Yong Nyuk Lin
Singapore
“Sir, it gives mc a chance to say again that the modified plan cannot be accepted at this stage. But it does give me the opportunity to answer another point which was raised by the Member for Ton Payoh and which I have missed in my answer, i.e, that the fringe area car parks would not be utilized at night.”
“I am sorry, Sir, for failing to answer all the questions raised by the Member for Sembawang. As regards the full implementation of the recommendations of the White Paper which was meant to be completed by the middle of 1973, I can only say that it was not a 100% implementation of all the recommendations.”
“He said that they threw the mail on the floor. Here again, unless a complaint is lodged, we can do little about it because all postmen and postwomen are being told how to behave and to extend courtesy, and what the correct procedure is and methods of delivery of mail.”
“" And if, God forbid, priority national needs should one day call for a limitation of circulation of automobiles or any other measure, no one would then regard it as an intolerable sacrifice. "For in a society where humanism regains fully its rights, the automobile should not constitute an end in itself," Mr Graber said.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, it is regrettably true that after many of the estimates for Paya Lebar Airport had been voted, revotes had to be asked for. The reason is that it has taken a long time to get all these development proposals started. They are development proposals really, Sir, and plans have got to be drawn and checked.”
“In these circumstances, I hope it will be appreciated that they are stretching themselves far and wide, and there is always a limit to what a human being can do I can assure him that we will continue to enforce the regulations as far as it is humanly possible before getting a complaint from the Member for Sembawang who says that our enfor…”
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“So it is hoped that by this method and by further recruitment of workers for public cleansing and in the anti-mosquito department and so on, we will be able to ensure, over the new year, some improvement. I hope to see in a matter of two years considerable improvement in the public health situation. I do not think I need go further into the other comments of the hon. Members because they are all related. Hawkers, public cleansing, mosquitoes - all have to do with public health, and standards unfortunately have come down. Partly to blame for this, I think, would be the poor efficiency of the work force. But now that a new disciplinary code has been put into effect, I expect a great improvement in the working efficiency of our workers and that we can now think in terms of increasing the number of workers on a new basis, and, therefore, in a position to make an effective re-organisation of our services.”
“Let me take 15th December, which is just an ordinary daily report which I receive for this Emergency Cleansing Corps of 200 workers, which we intend to increase to 400 within the next few months, and on to 600 thereafter. They work in two shifts; from 6 a.m, to 1.50 p.m., that is, ten minutes to two o'clock, and from 11.30 in the morning to 7.20 p.m. in the evening. The places that they go to work, which might be of interest to Members of the House, are as follows: Kelantan Lane, Jalan Besar, Queensway, Jalan Bukit Merah, Paya Lebar Road for desilting of drains. Most of our drains are being used unfortunately by the public as if they are just refuse dumps. They just throw things into the drains, unfortunately. And then for the maintenance of drains in New Bridge Road, Bukit Timah Road, Hoi How Road, Syed Alwi Road, Waterloo Street, Dorset Road, Sims Avenue. That is the A.M. shift. For the P.M. shift, they go to the hawker congregations, like the one at Narcis Street. On 15th of December, the places that were tackled by our task force were the Kandang Kerbau market area, Syed Alwi Road (big drain), Hock Lim Street, High Street, Queen Street, Beach Lane, New Market Road, China Street, Pagoda Street and Smith Street junction, Narcis Street, Tai Thong Crescent, Idris Road, Lorong 25A, Lorong Tahar. Every day this task force of 200 workers is sent out specially to clean up refuse dumps which are known to accumulate over a day, and it goes round the island to ensure that there is better cleansing than hitherto. This particular force will be doubled to 400 within a month or so, and trebled to 600 in another few months' time.”
