Ya'acob bin Mohamed
Singapore
“As the Member for Kampong Ubi, they put these grievances to me and, as I said earlier. the most important question is our youth. We hope that the Ministry concerned will take positive measures so that we will not be branded by our grandchildren later on.”
“The irony is that during the last elections, a number of political parties which were known to us before as anti-communist parties, unfortunately - consciously or unconsciously, they used issues which were once used by the pro-communist elements during the colonial days or during our self-government days or even after our independence.”
The complete record
Every one of 16 lines we hold for Ya'acob bin Mohamed, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account.
“As the Member for Kampong Ubi, they put these grievances to me and, as I said earlier. the most important question is our youth. We hope that the Ministry concerned will take positive measures so that we will not be branded by our grandchildren later on. We cannot be proud of our developments, successes and achievements so long as our children suffer from moral decadence. With this, Sir, I support the Motion moved by the Member for Ulu Pandan. Some hon. Members: Hear, hear! 3.10 p.m.”
“There are also people who were born in Singapore but are now stateless. They have no country of origin. Is it right that the children should be punished by becoming stateless because of the fault or sin of their parents? This problem, Mr Speaker, Sir, should be given due and weighty consideration. I was born in Malaysia but I came to Singapore. I became a Singapore citizen and I can enjoy the rights of a citizen of Singapore. In fact, I am a Member of Parliament. Why is it that those who were born in Singapore, but because of the fault of their parents, have become stateless? I have harped on this matter in this House many a time because this issue, on the basis of humanitarian consideration, should be given weighty consideration. I am not concerned about those who were born outside Singapore I am concerned merely with people who were born in Singapore. Nevertheless, those who were born outside Singapore should also be given consideration. In the spirit of ASEAN we should act. so that our citizens who were born in ASEAN countries, for instance, if 100 of them obtained citizenship we should reciprocate on a mutual basis. Sometimes in a family you find that the wife is a Singaporean and the husband a non-Singaporean, or the wife is a foreigner and the husband a Singaporean. This situation is commonly found for many years now. Before the introduction of family planning such a family may have 10 children and yet they are without Singapore citizenship. In the spirit of ASEAN we should discuss this aspect passionately. We do not wish other citizens to become our citizens. I think this is not quite just These are the points that are constantly brought up by my constituents who see me during my meet-the-people sessions.”
“The clearance was carried out haphazardly. The people were told to keep the area clean but mosquitoes were found breeding in stagnant water in the area. As a Member of Parliament. I appeal to the Minister concerned to take action. Clearance should be taken in an orderly fashion, say. start with Jalan Labu, and not clear five houses in Jalan Labu and then another five houses in Jalan Kachang. This is not fair to the families because empty houses become the centre for drug addiction. This was the case in a recent fire which occurred in Geylang Serai, where an empty house was found to have been used as a drug den. This is the after-effect of resettlement. Another aspect of resettlement is that the officers are not trained in their work., They give an assurance to the people that they will be offered alternative accommodation, but when the time comes there is no accommodation "The houses have been occupied." When asked for a reason, they were told to see the MP. The MP says that, "The flats have been occupied, and therefore, the resettlement officers should not make promises." All that I have related actually happened in Kampong Ubi. I have not touched upon the problems in other constituencies. Another matter which bedevils the people is citizenship. We are aware that in certain countries the granting of citizenship is tightly controlled. I agree with this policy. But what I regret is that because of the fault of certain parents their children who were born in Singapore had their names misreported at the police station in those days. At that time police officers passed only Standard II or III. For example, the name of "Chang" was changed to "Chong"; "Mohammed" was changed to "Ahmad", and mis-spellings occurred.”
