Wong Kan Seng
Singapore
“We all want a better future for our children and the future generations. Amid the debates, let us not lose sight of what we are working for – we are working for the benefit and future of Singaporeans. Not for growth targets, not for foreigners, but for Singaporeans.”
“Mrs Mildred Tan also suggested doing a longitudinal study on the impact of new citizens on Singapore. I am told that there is a periodic study on the perception of integration and rootedness of Singaporeans and PRs. A study is now ongoing too.”
“All they need to do is simply declare that they meet the residential criteria. EASING IN US ECONOMY (Impact on Singapore) 9. Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Senior Minister what will be the expected impact on the Singapore economy arising from the US Federal Reserve's announcement on 3rd November 2010 of a "quantitative easing" of the US economy…”
“Well, from the data I have here, 553 registered to vote before the 2006 GE and this is the data I have but Ms Lim may be right. There may be 1,000-odd that Ms Lim had mentioned. From what I am told now, we have 1,325 Singaporean overseas who are eligible to register to vote have registered.”
“But, as I said, there are so many other possibilities that they could come in and there could also be many possibilities that we could have missed and they have entered or left Singapore. LAND SWAP AGREEMENT FOR KTM STATION AND RAILWAY LANDS 2.”
“They are also recruiting people by offering them scholarships. So, we hope more of our companies can do that. Hopefully they come here to work for a while and, if they like our place, they may want to settle down. This is a place which they can think about. POPULATION AND TALENT DIVISION 5. Assoc. Prof.”
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“Mr Speaker, Sir, before we set up a permanent NPP, we need to have renovations, we need to structure it, we need to staff it and so on. As we get on with that, and having completed that, then it is necessary to establish a permanent one. So there is no duplication in this sense. The temporary NPP in Chong Boon will be done away with when the permanent one is established. We can establish NPPs by any basis, whether it is one NPP for 10 blocks or by constituency basis. And we have decided that in order to establish the community spirit of a constituency, it is preferable to name it after the constituency. It is just logical.”
“The Member for Chong Boon asked where his permanent NPP will be. It will be set up this year in Block 461 of Avenue 10. With all these constraints in training, in recruiting people, it is necessary that we spread out the implementation of the NPP over a period of years. The Member for Fengshan mentioned that there are staff nurses who are used in the Emergency Ambulance Service and he thought that they should be better used in the hospitals and that we should employ paramedics for the job in the Emergency Ambulance Service. The staff nurses have been deployed in the Ambulance Service since September 1976. We understand that, initially, there were some reluctance and teething problems in having staff nurses in the Ambulance Service. But over a period of years, most of them have accepted this and they find it interesting and challenging enough to remain in the Service. The Ministry of Health is also able to continue to supply us with the nurses and it is important that we should have them because in addition to the normal emergency that the staff nurses have to deal with, they also have to deal with other kinds of cases, eg, administering drugs and delivering babies. Just in 1984 alone, 511 babies were delivered by the Ambulance Service. But, of course, if there is a need to review this in future and to use paramedics, then we will do so when the need arises. Sir, I believe I have dealt with all the questions.”
