Yeo Ning Hong
Singapore
“The SAF always reviews and enhances its training system to maximise the contributions of NSFs to national defence during their NSF stint. We will continue to ensure that the training syllabus is relevant to the defence needs of Singapore, and NSFs' time in the SAF used meaningfully and efficiently.”
“New recruits will find military training less onerous if they take on the personal responsibility of preparing themselves well physically before enlistment. AUCTION OF #03-06 PEK CHUAN BUILDING 6.”
“Sir, on a point of clarification. I believe Dr Ahmad Mattar had earlier on attributed some comments to me. I just want to clarify that I am not waiting for July to have my views on SBC made known to the Minister for Information and the Arts.”
“Sir, to encourage the new NSmen to maintain the same physical fitness that they have achieved while they were in full-time National Service, Mindef will increase the IPPT pass standards for new NSmen who ROD on or after 1st April to the same level that they attained when they were NSF.”
“Sir, I do not think Mr Chiam has any clue whatsoever about what is involved in basic military training. It is not fitness. It is the acquiring of basic military skills, to know how to fight, to know how to ensure that you do not get killed.”
“Sir, Mr Chiam would make a most popular Member of Parliament in Kuwait - if only they had a Parliament in Kuwait. That is exactly the sort of situation that had brought the Kuwaitis the disaster they had a year and a half ago, when people are only interested in having a better life and are not prepared to make the effort to ensure that th…”
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“But unfortunately that is not shown by the figures. That comes forth only from the mouth of the Member for Potong Pasir. Sir, for English news, we are seeing a growing increase of viewership, typically averaging up to about 350,000 viewers for 1987. In the case of Chinese news programme, we are seeing a viewership in the region of 750,000. That does not include the Member for Potong Pasir of course.”
“Sir, I mentioned a moment ago that I would be happy to entertain any request, any enquiries, from any commercial company. If the Member for Potong Pasir wishes to put in an application, it will also be entertained. Sir, I also mentioned a moment ago that the cost of operating a television service in Singapore is extremely high, $120 million. For any commercial station wanting to operate in Singapore, they would have to be talking, at the very least, $40-50 million, if not more. And to cater for four languages, to cater for the various needs of the people, including the Member for Potong Pasir who hopes to be seen more often on the commercial channel. Sir, I do not think it is a practical suggestion. Sir, the question of a gutter television is not something that is found only in Britain. It is a phenomenon being observed worldwide where progressively commercial television stations, in order to survive, go for excessive violence, go for pornographic films, in order to generate that viewership from which they derive advertising revenue. This is not something that we want. Sir, as for politicking, or "electioneering" as the Member said the Government in action has got to be seen by the public. The fact that Government Ministers go round supporting the various campaigns, the various projects in community centres is news. If the Member for Potong Pasir is not interested in this type of news on television, he is free to switch channels and watch something else.”
“He said competition for advertising between stations could become so fierce that television might, in effect, end up with its own version of Fleet Street's "gutter press"'. And the headline to the article was titled, "BBC Chief warns of gutter television". Sir, another person who has experience in this matter, a Mr Richard Dunn, the Managing Director of Thames Television, said: '... more competition in broadcasting would "almost certainly" mean lower standards.' Sir, before we rush into having more of these television stations, before we even look at the commercial side of the whole subject, I think it is wise for us to ponder over the possible consequences of having additional television channels putting out programmes that are supposedly to cater for the masses, because the danger exists, as has been observed in other countries, that broadcasters, wanting only to capitalize on the maximum return from advertisements, will lower their standards in order to do that. Finally the Member talked about coverage of SBC of Ministers and other officials. This is a very common practice in all countries. The Member may not like it but Ministers and officials are the policy makers of the country. They are the people who decide on the changes that the country will make. I regret to say this, but the Member for Potong Pasir has got no say whatsoever in deciding on the policies of government. He can propose alternatives and his alternatives will be looked into very carefully. So far, none of his proposals has made any sense. Look at the United States. Television will show Mr Reagan and his Cabinet officials. There are hundreds of Congressmen, yet you hardly see them at all on television; and I think the reason is obvious. The weightage is correct.”
“Indeed some years back a broadcasting station overseas did make enquiries. We provided them with the information and we have not heard from them since. I assume that they have done their calculations and they have discovered that it is not very practical to have something like this in Singapore. Why is that so? The reason is very simple. Unlike the United States with a population of more than 200 million people, ours is an extremely small population. We have only 2.6 million people and we have four language streams. It is not going to be easy to make money out of a commercial station. The size of the advertising pool in Singapore is relatively small. This has got to be shared by the different media. Television is one of them. Radio, newspapers, posters, magazines, books and so on. So the amount of money available from advertisement is not a lot. I would be happy to entertain any enquiries from anybody wishing to set up a commercial station in Singapore, bearing in mind the requirements of our people. Sir, the Member said that a commercial station can only bring about good. I do not know on what authority the Member speaks but I have here a copy of an article from the London Times, Wednesday, 24th February, 1988, where two people with experience in television and broadcasting have got views totally different from that of the Member for Potong Pasir. I quote, first of all, Mr Marmaduke Hussey, the Chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation. 'Mr Hussey warned that television standards and programme quality may be seriously threatened by the wave of new channels due to be broadcasting in Britain by the 1990s.”
“SBC is monitoring the developments in this very new, very advanced, technical field closely to see if we can benefit from it. We should be careful that we do not jump into a technology that will prove to be obsolescent in next to no time. We must also ensure that this technology is compatible with all the equipment, computers and other facilities that we have already invested in over the last few years. Whatever technical system we choose must also be compatible with the television sets that our people have already bought. These are some of the constraints that we have got to look into very carefully to ensure that there is no wastage of funds, either for the Government and SBC or for the population. Sir, having said that we are looking at this closely, I also want to caution the House that it can be extremely expensive. I mentioned a moment ago that dubbing is labour-intensive, talent-intensive and costs a lot of money. If we are thinking of having every television programme being telecast in the original language and then having three other languages on FM radio available to our different communities, I think we are talking of a lot of money. And where is that money going to come from to fund all these new technological advances? I think we will have to strike a balance to ensure that there is sufficient benefit from the very high cost. 12.15 pm I now come to the Member for Potong Pasir. He asked if it is possible to have commercial broadcasting. Sir, the Government has no objections in principle to having a channel by a commercial broadcaster. The Member is not aware but I have made such an announcement some three years back. Any commercial company that wishes to put up a commercial station in Singapore is free to approach the Government.”