“I am, however, happy to say that after long discussions and negotiations, a new disciplinary code has been drawn up dated 21st October, 1965, only two months ago, by the Government, through the Ministry, the Treasury, with the Public Daily-Rated Employees' Union Federation. It is only two months since the new disciplinary code has been effective, and now steps are being taken to pull up recalcitrant workers who have been taking advantage of the former disciplinary code which was wholly ineffectual. Things are beginning to improve, and it is now possible to consider the recruitment of more workers who would then be able to provide a reasonably efficient work force. So I can assure the Back-benchers that the new year will see an improvement in the public health services of Singapore; but like everything else, it will take some time before it can be truly effective. I hope this time next year it will be possible to report a much happier situation and a general improvement in the public health standards by way of fewer mosquitoes, fewer flies and less rubbish all round, whether in busy roads, in hawker congregations or side streets. But I do not think it is enough just to say that I have waited for two years to get this new disciplinary code put into effect. Steps have also been taken since October of this year to create what is known as an Emergency Cleansing Corps which, at the moment, has 200 workers. They are used in two shifts at various localities which require what is known as a task force to clear up piles of refuse in hawker congregations and markets. As an example, I will give some indication of the work that is being done.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I can fully understand the number of Back-benchers who have been descending on me and my Ministry over these nuisances. 3.45 p.m. It has taken me some time to get down to the real problem of attempting to resolve public health measures that have unfortunately been allowed to deteriorate, not over a period of one or two years, but perhaps over a period of seven years. It is true that the matter could be resolved by employing more workers. But I think that would only be just attempting to evade the issue, because with the best of organisation and the best of equipment, unless there is a reasonably efficient working force, then all our plans can go wrong. And to have a reasonably efficient force - I am not asking for a highly efficient force but a reasonably efficient force - there has got to be normal discipline, and that is utterly lacking. It is impossible to run any department or organisation if the absenteeism which has to be faced fluctuates from three per cent to something like 15 per cent. As a result, you can never tell how many workers are going to turn up for work. That has been so for the last seven years. Absenteeism is at its lowest - three to five per cent of the whole working force - on Sundays when there is double pay, and on public holidays when there is treble pay. And when it is normal pay on Mondays, absenteeism is 15 per cent. Just how can any organisation work on such a basis? So I have not asked for the filling of vacancies in such a situation because it is a ridiculous situation. Had we filled the vacancies, the position would have got from bad to worse, because it would have continued to be run on that basis.”
“As I have said, in the past, the tendency has always been on anti-malarial work - but now we shall call it the Anti-Mosquito Control Unit - to cover anti-malaria and other diseases caused by mosquitoes. We have been fairly successful in controlling the T.B. problems by establishing an Anti-T.B. Control Unit. So we intend very soon to establish what is known as the Anti-Mosquito Control Unit to co-ordinate the activities of the Anti-Mosquito Department, and to cover the whole island. We hope that within a few years the so-called mosquito nuisance will be gradually reduced and Singapore will be mosquito-free as far as possible. We can say that Singapore has been free of malaria for a number of years, but we are really right in the heart of a very malarious region, which includes Indonesia and our next-door neighbour, Malaysia. Every year we have a few hundred cases of malaria recorded in Singapore but they are all cases that are imported into Singapore and none indigenous to Singapore, although last year at the Foo Yong Estate in Bukit Timah we had a local outbreak of malaria which resulted in 29 cases of confirmed malaria, and this occurred in what is known as a controlled area; that is to say, although we had taken anti-malarial measures, yet there was a small outbreak of malaria. Therefore, all this while, we have to maintain a very vigilant attitude towards the mosquito problem. We have been reasonably successful for nearly 50 years in the control of malaria. But it is preferable, now that there is such a large mosquito nuisance in Singapore, that we should take one further step in establishing a centralised unit to control it.”