“So it is not easy to train all these people at the same time. We therefore need to phase out the implementation of the NPP over a period of years. It is also sound financial management to spread the expenses so that the money committed for one activity will not affect the other programmes. So for these reasons, we have to phase out the implementation of the NPP over a period of years. There are 28,000 residents in Cheng San and about 34,000 residents in the Chong Boon constituencies where there are two NPPs. In the Jalan Kayu constituency, there are about 41,000 residents. And in the 26 blocks mentioned by the Member for Jalan Kayu, I estimate there are about 10,000 to 11,000 residents in Avenues 3 and 10. It would not be fair to load on this group of people to the existing NPPs in Cheng San and Chong Boon because to do so will be to dilute the organizational and management effectiveness. But that is not to say that the NPPs in these two constituencies will not look after their interests. If the residents in Avenues 3 and 10 find it convenient to make use of the services of these two NPPs, they are all welcome to do so. I understand the concern of the Member for Jalan Kayu. But in order that his residents' fears can be allayed, let me assure him that the Police Division will continue to patrol the area like they always do and ensure that whatever problems they have can be resolved. So the NPP for Jalan Kayu will, according to plan, be implemented in 1989. As regards the NPP for Geylang Serai, it will be implemented in 1987 and tentatively it will be at the void deck of Block 111 of Aljunied Cresent. The Member for Whampoa is also interested to know when the NPP will be set up in his constituency. It will be set up in 1988 in Block 73.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, first of all, I would like to thank all the hon. Members for paying such a tribute to our Neighbourhood Police Post system and to the efforts of our NPP officers in promoting community rapport. I am sure our NPP officers will be cheered by this commendation and, with this, I am sure they will also do their job with greater fervour. We all know that the Japanese study team has made a study and did an evaluation of the NPP system, and we have accepted their recommendations. The Member for Geylang Serai asked about the plans, the constraints and the problems. The Member for Jalan Kayu asked why the NPP cannot be extended to his constituency. Sir, in having the NPP, it is important to remember that the NPP must be effective in serving the needs of the residents. In order to do that, we must take into consideration the population, the number of residents that need to be looked after and the kind of problems they are likely to encounter in a particular neighbourhood. With these factors, it is therefore the recommendation of the study team that an NPP should have about 30 officers and they should look after about 27,000 residents. With these planning assumptions for organizational effectiveness, the NPPs are planned accordingly. We have advanced the full implementation of the NPP by two years, from 1991 to 1989. We cannot implement it all in one year because to do so will mean that we have to put in a lot more resources which are not readily available. In order to have 14 NPPs a year, we need something like 420 officers to man these 14 NPPs. In order for them to do the job well, these officers must be experienced in policing. They must also be well trained in community relations, in inter-personal skills and so on.”
“What should we give up in place of land transportation? There is an opportunity cost to land transportation. We are worried that if we adopt too strong a fiscal measure, our people cannot afford a car. Do we want to give up housing for roads, or give up hospitals and schools for roads? We have to make a choice. The choice is very important because it has to be made now otherwise our children and grandchildren will suffer as a result of our bad decision. I would ask the Minister for Communications and Information to be bold and courageous in his formulation of policies.”
“Golf courses, possible. Some are in catchment areas. Between 1967 and 1982, residential land only increased from 13.8% to 15.3%. Commercial land increased from 1.3% to 1.4%. Industrial land increased from 1.4% to 5.9%. Land for transportation, and that includes roads, increased from 4.9% to 13.1% and, of the 13.1%, 7.7% was used for roads. Just within the central business area, there are three major uses of land - residential, commercial and transportation. Residential land took up 10% of the land, commercial land, 15%; transportation, 22%. How much land should we devote for land transportation?”
“The second comment I would like to make is that we not only need technical and engineering manpower for our economy, we also need to have the right type of engineering manpower. I notice in the output of engineers of the NUS, and now the NUS and the NTI, over the last few years, that the numbers of electrical/ electronics, mechanical/production and civil/structural engineers, are exactly the same. For example, in 1983, there were 130 mechanical engineers, 130 electronic engineers, 130 civil or structural engineers. In 1984, the output for the three disciplines was 180; 1985 the combined output is 265 per discipline; 1986 - 310; 1987-89-380. In other words, every year we are producing exactly the same number of engineers in the three different disciplines. I am not sure whether the requirement of industry reflects this supply. But I believe that as we get on to the information technology age, we will require more of electronic/electrical engineers compared to, say, civil or structural engineers. And since we have a limited number of people who can get to the university, it is therefore important for us to produce the right kind of people for our industry. So I would like to suggest to the Minister to look at this output of engineers so that we have enough of the right kind of people for our industries in the year 1990.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I pose the amendment just to make two comments for the Minister's consideration. The first one is that we have had the Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) programme for two years now, and from available statistics we know that about 60,000 people have gone through this programme and, even conservatively estimating it, I think about 10,000 would have completed the Module 4 of the BEST programme, Having completed the Module 4, the options for these people would be to attend the evening classes conducted by the VITB in the academic stream, Secondary 1, 2, 3, and so on. The other option will be for them to take up the NTC courses such as air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, fabrication and welding, maintenance fitting, dress-making and tailoring. But if a person is unable to attend the full-time VITB courses or the part-time VITB courses due to work, or if he is unable to attend the academic courses in the evening due to shift work, then there is no option for him. On the other hand, if a person wants to attend the high-level skill courses conducted by the VITB which require a Secondary 3 qualification, such as building drafting, electrical fitting and installation, electro-mechanical servicing, they would not have the basic or the minimum qualification required to attend these courses. So I would like to suggest to the Minister that the VITB consider packaging a programme modelled along the lines of the Basic Education programme to allow these people to attend during the working day, before or after their shift work. In this way we will be able to provide them with better skills so that they can take up the better-paid jobs.”