“A lot of messages, a lot of advertisements, are broadcast during that period. But that is not the only time when the campaign is being supported. Before that campaign period begins, various introductions to the campaign would already have been started. This will be the run-ups to the campaign and it helps remind the population of the importance of the coming campaign. After the campaign is over, even when the focus is less intensive, there will be feedback programmes, there will be interviews, there will be reports, of the success of the campaigns. These are gentle reminders to the public that while the campaign period may have officially been over, the importance of that campaign remains. Sir, there are also various other ways of getting messages across, such as building them into the programmes of SBC. Take, for example, the courtesy campaign. Beyond that month during which there is intense focus on the campaign itself, programmes would also have written into their scripts the importance of courtesy, the practice of courtesy by the various actors and actresses in many of our locally produced dramas, such as the programme "Our Neighbours". I now move to the Member for Bukit Timah. He asked whether it is possible for us to have a multi-channel broadcast, having something on TV and, at the same time, broadcasting an additional language on the FM radio. Technically, it is feasible. It has been done in other countries. We are aware of our three systems and we have been studying them for some time. There is the Japanese system which is in use in Japan as well as in some parts of the United States. The Germans have got a system that is currently under development. And the British also have a digital system that is also under development.”
“This enables the viewer to follow more easily the rest of the programme. SBC has also in March 1987 last year produced two documentaries, one entitled "Parliament at Work" and another "Parliament - A Code of Conduct". These two programmes, one of 45 minutes and the other of 30 minutes duration, gave a brief account of the workings of Parliament. If Members of this House feel that the programmes have been useful, I can ask SBC to consider the possibility of having a repeat broadcast to enable more people in Singapore to understand the workings of Parliament. The Member also made another valuable suggestion regarding the possibility of having a simple introduction to the cultural programmes that we have, in particular, the classical drama. Indeed, such an approach has been adopted by SBC. In February 1985, SBC produced a 3-part documentary ntitled "Painted Faces". The documentary explained the significance of the different types of faces that are used in Chinese opera. I believe that programme was well supported by the public. There is also another series of programmes currently on, entitled "Chinese Costumes" which seeks to explain the significance of the costumes worn by the various actors and actresses in the Chinese drama. This is broadcast not as a programme itself but in short snippets during the programme "Studio 1 presents". It has been going on since February, early this year. Wherever possible, we'll try to do more. This is extremely valuable and will be a means of helping to transmit some of the basic understanding of our cultures to the younger generations. As for national campaigns, national campaigns usually are carried out in a specific month of the year. During that period, the campaign is focussed very intensively.”
“And approximately $40-odd million is recovered from licences. So the balance of $80 million or so has got to come from advertising revenue. If we fritter away the prime time between 7 pm and 10 pm each evening and do not have programmes which command the support of advertisers, then obviously we have to increase TV and radio licences very very sharply which would obviously not be to the benefit of all. Prime time is perishable. If we have programmes that are not watched by the vast majority of people during that period, the revenue is lost permanently. Hence, it is important during prime time that we reserve it for the more popular programmes. Sir, Members of the House may like to know that in 1985, SBC suffered an operating loss of approximately $4 million. So it is not that easy trying to balance the budget for SBC and at the same time ensure that the needs of all our people are being met. I hope the public will give their full support and understanding to the requirements of trying to balance the different needs of the different communities in Singapore. Sir, I want to thank the Member for Changi for his very kind words for SBC. I am sure the people operating the various cameras in this House appreciate his word of appreciation and encouragement. SBC will try to continue its programme of upgrading to ensure that the quality of our programmes will continue to move upwards. The Member asked about "Today in Parliament" and whether it is possible to give short introductions, giving simple explanations to the Bills to be discussed or to the subject matter in hand. Indeed, SBC has already summaries of this sort which is generally referred to as a headlining service, where the various key issues to be discussed during the rest of the programme are highlighted as headlines.”
“Sir, let me take the points raised by the different Members of Parliament in the order that they were raised. The Member for Chong Boon asked whether it is possible to have the Tamil news broadcast later in the evening, say, 7 o'clock or so. I will ask the SBC to bear in mind the Member's suggestion when they next review the scheduling of TV programmes. But I need to add for the benefit of the House that the scheduling of TV programmes is an extremely complex process. There is a limited amount of air time during which one tries to balance the needs of different communities in Singapore as well as to ensure that there is sufficient revenue coming in to SBC in order that there might be improvements to the programmes. Members may like to know that when the Tamil news was broadcast at 6.45 pm, the viewership of that particular programme was about 44,000, on the average. Since the programme has been moved forward to 6.20 pm, the viewership of Tamil news has indeed gone up, not down. It has gone up to 51,000. Sir, we are a multi-racial society with television broadcasting in four different languages. Unfortunately, what is referred to as prime time is only a relatively short time span between 7 pm and 10 pm. During this time, SBC hopes to meet the needs of the largest possible number of its viewers. And as a result, the more popular programmes that cater to the larger percentage of the population have been scheduled for telecast during this period. Sir, before anybody says that SBC is money minded and is only concerned with trying to maximize profits, let me emphasize that it is an extremely costly operation to have television in Singapore. It costs us approximately $120 million a year to have radio and television service in Singapore.”
“But I will assure the House that where such films of the quality that we expect are available, they will be shown on Channel 12. Regarding the possibility of having more educational programmes during the hours of 5 to 7 pm, we can consider this as an additional parameter to consider when we look at the rescheduling of our TV programmes. However, I need to caution that during that period, 5 to 7 pm, there is really not a very large viewership. Most of the professionals who would probably benefit from programmes of this sort would still be at work or on their way home. Therefore, it may not be advisable to have programmes of this sort in that time slot. I think it is preferable to have this particular time slot reserved for children's programmes.”