“For example, an anti-malarial oiler who distributes oil over surfaces of water in the past used to cut grass every sixth day, but unfortunately they now say that they want something extra for cutting grass, and there has been some difficulty in agreeing to this request of division of labour. So for the forthcoming year there will be a re-organisation to put this matter right. Also mosquitoes are no longer a nuisance when they just bite people, because we are beginning to find that the so-called mosquito nuisance is no longer a nuisance. There are a number of other types of diseases appearing, like filariasis, more commonly known as elephantiasis, caused by mosquitoes biting individuals and there is encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and hemorrhagic fever (that is bleeding into the skin and organs) - all caused as a result of mosquito bites. We are getting something like a hundred cases per year. So because of these new trends arising out of mosquito bites, it has been decided to make malaria what is known as a notifiable disease, that is to say, if a person has malaria, which is confirmed by taking a blood slide, it becomes obligatory of the doctor to notify the Ministry of Health. We shall be bringing out a new Bill to be called the Destruction of Mosquito Act so that we will be able to have the legislative authority to deal rather strongly with people who are breeding mosquitoes probably very innocently in their gardens by putting out shanghai jars for collecting rainwater for their gardens, but at the same time for breeding mosquitoes, and they may all the time be complaining why there are mosquitoes in their houses when they are themselves helping mosquitoes to breed. There will also be created a new Anti-Mosquito Control Unit.”
“But I would like to deal with the mosquito nuisance particularly, as the tendency up to the present for the last 40 to 50 years has been to tackle the mosquito problem as an anti-malarial measure, which is correct, because as far back as 50 years ago - 1910 to be exact - there used to be tens of thousands of malarial cases with over 2,000 deaths each year from malaria. And then an Anti-Mosquito Ordinance was passed which brought about concerted action against the anopheles mosquito which was responsible for malaria. Over a period of years, malaria became controlled in Singapore and the cases of malaria began to drop considerably. But during the Japanese occupation - the years 1941-1945 - the anti-malarial measures collapsed and again by 1945, we came back to the 1910 situation where over 2,000 people died from malaria. Steps were again taken to put our anti-malarial measures back to their original footing, and it was only in 1952 that we went back to the pre-war control of malaria. So all this while, we have had more or less been concentrating on anti-malarial measures. They have been fairly effective, but unfortunately, with the considerable urban development within the city area and less attention being paid to the construction of subsoil drainage and open drains for the carriage of drainage water, we are beginning to have the mosquito nuisance because of the collection of stagnant pools of water. And I am afraid also that since May 1963 there have been some difficulties with the workers in the Anti-Malarial Department who refuse to cut grass if they are oilers. They insist on division of labour.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, regarding these two complaints, the fly and the mosquito nuisances, I think it is not a question of my Ministry not being aware of their existence so much as what steps are to be taken to put a stop to them, and these have been unfortunately allowed to deteriorate for quite some years. As indicated previously in this debate, in the Appendix to His Excellency's Speech, an indication was given that for the coming year, there will be a reorganisation of the Environmental health services which will include Public Cleansing, Hawkers and the Anti-mosquito services. The mosquito nuisance is somewhat correlated to a number of other factors besides just dealing with mosquitoes by our so-called Anti-Malarial Department. If public cleansing is defective - and unfortunately it is to a great extent - this will bring about considerable piles of refuse not being taken away and dealt with, and such refuse will block drains and, therefore, there will be stagnant water which will ultimately bring about mosquito-breeding and hence the numerous hordes of mosquitoes which worry not only the Member for Punggol but also many residents on this island. I have already indicated that there will be licensing of the 40,000 to 50,000 hawkers during the coming year, and that will be the first step in the control of hawkers which will, of course, affect the reorganisation of the public cleansing services. And when this is tackled, it will somewhat reduce the mosquito nuisance, because we will then be able to clear away stagnant pools of water now collecting in numerous drains throughout the city.