“A point of clarification, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir. May I know -”
“I would not disagree with the Member for Ulu Pandan. But I know where the answer is. The answer is in our hands. What we need to do is to go out to persuade more people to help, and I think we can get it done.”
“We require helpers to get this project off the ground and, if Members know of anyone who is prepared to assist, just let me know or give the information to my Ministry.”
“Sir, we recognize that currently there are some problems with the aged sick who could not find admission to homes. Let me give some numbers about the availability of places in the aged sick homes. For 1985, we know that we have 547 places in the various aged sick homes. There are four aged sick homes and about three more aged sick homes will be set up in the course of this year. One, which is already set up, the Grace Lodge Home has a capacity for 50 residents. Two others, the Singapore Red Cross Home for the Aged and the Lions Nursing Home for the Aged, will be set up in the course of this year, providing an additional 70 places. What is the number of the aged sick? We do not have an accurate number, but we know that there are more people than places available for the aged sick. Where can they go to? We know that in the home for the aged, not the aged sick, there is enough capacity to take in some aged sick people, but because the care and attention that is needed for the aged sick is much more than an ambulant person, it is not easy for such homes to find the staff to provide the kind of care that is required. Some of these homes, although they want to take in some of the aged sick people, are constrained by resources, such as not being able to get enough staff, and my Ministry is aware of that. We are trying to do something about it. On community care involving the community in looking after the aged, and our senior citizens, I think it is a very good idea. In the Ministry we have actually thought out two ideas, ie, the home help service and the meal delivery service, as examples of how those who are able and ambulant can help those who are not ambulant. We are working out details of the meal delivery service and the home help service. But we require assistance.”
“We are working out the details, the costing as well as the fees for the Ministry, on an experimental basis, to try out four child care centres in four constituencies. If it is successful, and I hope they will be, then there will be more in the future years. We know that from projected demand based on very rough estimates, about 19,000 child care places are needed by the year 1990. So we will progressively build or encourage the establishment of about 35 or 40 child care centres each year to be set up between now and 1990. I hope that answers your question.”
“Sir, may I just reply very quickly to that point brought up by the Member for Yuhua. While it is correct that the provision for FY 84 of $1.32 million has been brought down to $1 million, we must look at the actual expenditure in 1984 compared to the provision of 1985. I think that would be a more realistic basis for comparison. 3.45 pm One of the reasons why the provision has been brought down, in fact, it is not even brought down but I will explain afterwards is that we plan to set up more child-care centres. In fact, 15 new child care centres were planned to be set up - four by NTUC and 11 by the employers. NTUC did not set up the four child care centres because the fee structure was not correct. Perhaps the operation cost was too high. So NTUC decided to defer the setting up of the child care centres. Of the 11 remaining child care centres proposed to be set up in the employers' organizations, unfortunately, only two took off the ground, leaving nine with no takers. Therefore, the actual expenditure, ie, the subsidies given to the existing child care centres as well as the new child-care centres set up in 1984, was only $150,000. We have made a fresh provision of $1 million for fiscal year 1985 to promote the establishment of more child care centres. In proportion terms, this is a realistic number. But in addition to the $1 million provision under the Ministry's head, there is also a provision for $600,000 for 14 child care centres in the People's Association. I believe these child care centres will be managed by the PA in the community centres. We have actually increased the provision from $1.3 million to $1.6 million as far as the Government is concerned. As to whether the Ministry would run child care centres, there is a plan currently.”