“Sir, when the House rose on Friday, the Member for Thomson was asking about the possibility of SBC having local dramas in English. He raised also the possibility of more cultural programmes, particularly those from the ASEAN and Asian region, on Channel 12. He also asked about the possibility of having more educational documentary types of programmes for the period between 5.00 and 7.00 pm. I will take the points in the order raised. For the last year or so, SBC has been exploring the possibility of dubbing some of the more popular local dramas which were telecast in Mandarin. A small group of people has been working on it. We are now coming close to the completion of a local drama, the one that was extremely popular, entitled "Samsui Woman". This programme has already been dubbed into English. We expect it to be telecast sometime towards the end of April 1988. Sir, I want to emphasize that dubbing is an extremely expensive process. It is very, very labour-intensive. It is also very talent-intensive. Before we go full scale into the dubbing of local dramas in English, we need to be sure that there is a sizeable viewership for this type of programme before we commit a vast amount of resources into this particular project. Channel 12 has been providing regularly cultural and educational types of programmes for the past few years since its inauguration. We are very conscious of the need for a wider range of such programmes beyond those that are normally available from the Western countries. As a result of that, we have explored the possibility of having cultural programmes from the ASEAN and Asian regions. These have been shown whenever the films are available. But, unfortunately, there are not many such films around.”
“Sir, a study has already been commissioned some two years back to consider the possibility of a new route all the way from the City up to Punggol. This is generally referred to as the North-East line. This matter is now coming close to conclusion. A decision will be taken over the next few months, bearing in mind Ministry of National Development's plans. The line will go all the way through to Hougang and on to Punggol as part of Phase 3 of the MRT system.”
“Sir, we are aware that there is a viaduct going into Pasir Ris because that is part of Phase 2B of the present MRT system.”
“If the demand in those areas suggests that a MRT to Woodlands would be operationally viable, that it would be able to pay for itself by way of operating cost, then we can look forward to an extension to Woodlands. The same argument, Sir, applies also to extensions to Tuas and other areas. I need to caution Members of the House to remember that a study is a fact-finding exercise. It is not a conclusion. Members will probably recall that we carried out a fairly comprehensive study of Changi some two years back. The end result of that study was to confirm our initial belief that there was indeed not sufficient traffic in Changi to warrant an MRT extension to Changi.”
“The end result of this, the bonus, is that it would also be possible to develop much more intensively land all over Singapore. So the idea is really to build the MRT all over Singapore. That objective is consistent with our Vision of 1999 - making the MRT available to the largest possible number of Singaporeans. Having said that, Sir, I need to caution that we can do this only after very careful study of demand. If we were to build an extension to a place where there is no demand, what would happen? Running a train to a place where the demand is extremely low will have got to be paid for, and it will have to be paid for by all commuters, whether they go to that out-of-the-way place or not. So it is very important that while we want to build the MRT all over Singapore, we should proceed only when we have established that there is indeed a demand that justifies the extension to that location. Sir, a couple of months ago I authorized the MRTC to commence study for an extension to Woodlands. The current indications are that the population there is small. But we want to work closely with the Ministry of National Development to understand their plans for the development of that general vicinity, the possibility of development on the Eastern side in the vicinity of Sembawang, Khatib and beyond; and the possibility of development on the other side, the Western side, going up from Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang and Jalan Teck Whye, in that general vicinity. We want to have a good look at what the Ministry of National Development has in mind, what is the rate of building as far as flats are concerned in these two possible areas.”
“Sir, the noise abatement procedure that has been taken by the MRTC has been effective. In particu- lar, responding to the question by the Member, the grinding machine has been effective in reducing the level of noise and inconvenience to residents who live close to the viaducts. Sir, the approach taken by MRTC in its overall planning has been to go for noise abatement systems that are built into the system so that we keep the noise to the lowest possible level in the first place. Measures taken include constructing the viaducts or high mass concrete that will absorb the noise so that the noise is kept to a minimum in the first place. Other systems introduced include the thermic welding of the rails so that you do not get a gap between two rails. The gap is what is responsible for the clickety-click that is so familiar on our old railway systems. Here the joints are sealed so that it is completely smooth, and hence very much quieter. The wheels have automatic lubrication so that theydo not squeak. The rails are regularly grounded in order that they are smooth. And since they do not have any corrugations they do not give additional noise. These are the systems built into the rails that we have. We are also very pleased that the public has been very supportive and the level of complaints has been extremely low. On the possibility of extension of the MRT, Sir, it is the intention of the Government to build the MRT and extend it to all parts of Singapore eventually in order that we can best serve the entire population. The objective is to do that so that people can move about easily. Then we will have higher productivity, with less time wasted on travelling.”
“PTC should not duplicate the activities of a number of different Ministries concerned with transportation in Singapore. Under the coordination of the Ministry for Communications and Information, there are already engineers, experts and specialists in the three Ministries, namely, Communications and Information, Home Affairs (Traffic Police) and the Ministry for National Development (PWD). ROV is in MCI. There is already built up over the past decades large pools of expertise. It would be counter-productive to want to duplicate all these, yet again, under PTC. What is important is that information that is required, that is appropriate to the deliberations of the PTC, is made available to them in order that they can get a broad overview of issues before they settle on to the details of fares and routes.”
“Sir, since the formation of the Public Transport Council as a result of the suggestion of the GPC on Communications and Information, the Council has been working very actively over the last nine months. The results of their deliberations have been made public except that the public is not made aware of this. Instead of the conventional process of issuing a press release, the Public Transport Council has gone for a more effective way of communication. The Public Transport council meets regularly, every month, and more frequently if there is any necessity for such a meeting. It decides on the issues, have them fully resolved and then allow the results of their deliberations to be announced by the operators themselves, namely, the bus companies and SMRT. So fares of the SMRT were announced by SMRT and they were announced well ahead of time in order to enable people to read about it and to digest it. So too with frequency changes of buses, with new bus services being introduced, with old services being deleted, with some services being modified. All these were carried in the various media as advertisements. The objective is to get the people to know what changes are going to be made, and these have been done relatively effectively and the number of complaints has been negligible. Have there been any controversial issues? I think controversial issues result only when there is serious disagreement or when certain parties are unhappy with it. So far, all the issues, although difficult and complex, have been resolved amicably. The public has been very satisfied. An example is the fares of the MRT system. That has worked out reasonably well. Has the PTC conducted studies on transportation? Sir, the answer is no.”