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, this provision is for the reimbursement of a number of leper patients who were originally from Singapore but later were sent to the Malaysian leper settlements of Sungei Buloh and Pulau Jerejak. There are places available in our leper settlement known as Trafalgar Home. In fact, unlike other hospitals, we are in the fortunate position of having accommodation for more than a thousand patients suffering from leprosy, but at the moment there are less than 600 patients receiving attention. At the moment the number in Sungei Buloh is around 24. Leprosy is a condition which could take a number of years to cure, so that many of the patients are practically permanently settled down there. It would be quite a difficult matter to bring them back to Singapore, although we could handle the situation if they were here. So it is probably better to allow them to continue settling there and we reimburse the cost for these patients. At the same time, I would like to say that in Trafalgar Home we have 18 patients who are from Malaysia. So it is really like there are just as many Malaysian patients in Singapore as there are Singapore patients in Malaysia. We feel that perhaps the position could be left as it is without much disturbance of the patients, rather than withdraw them from Sungei Buloh and forcibly put them into our Trafalgar Home.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not think it is correct to say that people are given free music, because everything has got to be paid for. Even in music, whether it is Rediffusion or Radio music, the set has got to be installed at some cost. I do agree that it is nice to be able to provide musical entertainment - whether over Rediffusion or Radio - to cheer up the sick and especially little children. As for T.V. sets, they are fairly costly. So far, we have been able to install T.V. sets through private donations. Certain wards in certain hospitals have T.V. sets installed through the kindness and excellent social spirit of either certain individuals or charitable organisations. I hope this spirit can be continued and also that the Member for Aljunied would make a move by donating one T.V. set so that others may follow! Otherwise I may have to work very hard with our Hon. Minister for Finance to get him to grant more money. We would like to grant all available services, but it is a question of economy and finance. Since an excellent example has already been set by many kind individuals and organisations donating such sets, I do look forward to the Member for Aljunied making a move.”
“I have said that for the present those who are trained have every possibility of being confirmed in permanent employment, but that the position must be reviewed for next year, 1966-67. This is a matter under study and it will be too early for me to make a pronouncement now.”
“Member for Sembawang. Should he have occasion to have complaints, I would appreciate it if he could direct them to me personally, giving more information than he has given.”
“If it is the case of an emergency patient having to wait for a long time for a doctor to examine his case, I would appreciate it if the Member for Sembawang would indicate the patient concerned and the day on which this incident happened, so that I can then follow it up, rather than making just a complaint that people have to wait for a long time to see a doctor and just stopping there. I am afraid I am not in a position to follow up on a general complaint of that nature. As for the third complaint about the attitude of some nurses - I am glad that he says some nurses but not all nurses - who may appear to be somewhat ill-mannered and show a lack of patience with some of those who are ill, I think it is almost impossible to expect a hundred per cent of all nurses to be very well-mannered and full of patience all the time. Here again I do not think it would be fair to make just a general statement without giving specific instances of bad, ill-mannered treatment of patients in hospitals. It is almost impossible to defend against such a complaint. But in regard to the remarks of the Member that perhaps in the School of Nursing there should be established a courtesy course, I believe this is a matter which the hon. Member for Moulmein has already raised some time ago, namely, that perhaps we should institute a courtesy course for our nurses. This is part and parcel of the general training of nurses, and I do not think it is necessary to have a specific courtesy course for nurses in general. They are expected to treat everyone with courtesy, more so towards those who are ill and who would really need not only their attention but also normal courtesy which one citizen would extend to another. I hope I have been able to answer all the three points raised by the hon.”