“If we pay up first, we will have to wait for three or four months before we can get a refund, This is the problem, Mr Speaker, Sir, I raise this problem because in my constituency, which is a poor constituency, a person earning $200 per month has to budget for food, and this and that. If they have to pay excessive amounts on monthly bills, it is not possible for them to draw up a budget. They will be forced to borrow or to pawn their belongings. Another problem in Kampong Ubi concerns resettlement. I do not object to resettlement In fact, the question of resettlement has been a political issue since 1972. When I returned from the Philippines the then Minister for Law and National Development notified that Alsagoff estate would be acquired. The people agreed to the acquisition and resettlement for the purpose of redevelopment. Then 1973 passed on until today. What I regret most is the modus operand,' of resettlement. In the kampongs sometimes only a portion of it is cleared; five families would be resettled in the north, seven or eight families in the south, 10 families in the east, and six families in the centre. The houses of those families who had left were not looked after. In the end, the remaining families are scattered here and there. They suffered for more than two years They sent appeals to the Urban and Rural Services Committee to have the drains repaired, and the reply was that the houses would be affected by resettlement but they took two years to move them out. A doctor knows which particular disease requires an operation, but before he operates on his patients he would at least prescribe Panadol to relieve the pain. However, not a single action was taken This happened in my constituency of Kampong Ubi. So there was an absence of fair play.”
“If drug traffickers, pro-communists and others, whose country of origin is outside of Singapore but subsequently obtained Singapore citizenship, are found and proven guilty of such perpetrations then the Government should automatically cancel their citizenships and drive them away from this country There is no Ministry yet to really focus attention to lead our youths on the correct path If we cannot create a special department for the youth, a youth and sports bureau should be set up to look after their problems. As the Member for Kampong Ubi, I share the views expressed by hon. Members in the House since the debate began. For instance, although this is a small matter but as a Member of Parliament who holds "Meet-the-People" sessions, there are many matters which are brought to my knowledge and which need the assistance of a Member of Parliament. One is the matter of Government officers passing on the buck. If the people want houses, "Go to the MP". If they want licences, "Go to the MP." Incidentally, I happen to be a Minister of State, better still, "Approach the Minister of State." We emphasise that in the present, Government there is no political nepotism. So we must inform these officers that disciplinary action may be taken if they are not careful. Likewise, with regard to payments, here and there people are complaining about payments. Why extra payments for this month? Why merely in respect of PUB charges? If the people write back to appeal, the answer is, "Pay up first and complain later." I remember that when I was a member of the People's Defence Force my superior ordered me to do something and I was not supposed to object. "Do it first and complain later " This is what is happening now.”
“Many youths who are in secondary school and who have completed secondary education are drug addicts. This is very strange. So this is a matter which we must look into. We hope to build a rugged society, self-reliant and disciplined, but unfortunately today the reverse has taken place. We will be questioned later on. At a time when we hold power and the world acknowledges our progress in the fields of economy and nation building, our grandchildren will condemn us, "How is it that during your period of rule the moral of our grandfathers regressed? Their lives were destroyed with the result that we, the grandchildren, are in a similar position." To avoid such accusation. I hope hon. Members of the House will ponder together. We should think deeply into this with a view to finding a solution. We realise that we should educate our children in line with the principle that our youths should be educated. Give our children an education different from that which we have obtained, because they were born for their era, not ours, and because their era is different from that of ours. But if we bequeath to our children moral decadence or if they are influenced by anti-national elements, it would indeed be a great pity to see our success in the various fields of nation building destroyed by them in a very short time, all because the basic values for their future had not been sound enough. I hope that the relevant Ministry sets up a commission of inquiry into the causes of moral decadence among our youth, and to make recommendations on the ways and means of overcoming these problems. There is no difference between the communist menace and the dangers of moral decadence among our youth.”
“Hopefully, perhaps my little contribution will not offend some of my colleagues, neither will it create any misunderstanding at all. We know that there is no government in this world that can offer everything to everyone. I will not repeat what has been said by Members over the last few days, but I wish to add bits and pieces. For the past few years we have tried to evolve a Singapore society, rugged, self-reliant and disciplined. These principles have been the theme of our message to all the people in the Republic. But from day to day we seem to hear less of these slogans. What we see, of late, is not a rugged, self-disciplined society as we are hoping for, but moral decadence among our youths. They imitate the western hippies. They take to drugs. We realise that our small country, without any natural resources, depends solely on our human resources for our development. We depend on our youth because youth is the backbone of any national development. I do not know where the fault lies. Is it because our life depends solely on materialism or that the implementation of our education policy has deviated to the extent that students show no respect for teachers while the children show no respect for their parents? Where does the fault lie? There is the theory that drug addiction is the result of activities of anti-national elements, especially the communists whose aim is to destroy our youth by the use of drugs and hippism so that in the long term our youth has no future. It would then be easy for the communists to influence them and they can then easily rule our country. I hope the Ministry concerned will go deeply into this theory because moral decadence, drug addiction, etc, do not affect those students who are less educated.”