“Sir, if I could just wrap up very quickly this particular item. I am very conscious of the fact that it is possible, as the Member has rightly pointed out, to overdo certain things and get it to a point where it becomes counter-productive. This is why SBC has not pushed songs of this sort beyond a certain stage. But honestly, if the public likes singing that song, I find that positive rather than negative. If we force them to sing, I think that is a different story altogether. But if our grassroots leaders, the various mass organizations really find that it touches a chord in their hearts, I would say, "Well done. That is a good thing."”
“Sir, if the supermarkets and department stores find that playing the song "Count on me Singapore" attracts more customers, it is a good reason to play the song. If you find that the grassroots organizations under no compulsion from anybody, definitely not from the MPs, I am sure, like to sing the song "Count on me Singapore", I think it is a positive thing. It is a good thing. Sir, I would rather have them singing "Count on me Singapore" than "My Way".”
“Sir, the Member suggested that we are doing this with haste. I said a moment ago that it is not really with haste. We started the programme earlier on this year. We are talking about August, in time for National Day. So we are talking about a period of some seven to eight months to get people to be familiar with some of the songs so that they can participate in the mass singing on National Day. I think seven to eight months to get people familiar with some of the songs is really not too much of a rush. The Member suggested the possibility of a survey. We have indeed started such a survey. We are already keeping records in the Ministry of the sort of songs that people in the various organizations find themselves more drawn to. Songs are, to a large extent, subjective. Those songs that are less popular need not be included in new editions. Some sort of updating will be necessary. So if there are new songs that the Member for Kampong Ubi is aware of that he believes to be reasonably popular, we will be happy to look at them and if they prove to be popular, we will be quite happy to incorporate them in future editions of the song book.”
“Specifically on the song "Dayung Sampan", our source comes from an earlier song book entitled "36 Best Songs of Malaysia and Singapore" compiled by a lady Aisha Akbar. In her song book, it is recorded that this is a folk song of Chinese origin. We had not taken the time to explore the origin. This is a subject probably best left to historians. What we are interested is finding songs that are representative, and reflective of Singapore. And if they are popular, if it has got a good tune, we will encourage Singaporeans to take it as their own and to sing them.”
“The objective of the competition is to get widespread participation and we are trying to get them together in large numbers. So groups can be as large as 200 from each of the grassroots organizations that will be participating. With this competition, straightaway we will have thousands of people in the constituencies, in the civil service, in the schools, familiar with the songs. With that common base it will be a lot easier to try to get the programme off the ground. The Member also asked whether it would be just a flash in the pan - competition, and nothing else. No. There is a long-term programme to ensure that we help promote these songs that we believe Singaporeans will find themselves happy to sing. So far, we have distributed 5,000 complimentary copies of the cassettes and song book to the various organizations and schools. I am aware that many organizations have already started doing some kind of singing before they begin other social activities. I think this is a good sign. The public has also got on to this and my understanding is more than 9,000 copies of the cassette have already been sold over the last two weeks and more than 8,000 of the song books have also been taken up by private groups. SBC will obviously be supportive of this programme. They will be playing the popular songs over radio and TV as fillers whenever there are some spare minutes available. The more popular songs will then be used for choreography, for some mass display during the National Day and we will also be getting the choir to sing some of these songs. By then the public would have been very familiar with some of these songs, and will be encouraged to join in the mass singing.”
“Sir, I thank the Member for Kampong Ubi for his interest in this subject of "Sing Singapore". I have no doubt that Members in this House will be aware that whenever groups of people gather together to sing, one of the biggest problems is finding a sufficient number of songs that a large number of participants are familiar with. And since many people have participated in years past in uniformed groups or other mass organizations like the Scouts and the Cadets, what inevitably follow will be songs like Clementine, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean or He's a Jolly Good Fellow, John Brown's Baby, songs of this sort, totally irrelevant to Singapore today, reminiscent obviously of colonial times. Sir, it is with this in mind that the Ministry has, jointly with the Ministry of Community Development, got together a group of people who are familiar with music and with songs, from the Ministry of Education, from the Ministry of Community Development, SBC and a number of other organizations, to put together what they consider to be songs that are already reasonably popular and yet at the same time reflective of Singapore, what they term "national songs or community songs". And the songbook "Sing Singapore" is a result of that effort. Why rush into this, the Member asked. There is no rush at all. We are doing this in our typical Singaporean efficient way. Having decided that it is a good thing to have songs that Singaporeans will enjoy singing, that Singaporeans will be familiar with, we decided to encourage the grassroots organizations to participate. And there is nothing better than a competition to get that participative juice moving. We are not really trying to get people to vie for the prize.”
“Sir, if a need is demonstrated that large numbers of people with such skills are necessary for the economy, I am quite sure the support will be available, will be forthcoming, not only from me but also from the Minister for Education.”
“I shall look into the matter urgently. Sir, as a general rule, when Members of Parliament work together with the Ministry and liaise with the bus services, by and large they have been able to come together and provide a service that is satisfactory both to the residents as well as to the bus companies. Where there is a demand, there is no doubt at all that the bus companies would only be too happy to provide a service. The problem occurs occasionally when the demand is extremely low, and then you will have to try to persuade the smaller bus operators, those with small buses and therefore a smaller capacity, to operate those routes with very low demand. I will ask the operators to look into this in detail.”