“friend from Sembawang would do better to follow this line of routine rather than issue letters of introduction addressed to various officials of my Ministry. However, if he will be good enough to let me know the name of this particular patient, the 60-year old woman, I will try to assist him in this respect, to make sure that she gets some attention, but this does not go for all other cases in future. His second complaint is that many patients in the General Hospital have to wait a long time before receiving attention. I am afraid he is not so particular in this complaint in that he makes a very general statement. It is very difficult to try to follow it up, and I would prefer if he could give me specific instances of so-called delays encountered by patients before they received attention. I must, however, state that it is more than one and a half years ago, since August 1964, that the Outpatient Dispensary of the General Hospital was closed down. In its place, there is a 24-hour Emergency Unit in the General Hospital to deal with serious emergencies or with cases where people have been involved in motor accidents. Ever since that time, I have been given to understand that all such cases have been promptly look after, and many of those who have had occasion to go to this emergency unit have indicated how pleased they were that the reorganisation has now given them more efficient and quicker service than was available hitherto.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe the Member for Sembawang has three sets of complaints to make against the Ministry of Health. I would like to take them in the order in which they have been presented. The first complaint, in one particular case, is that there was a 60-year old woman who had an eye complaint and who did not receive any attention when she went to the Opthalmic Department of the General Hospital; and when the complainant saw the Member for Sembawang about this, he gave her a letter of introduction which was duly considered by the people in charge, taken note of, and she was asked to go back and she would be told when to appear again at the hospital. But up till now - it is three weeks since he wrote the letter of introduction - there has been no news requesting her to turn up at the hospital for attention. I want to say that I myself do get similar requests for letters of introduction to see this doctor or that surgeon and I have to tell them that although I personally may be the Minister for Health, I am not a Doctor of Medicine and I am not in a position to give any letters of introduction. So I think my good friend the Member for Sembawang has taken upon himself quite a lot by issuing letters of introduction addressed to the doctors in the hospital. The proper procedure would be to advise the patient, or whoever is not feeling too well, to first see a doctor, who would then be in a position to diagnose the complaint. 2.45 p.m. After examining the condition of the patient, this particular doctor would then give a letter - what is known as a letter of referral; that is to say, a general practitioner refers a patient to a specialist, who would then attend on him. So I hope in future instances, my hon.”
“I hope my friend the hon. Member for Changi could be patient enough to wait for the official announcement regarding the new Hawkers' Code, rather than for me to say something now and then come out later in drips and drops. I hope he could just hold his horses for one and a half months. In fact, he is already in the know, because I have circularised the draft Hawkers' Code for comments from Government Assemblymen and it is only after I have received all the comments and criticisms - I have also asked for the views of the Public Health Advisory Board - that I can launch out on this project. It is really the concentrated experience not only of our own Assemblymen but also of officials in various Ministries covering Health, the Public Works Department, Roads, and Housing and Development Board and so on. Because the hawker problem is not a problem by itself. It is a social problem.. It covers various aspects of life. So we try to get as many heads together as possible on this problem. At last we have formulated a code, not of too many rules and regulations, but a few general principles, such as we accept that hawking is a way of life in Singapore, but that in their attempt to find a simple way of earning a living, because of the very serious unemployment situation in Singapore, the hawkers should not, on the other hand, ignore their social responsibilities as to become a danger both in respect of public health and also of traffic. They have got to play according to a few rules, and they would then be assured of security in the choice of their livelihood.”
“And thirdly, the first step to be taken for proper and effective control and supervision of hawkers is the licensing of all hawkers. At present, unfortunately, only 10,000 hawkers are licensed out of an estimated total of anything from 40,000 to 50,000 hawkers. This is, therefore, an impossible situation which has gone on for far too long and should be stopped accordingly. So after the announcement of the new Hawkers' Code around mid-February 1966, it is proposed that the Hawkers Department will begin to license all hawkers as from the 1st of March, 1966. And it is expected that it may take a few months to cope with the work. Hawkers' licences will, of course, be limited for issuance to Singapore citizens. And after licensing all the hawkers, it will then become an offence for anyone to hawk without a licence. Thereafter, the other provisions of the new Hawkers' Code will be implemented step by step. Finally, I would like to mention the fact that when I used the term "hawkers", it should, of course, include the term "market stall-holders", because I group them all under one terminology - hawkers. In fact, the department previously known as the Markets and Hawkers Department, a term which was used by my hon, friend, should really read as the Hawkers and Markets Department, which name I changed at least one year ago.”