“A woman who earns $600 but with a combined family income of $3,000 will have to pay less than a woman who earns $650 with a combined family income of $1,400. So which is equitable? So some win, and some lose. I think I have covered most of the points so far raised by the hon. Members.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this requires a study to be made.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, a family with a combined income of $1,450 can afford the $150 child care fee.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the child care centres are provided for every Singaporean who wants to use the service. There is no distinction between whether they are highly paid or lowly paid. The fee structure, however, distinguishes those families whose combined income is lower and therefore will pay less, from those families whose combined income is high, and therefore pay more.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, may I just be allowed to say a few words regarding salaries. Having just come from the private sector and having worked four years as a Personnel Manager, I have done a lot of salary surveys and I know the methodology of surveying salaries and determining the economic worth of a particular job. I think it is completely misleading to compare salary for salary because, when we talk about the rate a person should be paid, we should think about the total compensation that is needed to attract a person into remaining in a job. We should not just say, "Salary $X compared to this person equals $Y." It should be the total compensation that the person receives. In the private sector, salary is not the only indicator. Other compensation includes bonuses, travel, educational assistance for children, insurance premiums, insurance cover, medical benefits, holidays, stock options, all these are part and parcel of the total compensation. So we should not just compare salary for salary. That is one point I want to make. The second point, Sir, is that we cannot compare Singapore with another country because we are talking about the pool of people within the same country. If we take the United States, for example, the Secretary of State or the Treasury Secretary in the US gets about $80,000 or $90,000 a year. When he finishes his term of office, he is worth more than US$1/2 million a year. Why? Because the society is such that they pay people for what they are worth.”
“I have a case just like this not too long ago, and I think it causes anxiety, it causes hardship to the individual. Therefore, I would also appeal to the Minister to consider reviewing this policy. The last point which I would like to bring to the Minister's attention is the income ceiling for registration of flats, which has been brought up by the Member for Ayer Rajah as well, The Minister not too long ago answered that we do not have to review this right now. I think there is a case for the Ministry to look at this now. Just take an example. If an engineer works for three years and decides to marry his classmate, the average salary of an engineer after three years is about $2 300. The combined income therefore becomes $4,600 and this well exceeds the $3,500 ceiling set by the HDB. Of course, the Minister can suggest that they should apply for HUDC flats. But why do we want them to apply for HUDC flats, when the Executive apartment or the 5-room flat is just as pleasing, just as nice, just as comfortable? Similarly, for the 3-room flats, the income ceiling is $1,500. If a technician works three years, earns $1,200 on average, marries his classmate who is perhaps a clerk earning $800, again the ceiling is busted. I think this is the right time now for the Minister to consider reviewing the income ceiling for the applicants. 3.15pm”
“On the quality of the older estates, like those in my Constituency, I think the environment can be better improved by better landscaping, the maintenance services can be better improved by ensuring that the lifts do not break down as frequently as they do now. The third point which I would like the hon. Minister to consider is the enquiry system that is being implemented by the Ministry to the HDB. In this system an applicant can go to the counter and make an enquiry through a computer, and very soon she will know when her flat is up for allocation. I am told that about 200-odd applicants make such enquiries a day at the HDB, and if each applicant takes five minutes to make such an enquiry, it adds up to about 18 man-hours a day, or three persons sitting there juit to give this kind of information. If the HDB is able to distribute this computerization system to the Area Offices, then the individuals can make such enquiry at the Area Offices instead of travelling long distances to the HDB to make the enquiry. So through a distributed network system, the residents or the applicants can get the information at the Area Offices without having to go to the Head Office. The same system can also be applied when the individual makes an application to the HDB. I think there are about 115 such applicants a day going to the HDB to apply for HDB flats. Similarly, through a distributed network system, if the applicant can make such an application through the Area Offices, again the HDB Head Office need not be clogged up with people. This fourth point has been touched upon by the Member for Buona Vista and the Member for Ayer Rajah, and that is the Board's policy in requiring a childless widow or an orphan to find a partner to live in the flat.”