“In the meantime, I hope Singaporeans who are using both the bus and the MRT will bear with the fact that they have got to buy two tickets instead of one. But they can, of course, make it more convenient for themselves if they get a stored value ticket for the MRT. Then they would not have to buy a ticket every time they take a ride. Sir, the integration of routes is already taking place. It will be a continuous process. I would welcome suggestions from members in constituencies where they consider the services of the bus routes to be significantly affected by the MRT system and who want some modifications or some new routes to be added to get in touch with the bus companies so that they can bear in mind suggestions from the Members of the Parliament in their overall reorganization of the routes in order to give the people of Singapore the best possible public service, both by bus as well as the MRT. Sir, I believe the Member also touched on the question of the possibility of retrenchment of workers by bus companies. The bus companies have been aware of the construction of the MRT over the last few years. So they have already built into their long-term plans that factor. As a result of that, there has been no massive recruitment of employees over the past two years, so much so that at the moment they are not expecting any pro- blems at all as far as retrenchment is concerned. There will be the gradual phasing out of numbers as a result of natural attrition. Others will then be redeployed in new areas of activity. New routes will also be created as a result of demand by residents in certain constituencies for easy access to the MRT. So all in all, the bus companies have assured my Ministry that they do not expect any massive retrenchment in the coming months.”
“Sir, I will be happy to ask the bus companies, in particular SBS, to liaise with the Member for Bukit Batok and his grassroots organizations to ensure that we work out a scheme of services satisfactory to the vast majority of members of Bukit Batok. Sir, the Member for Khe Bong raised a number of points. I will take them in order. The Member suggested having more feeder services in the new towns in order to make it possible for residents to get to the MRT as quickly as possible. I support this suggestion. I will ask the bus companies to look into it and also, in order that it will satisfy the needs of the residents, to encourage the grassroots organizations to participate. There is not much point in having bus services if they are not the routes that people want. Our experience in past years has been that whenever we gets the bus companies to work closely with grassroots organizations, the route that eventually gets implemented is almost always found to be a lot more acceptable than otherwise. The Member asked about the possibility of fare change because he thinks that the feeder service is too cheap at 15 cts. The bus companies will be reviewing fares when they get round to the overall fare integration with the MRT some two to three years from now. So for the time being, there is no necessity for the feeder service to increase the fares at all. Yes, it is true that without the through-ticket for commuters to use the same ticket for both a bus ride as well as a train ride, there will be some inconvenience. But the operators are working very closely, as I mentioned a moment ago, with the equipment supplier to get them as soon as possible.”
“But we are talking about something like 18 months to two years before Teleview becomes available to the general public. People working in this area of telecommunications equipment, office equipment, should bear this in mind when they plan for the years ahead.”
“Sir, I cannot recall all the details of the incident that the Member for Ayer Rajah has raised but the general case goes something like this. Fax machines were originally sold by private sector companies and because they were relatively small companies, importing small number of units of these machines, the prices were kept relatively high. We are told, although it is difficult to provide evidence for such matters, that certain suppliers in other countries deliberately held prices up in order to capitalize on a market that was growing. What happened was that Telecoms came in, imported the machines in large numbers so that economies of scale made it possible for the fax machines to be much more cheaply available and therefore accessible to a much larger number of Singaporeans and companies in Singapore. That resulted in unhappiness in the private sector because the prices from the private sector were very much higher than those from Telecoms, because Telecoms, as a result of the economies of scale, passed on the savings to the consumer. It is something that we want to encourage more of rather than to discourage. As for the possibility of Teleview affecting fax machines, I do not think we should hold progress in order to protect those who may be affected because their businesses are such that they are not sufficiently long-term in their planning and do not make allowance for the arrival of new technology. We should not hold back technology in order that a small group will benefit and in the process the nation, the public at large are deprived of a new service. I have already indicated the rough time-table of this new project. This is an R&D project. Those who are familiar with R&D projects will know that it is almost impossible to tie R&D down to fixed time-tables.”
“So far, there has been no significant increase in complaints to Telecoms. The liberalization has gone very well. As for spare parts, as a general rule, Telecoms keep spare parts for equipment for three to five years. We need to remember that in the field of tele- communications, particularly in the field of electronic equipment, the rate at which a piece of equipment becomes obsolete is extremely fast. So we are already being very, very generous in the provision of spares.”
“Depending on the results of the field trial, if all is successful we expect the scheme to be available for wider participation sometime at the end of 1989 or early 1990. Will SBC Text be redundant, be obsolete, as a result of Teleview? I hope not. In countries which operate these systems referred to as interactive videotext systems, both systems have been able to compete side by side. Not just to compete, but also in certain instances to complement. Maybe, Sir, I ought to describe also very briefly what SBC Text is and explain why it is different from Teleview. SBC Text is like a man addressing an audience. It is one way. The television station broadcasts information. At the moment SBC is broadcasting something like 500 pages and you select from the 500 pages what information you want. Teleview is different. Teleview is like two persons having a dialogue. The person at home can talk, can have a dialogue with the central computer and ask for different information and transact business. So the roles of the two schemes are different. We hope that both systems will find its own market niche and continue serving the people in slightly different way. I now move on to the question about the liberalization of sales, supply and maintenance of telecommunications equipment to the private sector. We started moving in the direction of greater liberalization way back in 1986 when we started promoting the sale of telecommunications equipment by the private sector. Then last year in 1987 we liberalized the maintenance of telecommunications equipment by the private sector. This has been well received by the private sector of course and, As far as Telecoms is concerned, it is consistent with our policy of encouraging greater participation in high technology products and services.”
“You can buy airline tickets and so forth. The potential, is limited only by the imagination of vendors, suppliers and the private sector. You can also use such a system, the Teleview system, to transmit messages to your friends who can similarly access by way of his telephone, his black box and his television. So you can have your own private telebox system. Right now, telebox is available to companies which subscribe to certain nets but in due course every family via Teleview can have a telebox. Or your can use it in another common mode as a fax machine. You can send documents from your place, given appropriate adaptors, to your friend, again via this sytem. If there are providers of this service for children and if there are sufficient programmes available, children can have educational assistance via this Teleview system that we are talking about. Sir, we have been doing R&D on this project for some seven or eight years. So far, we have committed a total of $14 million. When the project is fully completed, with the purchase of the central computers and assorted other hardwares, we would expect the project to cost us about $50 million. This is a relatively small amount of money considering that the annual revenue of Telecoms is about $1,000 million a year. It is a good investment for the future, an investment in the greater productivity of Singaporeans in enabling them to access information and to transact services in a relatively short time. The Member for Fengshan asked when this will be introduced. We are now working towards the final stages of the project. I expect a field trial of a few hundred of these black boxes sometime towards the end of this year.”