“Most hawker congregations are also made up of unauthorised structures which, in turn, prevent our cleansing workers from doing their jobs properly, thus adding up the piles of refuse. These in turn increase public health hazards, for they bring in more flies and mosquitoes, because drains are blocked with refuse which cannot he cleared and flushed. I would like to assure the Member for Mountbatten that initial steps of re-organisation, not only of the Hawkers Department but also of the Public Cleansing Department, have been taken, and that stronger remedial measures will be taken early next year, i.e. after the forthcoming festive seasons are over. I would like to refer the hon. Member to a part of His Excellency's Address which was delivered on the 8th December, particularly col. 25 [Hansard], the last but one paragraph, which reads as follows:- `The re-organisation and expansion of the Environmental Health Services, Public Cleansing, Anti-Mosquito Services and Hawkers Department are being taken in hand and initial measures for improvement of transport, equipment, enforcement of discipline and training of supervisors have commenced.' 4.30 p.m. I should now like to indicate briefly what has been done and will be done soon. Firstly, a new Hawkers' Code has been drawn up with the assistance of the Public Health Advisory Board which was appointed by me in June 1964. I propose, Sir, to announce officially the details of this new Hawkers' Code in mid-February next year, that is about one and a half months from now, after the festive seasons are over. Secondly, for the five months July to November this year, about 1,000 hawkers in 17 congregations throughout the island have been successfully resited in accordance with the main principles outlined under the new Hawkers' Code.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I admit with regret that most of the criticisms levelled by the hon. Member for Mountbatten against the present Hawkers Department of the Public Health Division of my Ministry of ineffective control and supervision of hawkers are unfortunately true. That is why it was necessary for me to appoint an officer from another Ministry, i.e. the Director of Central Complaints Bureau of the Ministry of Social Affairs, to he the officer-in-charge of re-organisation of the Hawkers Department as from November last year, a year ago. A general survey was made in May this year of markets and pitches which revealed that out of 8,269 stalls in 42 Government markets, only 6,493 stalls or 80 per cent were taken up, leaving 1,776 stalls or nearly 20 per cent not taken up at all. This is only the overall picture. In certain markets, they are half-empty, like the Maxwell Road market which is supposed to house 233 stalls, but only 125 stalls were taken up. And then we have another outstanding example of a market at the junction of Clementi Road and Pasir Panjang Road built for 49 stalls which have been empty for years. Sir, with many markets having empty stalls, thus causing loss of revenue to the State, yet almost all approaches to markets, whether Government or private, are crowded with hawkers mainly unlicensed. These at the same time block up the roads which are meant for traffic, thus causing serious congestion all round for pedestrians as well as for motor traffic, whether carrying passengers or goods. On the other hand, Sir, the question of hawkers is inter-related with the problem of public cleansing. Hawker congregations and those in markets are responsible for considerable amounts of perishable refuse.”
“The first available sitting day after the 30th December, Sir. YANG DI-PERTUAN NEGARA'S SPEECH Debate on the Address (Fifth Day) 2.40 p.m. Order read for resuming adjourned debate on Question [14th December, 1965], `That the following Address in reply to the speech of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara be agreed to:- "We, the Legislative Assembly of Singapore, express our thanks to the Yang di-Pertuan Negara for the speech which he delivered on behalf of the Government at the opening of the present Session of this Assembly.".'. - [The Prime Minister]. Question again proposed.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I have His Excellency the Yang di-Pertuan Negara's recommendation to introduce a Bill intituled "An Act to create a statutory authority to be the sole agency for promoting and disseminating information pertaining to family planning in Singapore, and for matters incidental thereto." Sir, I beg to introduce accordingly. Bill read the First time. Second Reading”
“In other words, if you think you cannot practise this method, please keep off, but do not stop others who are queuing up for such service. Finally, Sir, I completely disagree with the fears held by the Member for Punggol that this family planning campaign will result, I quote, "in grave danger of lowering the whole moral tone of our people." He is a brave man who dares to cast moral judgment on another. Besides, certain morals, like fashions, are one of relativity and would appear to change with the times. I see no danger of moral laxity in Singapore as envisaged by the imaginative mind of the Member for Punggol, but I am quite certain and emphatic that our White Paper on Family Planning will prove a great boon to our married women folk, because they will be liberated from the burden of bearing and raising an unnecessarily large number of children and, as a consequence, to increase human happiness for all. 6.01 p.m.”