“Sir, we all know that HDB has done a tremendous job. The thousands and thousands of housing units that it has built over the last 20 years is testimony to this. But I am not sure if our citizens, the people who live in them, fully appreciate the effort, the magnitude of the task, the planning that is required, the thought that is needed to bring about this achievement. I wonder whether they actually know what is really required in order to come out with the kind of success story that the HDB has to tell our people. I think that if the HDB is able to package a publicity programme and explain to our citizens how it manages to build this number of flats, our citizens will be more appreciative of the efforts, instead of just complaining about the nitty-gritty of the HDB flats. So that is one suggestion I would like the Minister to consider. Another suggestion for the Minister to consider, which has been touched upon by the hon. Member for Bukit Merah as well as the Member for Fengshan, is the quality of the flats. During the massive build-up of the HDB, attention was given to quantity. I think the time is ripe now for us to pay more aftention to the quality of the flats. We have a number of complaints from residents on leaking roofs, leaking ceilings, and so on, If proper inspections are applied in accepting the flats, I think some of these problems will go away. When a resident accepts a flat upon allocation, he or she is very happy, but he or she has to spend a lot of time aftending to the defects. I think such time can be spent on more productive uses.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the inhalant abusers, who are referred to the Guidance Social Work Unit of the Ministry of Education, I believe, are counselled by professional counsellors. They are educationists as well. As for the abusers who are referred to the Ministry of Community Development, they are counselled by social workers trained in the art of counselling. So they are all professionals. There is no other body other than these two which counsel inhalant abusers. CHECK-OFF OF UNION SUBSCRIPTIONS (Review) 8. Mr Goh Chee Wee asked the Acting Minister for Labour if his Ministry has completed a review of the need for annual authorization for check-off of union subscriptions and whether the Minister will allow such authorization by union members to be sought at less frequent intervals. The Acting Minister for Labour (Mr Lee Yock Suan): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am pleased to inform the Member for Boon Lay that my Ministry has completed its review of the need for annual authorization by union members for check-off of union subscriptions and has decided to extend the period of such authorization to two years.”
“. Sir, as I mentioned, there is already a Coordination Committee comprising representatives from multi-Ministries as well as an anti-inhalant abuse team in the CNB to deal with this problem. I would say that if the measures I described earlier are not adequate to deal with the problem, then we will consider other measures, including legislation. It is not easy to stop someone from buying a can of glue or other inhalants. These things are freely and readily available in homes, factories and shops. So it is not practical to consider banning the use of such items which may lead to inhalant abuse.”
“This is a question of detail, Mr Speaker, Sir. When I mentioned that there are NPPs in Ang Mo Kio, I meant Ang Mo Kio Estate. If the Member is asking me whether we have NPPs in Chong Boon, Kebun Baru and Cheng San, including his constituency, these are details as to the build-up of NPPs in these constituencies, and I should be glad to let the Member have the details. ANNUAL BUDGET STATEMENT 11.24 am Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [8th March, 1985] (2nd Allotted Day), "That Parliament approves the financial policy of the Government for the financial year 1st April, 1985 to 31st March, 1986.". [Minister for Finance, Minister for Education and Minister for Health).”
“Firstly, Mr Speaker, Sir, it is not true that the whole of Ang Mo Kio is not covered. I mentioned earlier on that Ang Mo Kio is covered. We had a scheme extended to Ang Mo Kio in 1984. If the Member is asking whether we are going to have NPPs in his constituency, if he could just wait a little longer, the NPP will be set up.”
“There is no shortage of manpower. We have adequate Police manpower to cope with the programme. When I explained that we will build up the NPP System by 1989, it will be done over a period of time - 14 NPPs a year. So we are able to phase in the manpower required.”
“Sir, since the implementation of the NPP system in the Toa Payoh Police Division, ie 'B' Division, we note that there is an improvement in the crime position in the Division. Compared with the nation-wide figure of a 7% increase, the Toa Payoh Police Division had only a 5.5% increase. And in percentage terms, this is about 20% less than the nation-wide figure. Mr Goh Choon Kang (Braddell Heights)( In Mandarin): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister of State a question. Since the implementation of the programme has been brought forward, will the authorities face a shortage of manpower?”