“Sir, if I could, first of all, explain what Teleview is all about very briefly and in layman's language. Telecoms has been working on a research project over the last seven or eight years and has now developed a new system which will enable Singaporeans to move quickly into the information era with for this piece of equipment available to a very wide spread of households in Singapore. The system itself is very simple in layman's terms, of course, not technically. Every home now has got a telephone and a television. If they were to buy this little black box which will be made available when the project is implemented, then they will be able to use the telephone to connect it to the black box and the television to call a central computer. The central computer will cause information to be broadcast, to be beamed, like a television picture and that picture will be received on your television. And then the individual can interact with the central computer. It is a very simple, very cheap way for households to have access to the central computer. What sort of facilities can be offered with a system like that? The potential is limitless. Systems similar although not identical with the Teleview system ourselves are now available in Britain and in France. Facilities available include things like buying and selling of goods and services via your telephone and television. If you want to purchase something, you can call up the central computer. If a vendor or seller is available selling a particular item, you can have the wares displayed on your television. You can decide whether you want to buy it or not and proceed accordingly. If you want to buy it, you can just indicate by way of your telephone and a transaction can be made. You have stocks and shares transacted that way.”
“You just make one trip to the POSB settle it once and for all, and after that it is no longer a problem. We will also be introducing very shortly a scheme where people can pay for a number of years, say, for three years at a time rather than having to pay annually, if that it is too much of a problem. Sir, the present method of collection is satisfactory. But if the Member has any other ideas beyond that of collecting it by way of income tax or by way of property tax, in which case the money will probably go to the Finance Ministry and not to SBC, I will be quite happy to consider other alternatives.”
“Firstly, we will be able to have a very much wider pool of talent to select actors and actresses from. There will also be a larger pool of scriptwriters. We can share with one another our expertise and our experience. Cost, obviously, will also be shared. Viewership will also be very much larger. So there are a number of advantages. We have also worked with other countries. During the Miss Universe Pageant in Singapore, we worked with companies in the United States. There was also a Christmas programme where SBC worked together with BBC in putting out a programme that was aired in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand as well as Britain. Sir, I turn now to the Member for Bukit Timah. He asked about the purpose of the licence. The licence is a revenue generating mechanism to help SBC finance its production and broadcast of programmes. A very sizable proportion of revenue for SBC comes from the radio and TV licences. If this source of revenue is not available, then it means that we will have to cut down drastically on the number of programmes that we have. It means that we will have to cut down on the quality. It means that we will have to cut down on local production because local production is extremely expensive. It means also that we have to increase, maybe double, the number of advertisements carried on television in order to ensure that there is sufficient revenue to meet the expenditure. So it is not practical to suggest that revenue be channelled elsewhere. As for the means of collection, I think the present system is fairly satisfactory and fairly straightforward. At the moment, it is possible for individuals or households to pay their licences by way of the Giro.”
“In spite of that, the people at SBC have done their utmost to perform under those extremely difficult conditions. We hope to be able sometime later this year, to begin the construction of a new permanent location, some place in Tuas. We would be acquiring about 6.6 hectares where we will set up permanent scenes such as an Imperial Palace with lakes, with the appropriate street scenes capturing the mood of a bygone era for local dramas that has become so popular nowadays in Singapore. We will also be creating scenes of old Singapore, old street scenes in pre-war Singapore. We will be creating bungalows that are now no longer in existence. We will be creating kampongs. These will provide the backdrop for us to provideour population with a feel for what Singapore was 40, 50, 60 years ago. It will also be a means of transmitting to our children the lessons that we have learnt over these years and help them understand the progress that we have made and the things that need to be done in order to ensure that that progress continues. Sir, I turn now to the question about cooperation with other broadcasting stations in other countries. This is being actively pursued all the time. Where opportunities are available, where the objectives of the two organizations coincide, cooperation is always welcome. In this context, I want to mention that SBC has, for many years already, been cooperating with Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). Regular variety programmes have been put out over the past years. We are also currently negotiating with a broadcasting station in Taiwan, on the possibility of a joint production of a serial, probably a drama. There are many advantages in working together with another organization.”
“If we have got a car park next to it, then we can expect traffic to come from the vicinity, from the surrounding private housing estates, from Jalan Kayu, from Seletar Hills, areas of that sort. And that is going to create traffic congestion for the residents in Ang Mo Kio. Sir, I do not think it would be a practical idea, and hence I think we should be very cautious before we move into something of this sort. Sir, the GPC Chairman asked about the upgrading in SBC and how the funds allocated would be expended. The amount of money available would help SBC to ugprade in a number of different ways. I will mention two general areas. Firstly, there would be the acquisition of better technical equipment, equipment that would permit greater creativity in the programmes that we have. This will include facilities such as digitalized equipment that will enable very rapid and very flexible transformation of pictures into different formations. I think some of you have already seen some of these features on television where a picture can be twisted into different shapes - inverted or transposed. Other equipment will also include electronic news gathering equipment, lighting systems, cameras and sound systems that are extremely portable, enabling our SBC to go all over Singapore to cover events live, if necessary. In similar vein, we would also be purchasing more equipment that will enable SBC to cover concerts, variety shows such as those at City Hall or in Victoria Memorial Concert Hall. These are the sort of equipment that are essential if we want to upgrade the standard of SBC. The conditions in SBC are indeed crammed. This is because SBC inherited from Radio and Television Singapore all the old facilities, the old buildings.”