“] in Singapore that Family Planning brings her immeasurable benefits. And, at her request, [not at the Government's request, but at the woman's request; she wants something done, she wants knowledge, she wants a helping hand] to advise her on the best available methods of Family Planning which will be simple, inexpensive and safe.' So there can be no victimisation of the poor nor moral blackmail of mothers in receipt of social welfare assistance that unless they consent to family planning, they may not get any assistance. The White Paper on Family Planning is intended to extend help to such poor destitute mothers from falling into greater tragedy and the disaster of bearing yet more children when she is already incapable of earning a livelihood to feed not only herself and whatever children she already has from her unemployed husband. For such social welfare cases there will be no charge for services rendered, but for others there will be a nominal charge for such family planning services. For example, we intend to charge only a nominal $10.00 for an intrauterine contraceptive device insertion which is only a very insignificant percentage of what is now being charged by certain private practitioners for such a service. Sir, I have no hesitation in assuring the Member for Punggol that no doctor, nurse, midwife or staff will be ordered to do anything which would run counter to any of their religious scruples or prejudices, if any, under the Government Family Planning programme; but, on the other hand, I would expect such members of staff to declare why they wish to be exempted from such work, and, on their part, do not stand in the way of others who may desire and wish such family planning advice or help.”
“The parents will be told that some are 100 per cent effective through surgical ligation, where certain things are cut, but there are other methods which are nearly 100 per cent effective which are reversible, that is to say, if you practise this, it is nearly 100 per cent effective, but if you do not wish to have it, you just stop it, then you are back again into trouble, shall we say. Now these nearly 100 per cent effective family planning methods are the Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices or the Contraceptive Pills. There is what is called the "menu card" of seven methods for persons to choose from, and they will be told method one, method two, method three, method four and so on down the line until a method which only gives 25 per cent protection. Well, if the mother chooses that 25 per cent protection and she comes within the other 75 per cent which does not prove effective, well, she has asked for it - like the T.V. film called "You Asked For It"! So it is for the married mother in these circumstances to decide which method she prefers -the 100 per cent effective method, the 90 per cent, the 70 per cent, the 50 per cent or the 25 per cent effective method. There is no question of compulsion, but one of choice and what her conscience prompts her to decide. The very first paragraph of the White Paper goes as follows: `It is the intention of the Singapore Government, under its Second 5-Year Development Plan (1966-70), to bring the message to every married woman [not every woman, but every married woman, it is being very carefully worded] (within the fertility range) [that is, between the ages of 15 and 44-there are mothers who at 55 still give birth, but that is a rare exception. We are concentrating on those who will give birth more readily.”
“Although he expressed certain doubts and fears because of religious convictions, I am glad that he started off by stating, and I quote - "I would be very happy, therefore, to support the Government in a campaign to educate the people towards a more responsible attitude to parenthood." That is exactly what the White Paper on Family Planning attempts to do, that is, to increase welfare and happiness for all in Singapore, and only responsible parenthood can do that. The Member for Punggol, however, disagrees with the view that smaller families of two or three children are necessarily happier than larger families. He is entitled to his opinion and even to practise what he preaches by raising a large family if he is so inclined. Paragraph 1.5, Sir, of the White Paper goes as follows: `Family Planning does not prevent those who desire large families from having them, if so inclined, provided that the mother's health [not in this case the father's health, the mother's health] permits such frequent child-bearing and [here the husband comes in] the family bread-winner is in the position to earn enough to provide his children and family with a reasonable standard of living in basic necessities of life, ability to see them through school and other things which make a comfortable and happy home'. But further down the paragraph is this very important sentence which points out that many parents are ignorant of family planning and this is where it is the responsibility of an enlightened Government to dispel such ignorance by educating and informing such parents that there are available a number of methods for family planning and there are seven methods. Now these seven methods.”