“Between June 1983 and May 1984, there were 2,839 arrests in the Toa Payoh Police Division as against 1,599 and 1,252 arrests in the two years preceding it. Public acceptance of the NPP Scheme is important and efforts are made to obtain the residents' cooperation through wide publicity and explanations about the scheme. Booklets explaining the NPP concept are distributed to the residents. It includes profiles of NPP officers serving the community so that residents can get acquainted with them. NPP officers visit the residents twice a year and this has helped in ensuring understanding of, and support from, the residents.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, 20 Neighbourhood Police Posts (NPPs) have been set up in Toa Payoh, Paya Lebar and Jurong Police Divisions. The main public housing estates covered by these NPPs in the Toa Payoh Police Division are Toa Payoh, Sin Ming, Potong Pasir and Upper Aljunied. The NPPs in the Paya Lebar Police Division are all located in the Ang Mo Kio housing estate. The remaining five NPPs, which are in Jurong Police Division, cover the Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay and Marsiling housing estates. The implementation programme has been brought forward by two years. The original programme was to have a total of 91 NPPs to cover the whole island by 1991. The revised plan is to set up the 91 NPPs by 1989 at the rate of 14-15 NPPs every year. This decision follows evaluations by my Ministry as well as by Japanese experts of the NPP system in Toa Payoh Police Division in June 1984 which concluded that the Toa Payoh NPP System was an overwhelming success. The Japanese experts accordingly recommended that the implementation programme should be brought forward by two years. While there are no major shortcomings, there have been minor teething problems. A Steering Committee comprising senior police officers closely monitors the implementation of the system. The concept has been well accepted by the community. The NPP System has built up close police-public rapport. In the Toa Payoh Police Division, this close rapport is evident from, among other things, a 45% increase in the number of police reports. This compares with a moderate increase of 14% for the nation as a whole. The public is now more willing to come forward and make reports resulting in the Police apprehending more criminals.”
“The SCDF has drawn up an overall build-up plan to establish CD Units in all Constituencies. The manpower and resources required have also been worked out. When the Force is fully built up, there should be 65,000 reservists and 30,000 volunteers. The reservists would come from ex-SAF, ex-Police and CD reservists. These sources are adequate for the full build-up of the Force. The equipment for the Units to carry out their missions in an emergency are being purchased in stages as the Units are established. Some of the equipment like heavy plant and transport vehicles will not be purchased. Instead, they will be mobilized from the civil resources. The SCDF will constantly review its manpower and resources to ensure that they are adequate to meet any situation. NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE POSTS 6. Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Law (a) whether he will state how many Neighbourhood Police Posts have been set up and in which estates; (b) whether the implementation of the NPP scheme is on schedule; (c) what are the shortcomings encountered, if any; and (d) what plans are in hand to ensure the full cooperation of the residents participating in the scheme.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, since the Civil Defence (CD) Scheme was launched in November 1982, a total of 62 Constituencies have joined the Scheme. 23,126 residents have been registered as volunteers. CD volunteers depending on the stage of their training can attend different levels of training. Newly recruited CD volunteers attend basic training in fire-fighting, first-aid, rescue and evacuation. Volunteers with leadership potential are selected for advanced training by attending the Volunteer Commanders' Course at the CD Training School, The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has, thus far, conducted three such courses. In addition, specialized courses to upgrade the knowledge of volunteers on subjects such as advanced first-aid have also been conducted. CD volunteers in Constituencies will be organized into Units with a formal command structure. Regular exercises will be conducted to improve their capability and enhance their effectiveness. These Volunteer Units will be supplemented and strengthened with Reservist Units. In each RC Zone, there will be one Volunteer Company working together with and supporting the Reservist Company to carry out CD operations. The reservists will come from ex-SAF and ex-Police officers. Because of their training in the SAF and Police, these reservists will bring with them experience in dealing with emergency situations. In addition, specialized CD Units trained to undertake complex CD tasks using specialized equipment and heavy plants will be formed to strengthen our CD capability at the Constituencies. The SCDF will continually upgrade the skills of volunteers and reservists through frequent training and exercises to keep them prepared for any emergency.”
