urging parents to have more children actually started several years ago, perhaps as long as two years ago, setting this date is indeed unfair to those parents who have heeded the Government's urging earlier. On top of that, time and tide wait for no man or, in this particular case, no woman. Some women, because of their ages, just cannot wait until the current budget debates, if they were inclined to have a third child and took the Government's urging earlier and took the plunge. To these women, they would feel that the policy is rather unfair. After all, the expense of bringing up a child remains the same whether the child is born before or after a certain date. Since the Minister has announced a five-year tax benefit period for the third child, I would urge the Minister to consider granting the incentive for the third child on a pro-rata basis. In other words, if the third child now is about two years old, then the parents should have, maybe instead of five years, three more years to enjoy the pro-rata tax benefit. The second point I would like to touch on is actually the tax relief for the CPF cash topping-up scheme. The budget has granted tax relief up to $6,000 per year as top-up for the CPF Minimum Sum Scheme for parents. The rationale for this policy is to encourage filial piety and I support this strongly. When the Minister for Labour proposed the original concept of the topping-up scheme, the idea was to transfer savings from one's CPF account to the parent's CPF account. Alternatively, cash can be used to top-up one's parents' CPF account.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to add my support to the fiscal policy of the Budget presented by the Minister and applaud, in particular, the decision of the Minister not to implement a broad based consumption tax at the present time. I have two minor points to address. The first concerns the incentives for the third child and the second is the tax relief for CPF cash topping-up scheme. In view of our demographic growth patterns, it is quite clear that some incentives would have to be provided. Hence I support the generous incentives to turn around the procreation pattern over the short term. Over the long term, Singaporeans must be imbued with the love of families, the love for children. My colleague, the Member for Telok Blangah, has covered the scheme quite thoroughly and I do not intend to dwell into it again. What I would like to question is this. Why is the benefit for the third child be limited to babies born on or after 1st January 1987? If the Minister believes in cause and effect, then the benefit should only be provided to parents who make the decision to have the third child after the announcement of this policy, that is, for babies born nine months hence. When the Minister for Education announced the scrapping of the graduate mother scheme, he understood very well the baby-making process which, while it is not a very complex process, does take time and he has allowed for a period of nine months. I am quite certain the Minister for Finance is no less knowledgeable in this matter. Thus I can only conclude that the setting of this date, 1st January 1987, is based on other considerations.”