“117 in the United Nations, we do not necessarily remain in that order of position where quality of performance or desire and ability to live in peace and harmony amongst the troubled nations of the world are concerned. Singapore stands at one of the most important cross-roads of the world, and its citizens come from various racial stocks, which comprise many of the world's peoples. With its multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious composition, we are a little United Nations in being. Every effort should therefore be made to make Singapore a tolerant society as it had been, to give and take, and also to be united as one people and to prosper. We should, however, be on our guard against those who have evil thoughts and designs of wrecking this peace and harmony, namely, the pro-Communists, the pro-Communalists and pro-Confrontationists. Every loyal citizen of Singapore must decide to play a part in exposing such elements in order to help preserve our country and to make it more united and stronger so that we may be better able to overcome our many political and economic problems. Let it not be said that we, of this generation, were tested and found wanting. Let it be recorded that Singapore, on attainment of its sudden independence, weathered the raging storms and surged forward into greater prosperity and happiness because all its peoples rallied together and, with courage and fortitude, successfully overcame its present political and economic difficulties. And now, Sir, I would like to deal with certain points raised by the Hon. Member for Punggol on the White Paper for Family Planning which was tabled in this House in September last.”
“As stated in the Appendix to His Excellency's Speech, the separation of Singapore from Malaysia did not affect our health services in any way, because we had autonomy in health matters when Singapore was in Malaysia. But it should be recorded that when Singapore was part of Malaysia, attendance at international conferences required Singapore's representatives to be part of the Malaysian delegation, which is correct. Yet, for the 18th World Health Organisation Assembly Meeting held in Geneva in May this year, although the official Malaysian delegation consisted of four delegates, yet Singapore was not officially invited by the then Central Government to send a delegate. Being then an Opposition Member of Parliament in the Malaysian Parliament, I tabled an Oral Question to enquire why this was so; and believe it or not, Sir, the official reply given was that "it was due to an oversight"! There could only be two explanations: one, the gross inefficiency of the Central Government authorities, or, two, the then Central Government already had the pathological attitude that Singapore, although then in Malaysia, was still a "foreign" country. Either explanation is revealing, and sad! Thus it was that on 9th of August, 1965, Singapore had independence thrust on it by Malaysia. This should not be regarded as our third try at independence; rather that the dynamism and the virility of Singapore and its people refused to be browbeaten, bullied or cowed by the unreasonable bludgeoning from the Centre. Singapore could not be swallowed and digested, and had to stay out! Singapore therefore now stands proudly as an independent country, amongst the family of nations. Though we may be the youngest of independent countries, No. 22 in the Commonwealth and No.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to speak in support of the motion standing in the name of the Prime Minister expressing our thanks to the Yang di-Pertuan Negara for his Speech on the 8th of December. As this is the first sitting of Parliament after Singapore's independence four months ago, it is worthwhile recalling that Singapore is unique, not only in the manner as expressed by our Prime Minister, that independence was achieved without bloodshed, and with a large foreign military base still intact, but that in recorded history, no country has ever proclaimed its independence three times like Singapore! It shows how much the people of Singapore love independence, but they also love peace - not violence or bloodshed - even more. Our first declaration of independence was made on the 31st of August, 1963, as agreed by the signatories to the Malaysia Agreement signed in London. Singapore, which had, by majority consent through a referendum accepted merger and Malaysia, was not to be deterred in its objective of independence by 31st August, 1963, despite the ferocity of Indonesian confrontation, whilst other signatories to the London Agreement dithered and dallied. The second occasion was on the 16th of September, 1963, when Malaysia "officially" came into being. Whilst we in Singapore accepted, in good faith, the conception of a multi-racial Malaysia to be realised through a Malaysian Malaysia, yet during the two years in Malaysia, we suffered the traumatic experience of two heart-rending racial riots, and thus we in Singapore came to the rude awakening that the authorities in Kuala Lumpur were not thinking along the same wavelength as us.”