“Yes, I think the point is taken. And if school children, for example, are caught for firing crackers, the school authority will normally take action to counsel the children about the dangers of firing crackers. CIVIL DEFENCE SCHEME (Particulars) 5. Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Law, since the implementation of the Civil Defence Scheme, (a) how many constituencies have responded and how many volunteers there are; (b) what training courses have been given to the volunteers; (c) whether he will consider improving and strengthening the civil defence units that have been set up in the constituencies; and (d) whether there are sufficient manpower and other resources to ensure that when their services are required there will be this back-up facility.”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister a point of clarification? If the Member for Potong Pasir is required to build the four blocks of flats, is he also required to build the infrastructure, ie, the other facilities that are part and parcel of the estate?”
“So let us spend the next five years thinking about what we want, what sort of society we want for ourselves and for our children. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion. 11.49 a.m.”
“May I suggest that our educational institutions inculcate into our young a spirit of innovation and curiosity so that they will find jobs in R&D satisfying and rewarding, interesting enough to want to remain as individual contributors. Of course, we should also modify the reward system so that they will remain as individual contributors. Where do we go from here? We want a better society. We want a better quality of life. I think these are clearly laid out in the Addenda as well as in the President's speech, and I believe the objectives are realistic and achievable. They are set out by our political leaders, but what do our people want? To my fellow citizens: let me urge you to tell us what you want. We have invited you to participate in this goal-setting for the future. It is your right - "right" seems to be a word very commonly quoted. But let us not forget too that right is concomitant with responsibility. The maturity of a society comes about only when people are able to exercise their right with responsibility. The next five years are crucial for us. The people and the Government have to reach a new consensus. We are like a crew participating in a dragon boat race. We need a coxswain, we need a drummer, we need crewmen. You have elected your coxswain and, I believe, your community leaders are your drummer. You are the crewmen. We have.an agreed set of objectives. We want to win the boat race. So we must pull together in the same direction, with the same vigour, with the same rhythm, so that we can achieve our goal. Mr Speaker, Sir, if any member of the crew does not pull his weight or pulls in the wrong direction, then, of course, our progress will be slower or we may run into difficulties.”
“It means that you require more effort and more resources to get a marginal improvement in the yield, as the gold that was at the surface has already been extracted. So it is easy to achieve improvements in productivity initially by applying some simple tools and methods. But over a period of time, you would require more resources and more effort to get a marginal improvement in productivity. But that is not to say that we should not try. For if we want to achieve the vision of the 1990s, we must change our attitude to work. We must do our work right the first time as errors are costly. It means it is costly. We must apply total quality control in whatever we do. And I suggest the public sector set the pace for the private sector to follow. I am glad to note also in the Addendum from the Minister for Trade and Industry that we shall offer assistance schemes and tax incentives to private companies and public institutions to promote R&D. Allow me to comment that assistance schemes and tax incentives are necessary but insufficient to promote R&D. Ultimately, it is still the people that count. Do we right now have a ready pool of people to undertake this task? My impression is that we do not have. The answer is that our reward system does not allow for this. Our reward system recognizes that managers be paid more than the individual contributor or engineer. So engineers and scientists do not remain long in their job to build up their expertise, and so they aspire to managerial positions. This being the case, the pool of expertise is always in a state of flux.”
“Singapore's economic performance and its ability to attract investors are predicated upon political stability and continuity, an educated and trained workforce and not least of all industrial peace. We must not see the return of the days in the '60s and the '70s when union and management took a confrontational and adversarial approach to their relations. To do so, of course, would fulfil the saying that history repeats itself. Let us not be lulled into the belief that the problems of the '60s and the '70s will not return. In this regard, may I congratulate the Minister for Labour for recognizing this in the Addendum when he said: 'We must preserve our excellent industrial relations climate. The Ministry will build up a team of professional labour officers to work towards this goal through the promotion of more harmonious labourmanagement relations.' The Addendum went on to say: 'The National Productivity Board will promote positive work attitudes - pride in work, a sense of responsibility, self-improvement and teamwork.' These are indeed important if we want to achieve competitiveness in the international market. For without these prerequisites, we will not be able to achieve even a small targeted growth of 5-7% per annum and, mind you, this is not an easy task. It reminds me of what a Japanese expert on productivity once said. He said that improving productivity is like digging gold. In the initial phase, all you need is your bare hands and you will be able to extract all the gold that you need from the surface of the earth. But once that phase is over, you need some tools in order to dig into the earth to get the gold. After that, you need mechanized tools to go deeper to get the gold. But the results would not be the same.”