“The communists can feel proud because communist issues were used by the opposition parties during the last elections, and that the anti-PAP votes amounting to 26% could be intended for the communists; though not all of such votes. Perhaps it could be due to our mistake that there were votes cast against us at the last elections. In the name of democracy, I wish to call upon this House and to the opposition parties outside of this Chamber who believe in the principles of parliamentary democracy not to be deceived or fall into the trap of the clarion call or influence of the communists in order to gain one or two seats at the expense of the interests of our beloved country. There are signs in the forthcoming elections that if the communists are unsuccessful in an attempt to control this country through violence, they would opt one or two political parties to replace the Barisan Sosialis which has been ostracised by the people, and they would then use these parties to oppose the party that has complete faith in parliamentary democracy, especially our party. We Members of Parliament are representatives of the people and we are expected to express the wishes of the people. Because we come from the same party, the voice in this Chamber can be regarded as self-correction for the purpose of taking remedial measures. For almost 18 years that I have served in this Chamber I had no opportunity to speak as a Member of Parliament. Perhaps. Mr Speaker too, since his election to this House, could not make representation on the aspirations of the people he represents. But now I have the opportunity today to say a few words, not as a Minister of State, but as a Member of Parliament representing the Kampong Ubi constituency.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, to continue with my speech, allow me to recapitulate briefly what I said yesterday because it has some bearing on what I am going to say today. Although we in this House are all from one party it does not mean that our Government is adopting a one-party policy because all of us were returned in the process of parliamentary democratic elections. The opposition parties were defeated at the last general elections; nothing more can be done because this is the will of the people. Parliamentary democracy will not exist if the communists gain control of Singapore because they are the arch enemy to the democratic system. Indeed, if they hold power not only will we be absent from this Chamber, we may be in jail or buried six feet underground. But neither will the opposition parties exist except the stooges. Although they have been defeated and have failed to dominate the student organisations and trade unions so far, they are not the type of people who despair quickly. Revelations of the past years amongst students and also the revelations of the activities perpetrated by G. Raman are proof that their objectives will be persistently carried out from time to time. Sir, yesterday I said that there were opposition parties which openly were anti-communist parties, but in the recent general elections these opposition parties consciously or unconsciously exploited communist issues in order to catch votes so that they could get one or two seats in Parliament. This is dangerous if we are not careful and if we fail to comprehend our situation, i.e, that we face this communist menace.”
“The irony is that during the last elections, a number of political parties which were known to us before as anti-communist parties, unfortunately - consciously or unconsciously, they used issues which were once used by the pro-communist elements during the colonial days or during our self-government days or even after our independence. This is something which we regret because if the result of the last elections by way of percentage --”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, permit me to associate myself with my colleagues in support of the Motion to thank the President for his Speech in Parliament. The electorate in the last elections has returned all of us to this Parliament. This proves the maturity of thinking and the political sophistication of the people of Singapore. This victory is not a personal victory of the candidates nor is it the result of the promises we gave to the people during electioneering. They have given their mandate to us on the basis of our achievements from the time we took over control of the Government. However, we should not be complacent with what we have achieved if we are to preserve our record in this House. We should work hard to achieve further success or at least to preserve the record that we have achieved, Although we are all from one party, this Parliament is not a one-party system. This is the choice of the people through the democratic process. Parliamentary democracy will not be available if the communists were to take power, It is clear that the communists and its allies are the principal enemy of parliamentary democracy. We should recapitulate what happened in our country in the past. The communists had tried to take over the trade unions, the student unions and also political parties, they failed in the end, We must not forget that the communists, pro-communists and their allies are people who never give up. They will continue to struggle until their aims are achieved. What is more, with what had happened in Indo-China they will be further strengthened in their effort to work harder. We have seen how they tried to influence our intellectuals, professionals, and students at present.”
“PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL Order for Second Reading read. 6.28 p.m.”
“Since the passing of the Prohibition on the Use of Open Fires Order, 1973, the incidence of open burning in Singapore has decreased tremendously. This has helped to reduce low level air pollution. However, in the enforcement, there has been some difficulty in proving the charge of open burning within industrial and trade premises, as such an act is usually committed by the occupier of the premises when the enforcement officers are not around. To overcome this, the relevant section in the Clean Air Act will be amended by including a presumptive clause making the occupier responsible for the offence if open burning were to be found in his premises. While many occupiers of existing industrial and trade premises have installed or plan to install air pollution control equipment, there are some recalcitrants who prefer to pay the fines when brought to court rather than take corrective measures. Sir, this is not desirable in the long-term. Therefore, it is necessary to empower the Magistrate's Court or District Court to impose the maximum penalty or punishment for offences under the Clean Air Act and Regulations, if the fines were to be a sufficient deterrent. Sir, in seeking these amendments I would like to assure that a balanced approach, taking into consideration not only the wider interests of the community but also the specific interests of other sectors, will continue to prevail as had been done in the implementation of the Clean Air Act, 1971. Sir, I beg to move. Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the BilI.-[Haji Ya'acob Bin Mohamed]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.”
“Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." The Clean Air Act, 1971, has been in operation for three years now. It has proved to be effective. Thus, many industrial and trade premises which used to cause excessive air pollution have now been brought under surveillance and control. The air pollution Situation in Singapore has not deteriorated although many new factories have been established in the last few years. However, a number of minor inadequacies have been detected in the course of implementation of the Act. The Clean Air (Amendment) Bill seeks to rectify this situation so as to provide for better control of air pollution and for more effective enforcement. Sir, construction sites often give rise to localised air pollution resulting in public complaints, if activities such as the operation of a concrete mixing plant and the open burning of used construction materials are carried out. Such activities have to be controlled. This Bill will bring construction sites within the definition of "industrial or trade premises" so that the Clean Air Act, 1971, will also apply to these sites. In older industrial and trade premises, air pollution is often caused by the use of obsolete and inefficient methods of operation and process. To solve this, the occupiers of such premises may be required to change or alter the methods of operation or process to those involving less air pollution. In other cases, the Director of Air Pollution Control may require the occupiers to dismantle or disconnect any industrial plant or equipment which are found to cause excessive pollution. The Bill will extend the scope of requirements which the Director may impose to include those just mentioned.”
“I would like to stress to Members that we are indeed lucky to have a very polite Finance Minister who works hard without any publicity and is able to present a budget that can bring our country to economic success and prosperity in this region. 6.50 p.m.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, at first I had not intended `to participate in the debate on the Budget, but after hearing the views of so many Members who have spoken, I feel I should involve myself in this debate and speak, if only briefly. I welcome the Budget as presented by the Minister for Finance. It is a very moderate Budget considering the problems of inflation and recession all over the world. In debating matters connected with tax increases one thing should be borne in mind. It is a truism that not a single Finance Minister is able to present a budget that everybody could accept with a smile. Only those who benefit will smile but those who are affected will always complain. It is like a father who has perhaps five or six children to look after. He will not be able to satisfy all of them. I feel we are lucky to have a Minister for Finance who is efficient, but humble and publicity-shy. With regard to the reference made to his service during the colonial regime, I would like to remind Members here that history has shown that not all those people who worked during the colonial period are traitors to the nation. In fact, many of them became heroes in their fight for independence. History has also shown that many people who fought for independence were opposed to colonialism, but the moment they attained independence they became traitors to their nation's cause. So the question of personality should not be raised in this House because, as I said earlier, no Finance Minister can present a budget that will be received with a smile by every individual citizen.”