“Sir, in spite of the recession that was not planned for, a recession that was probably the worst we ever had in two decades, after some modifications to the original figures, we have now arrived at a position where today taxi drivers are a lot better off than they were in April 1985. Taxi commuters also are a lot better off than they were in 1985. Then they were unable to get a taxi, now less difficult. We would have done taxi commuters and taxi drivers a disservice if we had not introduced a fare increase, as well as the diesel tax, albeit moderated to a level that was acceptable by all. Sir, I expect in due course when the diesel tax is fully implemented, similar benefits will also prevail - benefits for taxi drivers, benefits for taxi commuters and benefits for all other road users, because we will not have excessively large number of taxis cluttering our roads. Sir, the Member for Fengshan also raised a third point which is the possibility of construction of car parks in some MRT stations. We have said on many occasions that in Singapore land is scarce. Where do we build our MRT stations? We build them right in the City centre, we build them in areas of very high density. To try then to build a car park adjacent to an MRT station means that you would have to tie up land, land which is already scarce. It means also that we will be attracting large numbers of cars coming in during peak hours. Of those who have got a car and who intend to use the MRT, Sir, I do not think that will be a practical idea because it means that we will bring in traffic congestion from beyond into the housing estate. Take for example, Ang Mo Kio. The MRT is right in the City centre.”
“So short of making it relatively inconvenient for people to have fare integration without a common through-ticket, the operators decided to hold it back until the equipment is available. The operators are currently working with the manufacturers to ensure that the equipment that will be available eventually, when installed on buses, will be able to take the very severe rattling, the very severe vibration on buses. We expect to be able to go into some kind of a pilot programme sometime at the end of next year, with the possibility that, if the pilot programme is successful, sometime two or three years from now the equipment should be widely available for integration of fares for all passengers. Sir, the Member for Fengshan also rightly pointed out that in 1971 when the diesel tax was introduced for cars, that same tax was not applied to taxis. Sir, that is the anomaly that has been responsible for diesel cars coming all the way down and for the number of diesel taxis going all the way up until at the moment practically all taxis operate on diesel. That is the reason why it is necessary now to correct the anomaly to move towards parity between taxis and cars. Sir, this policy is a sound policy. It is a consistent policy and it is a policy that the Government will apply in due course. What I can assure the House at the moment is that this diesel tax will not be applied until we have assessed fully the impact of the MRT on taxi ridership. Sir, Members will recall that way back in April 1985 when diesel tax was originally initiated, there was a certain amount of unhappiness. Conventional wisdom at that time had it that the taxi drivers would be worse off and that taxi commuters would be worse off.”
“Sir, I thank the Chairman of the GPC for his kind words on the MRT. I have no doubt that the large numbers of our workers on the MRT system as well as the large numbers of Singaporeans who have given their cooperation and support welcome the praise that is given by the GPC Chairman on behalf of GPC. We are very conscious of the importance of integrating the MRT system with other public transport systems. This is why way back during the planning stages, the integration of physical infrastructure has been very carefully looked into. As a result of that, we have many of the MRT stations built either close to or adjacent to bus interchanges, making it convenient for commuters to change from a bus to the MRT. We have also included taxi stands, wherever possible, at or near the MRT stations for exactly the same reason - encouraging easier transfers. The other aspect of integration the integration of bus routes with the MRT system, has been going on and I expect will continue, because it is really a continuous process when the MRT extends itself beyond the central areas to the outlying areas. Sir, integration has three components. The integration of physical infrastructure has already taken place. The integration of bus routes with the MRT system is a continuous process. The third component, fare integration, was originally planned for an earlier implementation in time for the opening of the MRT system. As it turned out, the equipment that was to be available to read the magnetic card, so that through-ticketing using one single ticket on both the MRT train as well on the buses is possible, that piece of equipment is not available.”
“The whole registration exercise encompassing the four phases is expected to be completed by mid-1991.”
“Sir, the questions asked by the hon. Member are on operational and commercial matters under the purview of the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Limited, which is a private company, and not that of the MRTC which is the builder of the MRT system. I have referred the Member's questions to SMRT and they will be giving the answers. DRUG REGISTRATION SCHEME (Progress report) 7. Mr Chew Heng Ching asked the Acting Minister for Health if he will report on the progress of implementation of the compulsory drug registration scheme introduced in June 1987. The Acting Minister for Health (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong): Mr Speaker, Sir, drug regis- tration under the Medicines Act commenced on 30th June 1987. It is being implemented in four phases. Phase I deals with the more potent and critical drugs such as antibiotics, tranquillisers, hypnotics, cardiovascular and anti-cancer drugs, vaccines and human blood products. The processing of applications for product licences, manufacturers and wholesalers licences under Phase I is progressing smoothly. To date, a total of 3,100 applications have been received. Of these, 1,036 have already been processed and the relevant licences issued. My Ministry expects to be able to complete the registration of the remaining Phase I products by 1st July 1988. Some delays in the processing of the applications for product licences were encountered in the initial stages. They arose because applicants were providing insufficient information as they were not familiar with the drug registration process. These initial teething problems have since been overcome. Phase II of the drug registration will begin after the completion of Phase I. This will involve the registration of drugs used in the treatment of respiratory, digestive and urinary tract diseases.”
“I therefore urge the Government to seriously review the need to build bigger and bigger flats in view of our limited land resource. Sir, the goals of a City of Excellence and a Society of Distinction sound very exciting. But to some, it also projects a very developed but very expensive city to live in. I have some concerns. Will the living standards of a City of Excellence be so high that most of us will live in poverty because we are always kept in the mad race trying to earn more and more, just to be able to pay for the higher and higher cost of living? Will the high cost of living in a Society of Excellence make us lose much of our tourist trade? Sir, I support the motion as the Agenda for Action is more than the programmes of the PAP. It is the nation's blueprint for the future. Once Parliament adopts this Agenda for Action, the ideas can be translated into government policies and we shall be one step nearer to the Vision of 1999.”