“The country as a whole has paid dearly, not just economically but also in terms of social strife. Why was the strike called? Allow me, Mr Speaker, Sir, to quote from an article by the International Herald Tribune published in the Straits Times of 11th December 1984: 'One issue raised, among others, is a dispute about whether state welfare payments should be kept up to spare the families of striking miners from hardship, which shows just how far the welfare state has developed. At the bottom, however lies the issue of what sort of economy the people in Britain want. This is not a dispute about miners' wages. It is about whether Britain remains a market economy. The government intends to close down unprofitable pits progressively, suppressing some 20,000 jobs out of nearly 200,000. It offers separation grants, and it claims that all separations can be achieved by the normal departure of the elderly or by retirement. But the trade union leaders insist that no mine should be closed on economic grounds: So long as there is coal to be extracted, it should be hacked out, at whatever cost; where fathers worked, sons should be allowed, to continue as a matter of course.' Mr Speaker, Sir, is this the kind of strong trade union movement that we want to see in Singapore? Let us not forget that we have had many years of industrial peace. We have not had a strike since 1977. And having just been a representative of an employer only five days ago, let me tell you, Sir, that our workers and the employers want to keep it that way. This is the result of the unison of objectives among the employers, workers and the management.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, allow me to relate my personal experience of another form of a strong trade union movement. In September 1977, I arrived in London and, having settled down in the hostel, I took a walk around town. I saw a long queue of people waiting just outside a baker's shop and I thought that this was not unfamiliar. We also have long queues of people waiting outside Yaohan's bakery. But of course this was not similar. they were queuing for a limited supply of bread because the bakers were on a go-slow. During my two-year stay in London I experienced many more strikes. The ambulance drivers went on strike and the aged and the sick could not be brought to the hospitals. The hospital attendants went on strike and the patients were inconvenienced. The train drivers and the tube (their MRT) drivers went on strike and the commuters were inconvenienced. Economic activity was disrupted. The school canteen workers went on strike and the children went without food. The coal-miners went on strike and the people had a cold winter. I asked my British friend what he thought about all these strikes. He said, "Well, we have so many of them anyway. We've got used to them and we are helpless to change it." Indeed their threshold of tolerance of inconvenience had gone up. Union leaders can call a strike without seeking the approval of the majority of the members through a secret ballot. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher changed this only recently with a lot of hue and cry from the trade unions. Just look at the coalminers' strike that has just ended after 356 days with an impact of S$125 billion on the economy. S$125 billion means that it takes Singaporeans three years to earn that kind of money.”
“I am going to. Be patient. To me, a strong trade union movement is one that is able to galvanize the workers for the good of the country. Its objectives are no different from the government or the employers. I will tell the Member again. The objectives are to improve the standard of living of the workers. Secondly, to educate the workers so that they are able to undertake jobs with higher skills and take on new challenges. Thirdly, to make our companies internationally competitive. These are very simple truths. Sir, you can ask any pre-university student and he will be able to tell you this. But, of course, this does not seem to be what the Member for Anson thinks it should be. I am really curious to know what he means by a strong trade union movement.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I wholeheartedly support the motion on the Address of Thanks to the President's Address moved by the Member for Ayer Rajah. Unfortunately, the Member for Potong Pasir is not here this morning because there are a couple of points which he raised which I thought should not be passed over. He questioned the sincerity of the Government. I think the sincerity of the Government can be seen very clearly for the last 25 years in what we have achieved for the people. Perhaps the Member for Potong Pasir has forgotten that not too long ago, on 13 December, at a rally in Potong Pasir, he called our dedicated community workers (Residents' Committee) "rubbish collectors". Yet, yesterday he was asking to be their Adviser. Is that sincerity? Does he really and sincerely want to be the Adviser to the people whom he had called "rubbish collectors"? Another point he brought up was the Germans: even after two world wars, they are still planting vegetables in their flats. A geography student told me -”