“I would like the 1DPM's assurance that the Society of Excellence will be for every citizen, including the poor and the lower income groups. Take the goal of making Singapore a fully home-owning society as an example. The Government's aim to achieve a 100% home ownership is a noble goal. It will help to foster a closely knit, self-reliant community. But at present, home ownership refers to ownership of 3-rooms, 4-rooms or more, and only a small percentage of 2-room home ownership exists. Sir, we do not need to wait till the 1999 to be a compassionate society. I would urge the Government to be compassionate even now, to allow the lower income groups to upgrade themselves in gradual steps. For example, lower income groups with large families staying in 1-room rentals who wish to upgrade to 2-room rentals should be allowed to do so. Lower income groups who wish to upgrade to 2-room purchase flats should be encouraged. In this way, the lower income group will not see home ownership programme as something out of their reach. Sir, land will be always be scarce in Singapore. Yet in recent years the HDB has been building bigger and bigger flats from 4-rooms to 5-rooms, and now talking about 6-rooms. Having a bigger flat does not necessarily equate to excellence in living. A smaller flat well designed in layout, properly decorated, will offer a better living environment. Because of the shortage of land, recent buildings of HDB apartments are built very close together. Although flats built close to each other may help to foster neighbourliness, residents are complaining of lack of privacy. Sir, in a City of Excellence, privacy will be a very important aspect of life.”
“Sir, I have no doubt that this Green Paper, with the challenges and goals of our Government, will find the full support of the people of Singapore, and I give my wholehearted support to the 1DPM's motion and the Agenda for Action. Dr Ho Tat Kin (Boon Teck): Sir, this document that is presented to the House today is the result of a year of discussions among the people, the grassroots leaders, professional groups and the Government. It is a milestone in our history as never before has so much consultation been going on between the Government and the people. The Goals summarized in the Green Paper are a consensus of the people. The consensus shows that Singaporeans generally agree on major issues, even the Member for Potong Pasir cannot disagree with them. I feel that this method of discussion to arrive at consensus is a better alternative to national referendums on major issues and policies, as at a national referendum people only vote yes or no for a policy or choose one policy among a few alternatives. National referendums do not provide feedback and do not allow constructive criticisms or suggestions to be collected. I urge the First Deputy Prime Minister to continue to use this method of consultation with the people when new major policies need to be introduced in future. Allow the people to discuss and debate before the subject is brought to Parliament because the discussion process is a very important aspect in the national education of the people. Sir, whilst it is good to have the goals which we should reach by the year 1999, I would like to know what are the immediate actions that Government will take to ensure that the entire nation could reach the goals and enjoy the benefits.”
“I think it is important, and this the Government has already embarked over the last few years, that the Government should continue to reach out, to meet with people, to talk with them, those who are afraid at least. Those who are afraid to express their views in public, either through the newspapers or at some forum or other, they can express their views in private. We may have to go, maybe help hold their hands, to reassure them that the dark does not always represent danger for them. Sir, I would go so far as to say that those who are afraid of expressing their views and values, we are quite happy to leave them with their own views if they do not wish to express it. But if we are looking for leaders of Singapore, people who will lead others, then I do not think the people who are afraid of having their views examined, having their views contested, or even having their views criticized, I do not think these are the sort of people that we are looking for to provide the leadership for the future. How then can you expect future leaders of Singapore to be willing to meet with others, to carry forth government policies, to put this Agenda for Action and convert it into concrete results if they are already, to start with, afraid of expressing views, lest their views be examined and found wanting? Sir, I said in my speech to the NUS academics that I am very aware that it is much easier, much safer, and also much more comfortable to stay on the sideline. Because if they should come in, whether it is in politics or in some public position, then their views too will be subjected to criticisms and they too may be condemned. And that was the test I asked them: were they prepared to put themselves in for the test?”
“' Another businessman, a company director and a banker who had discussed issues with Ministers at social functions or business meetings said: 'They found them [namely, the Government, the politicians and the bureaucrats] receptive to even highly critical viewpoints.' Then of course they went on: 'Are there channels for expressing views in Singapore? Some of those interviewed felt there were enough formal and informal channels for this.' The Head of the Human Resource Management Unit of the National University of Singapore's Business Administration Faculty, a lady, noted that in recent years, the Government had invited more academics and professionals to sit on various Government committees. She felt that this was a good sign that the Government wanted inputs from academics and professionals. Another academic welcomed the setting up of a think-tank in the form of the Institute of Policy Studies as a new outlet for the expression of ideas. I just want to read from the same report, just to give Members of this House a flavour of the report itself. I have no doubt that they would have read it but I just want to illustrate that by only choosing one example and another one selectively, distorting the thrust of the views of the banker in his early 40s, the Member had not given this House a fair representation of what the report was all about. Sir, it is not surprising at all that some people are afraid to speak up. There will always be such people. There will always be people who are afraid of the dark, people afraid of the unknown. But that does not mean that they are right in believing that mortal danger awaits them every evening when the sun goes down. It does not prove that they are right at all. It does not prove that what they fear is real.”
“I did not say that you are less than honest. I said that I will make it possible for the House to judge whether the Member is less than honest with the House. Sir, let me quote a number of views expressed by people in this particular report. I will just selectively pull some of them because it is a fairly long report. Twelve university lecturers, graduates, professionals and businessmen, these are the people who agreed to be interviewed. Six did not wish to be interviewed. They said they felt it was good to hear the Government urging young Singaporeans to speak their mind and give their ideas and criticize. Specifically, the National University of Singapore Society's assistant honorary secretary said: 'Personally, I think the Government is listening to people who speak up. But it has to ensure all the way down the line that this is what it wants - for people to speak up and share their views and ideas. It must show in action that speaking up is healthy and that feedback helps improve society, otherwise people won't speak up.' And that is what the exercise that culminated in the Green Paper, the Agenda for Action, has all been about. A businessman who gave his name felt that he fears of reprisals (and he quoted the word "reprisals"), the fears of reprisals for speaking up were "more in the mind than anything else." Again a direct quotation "more in the mind than anything else." Further on, he said that: '... those with such apprehensions should come out from under the shadow and test the Government's call for themselves.' As Chairman of the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, this particular businessman said: 'He always spoke his mind in discussions with politicians and bureaucrats and had never been penalised.”
“Sir, I will give Members of the House some other quotations from the same report to show that the Member has completely quoted out of context the responses of a large number of people, and then I leave it to the Members of this House to judge for themselves whether the Member for Potong Pasir has been less than honest with the House and whether his credibility ---”