Zulkifli bin Baharudin
Singapore
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister spoke about concessions Singapore has made. But it appears like surprises to me. My question is: on the issue of land, bridge, etc, did the Malaysian government inform us earlier that these are to be part of the deal or did these matters surface just during the discussions with the Senior Minister?”
“We need to help companies and workers to cope with this restructuring. The right way to do it is by upgrading industries and training and retraining workers.”
“Sir, I am enlightened to hear the response from the Deputy Prime Minister. But I seem to have gathered some feedback that as and when people say that they have a criminal record, they do not even get an interview.”
“Sir, my wish really is that the Foreign Ministry should make the forging of good relations, understanding of our neighbours, the personal responsibility of every citizen because we have an important role to project our way of life and values to the people in the region.”
“My suggestion is that oversight should be from the inside. Government should encourage self-help groups to appoint more members of other races to their boards of directors and advisors.”
“Sir, I am asking the Minister really in privatising some of these GLCs, for the GLCs to take on a role where they can lead, bring along other SMEs together with them, not just a corporate or business mission, but other objectives as well, the larger objective of bringing along the SMEs as they grow, prosper and develop in the region.”
The complete record
Every one of 331 lines we hold for Zulkifli bin Baharudin, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 7.
“We do recruit a small number of teachers from overseas and they are subject to stringent criteria before they are deployed to secondary schools. They do go through an induction programme before doing so and this includes national education and the Singapore education system. The situation in primary schools is different. There are many older CL teachers. As these older CL teachers retire, the need to fill vacancies in the primary schools becomes greater. We have several measures to recruit as many Singaporean teachers as possible. We have introduced the 4-year mother tongue language Diploma in Education. We have the Postgraduate Diploma in Education to provide "conversion training" for graduates who did not specialise in CL at university, but who have good grades. We also have for retired Chinese language teachers to be re-employed to teach Chinese language. This scheme has been quite well-received. As at end-January this year, about 100 retired Chinese language teachers have been re-employed under the scheme. This will help to smooth out the retirement pattern. We hope to meet the demand for Chinese language primary school teachers using this multi-pronged approach. If there is a need, we will recruit from overseas. However, we would prefer Singaporean Chinese language teachers in the primary schools because the teaching of mother tongue language at the primary level has a significant element of values transmission which requires familiarity with our own local environment and social contact. As for upgrading opportunities for serving non-graduate Chinese language teachers, there are many avenues open for full-time and part-time courses. One example is the BA degree run by OUDP in collaboration with the Beijing Normal University.”
“And for those who are able to do so, we are, in fact, more than happy to have them for precisely the reasons that Mr Zulkifli has mentioned. They are good role models. One group of teachers whom we will be providing greater upgrading opportunities to are the mother tongue language teachers. I am pleased to inform Members that with effect from Academic Year 2000/2001, the Ministry will be introducing a new award to sponsor mother tongue language teachers for full-time undergraduate studies in the mother tongue languages. Under the award, teachers will be paid salaries for up to two years while undergoing the full-time programme. The award, which is tenable both locally and overseas, will complement other improvements made to the teaching and learning of the mother tongue languages announced over the past year. This will be particularly useful to our Tamil language teachers. Because of the numbers involved, I do not think it is practical to organise degree level programmes in Singapore. This is an avenue which is open to them which they can make use of. I do not have the statistics on the number of tertiary educated Tamil language teachers. I can provide them to the Member later. Mr Hawazi asked about opportunities for upgrading for Malay language teachers. We have just introduced an Honours programme in NIE for Malay language and I would like to see how this programme develops first before taking any further steps. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang has asked about Chinese language teachers. The Ministry has been able to recruit about 60-70 Chinese language teachers per year for the secondary schools. This is sufficient to meet the needs in the secondary schools.”
“I move on to the selection and training of teachers. Mr Hawazi Daipi has asked about the selection of trainee teachers, particularly those who obtained their degrees overseas. I have already covered that just now. We set stringent criteria for the selection of teachers, regardless of where they have obtained their qualifications, whether local or overseas institutions. Candidates are assessed not only on their records, but also their aptitude for teaching. Mr Peh Chin Hua has suggested allowing students to pick and choose their teachers. Teaching quality is not necessarily a function of popularity. Nevertheless, I am open. Any school which wants to try it is free to go ahead and do so. With large numbers of new teachers joining the Education Service, teacher training has taken on even greater significance. Over the past two years, the Ministry, together with the National Institute of Education, has made important changes to the teacher training system to ensure that it remains aligned to the needs of our education system. One aspect of this is the framework for continual teacher training which NIE will be implementing from next year to encourage serving teachers to continually update and upgrade themselves. To complement this framework, the Ministry will continue to expand the scope of opportunities for serving teachers to pursue upgrading courses through its various study leave and professional development schemes. Mr Zulkifli has asked about sportsmen becoming teachers and coaches. We already have a number of teachers who are national sportsmen. We have people like Lee Wung Yew, Mah Li Lian, Melanie Martens, and so on. But not all sportsmen would necessarily make good teachers nor even good coaches. We have quite a number of sportsmen as coaches already.”
“Some schools where they think that teaching in larger classes and lecture halls, and so forth, works better, well, they have done that too. So we can leave that with principals to experiment, to innovate and see what works best given the teachers and the students that they have. With the larger number of teachers recruited in recent years, and stable retention, we have been able to give schools more teacher resources. In particular, there has been a net increase of almost 2,000 primary school teachers since 1996. This is quite significant. This has enabled us to lower the pupil-teacher ratio in the primary schools from 26.5 to 25 during this period, even though pupil enrolment in the primary schools has increased by about 37,000 or 13.6%. Even in the face of that, we have been able to improve our pupil-teacher ratio. If we can maintain our recruitment rate, we may be able to improve this, but gradually over time. I do not expect any dramatic or sudden changes to pupil-teacher ratio. 6.45 pm Sir, Dr Tan Boon Wan and Dr Jennifer Lee have raised the issue of teacher workload. The Ministry recognises that new initiatives mean greater demands on the schools and teachers. Our teachers support these new initiatives as they feel these are good for the students. Being dedicated teachers, they want to do more for their students. Their efforts are commendable. However, while they have the students' interest at heart, school leadership and teachers need to prioritise in order to focus on the key essentials, so that both students and teachers are not overburdened. This is a balance that they have to strike and in single session schools where the schools are available for the whole day, there is a great temptation to do more and more, but the correct balance has to be struck.”
“And we have to ask ourselves whether we are better off if children are taught in smaller classes but taught by teachers of low quality. So this is a trade-off that we have to think about. And I think teacher quality is probably the most important factor in the quality of education. We do recruit teachers who are in the so-called non-teaching subject areas, particularly for the primary schools, and we have been doing so for some years now. The way we recruit teachers is actually to have an interview panel of experienced teachers who will talk to the aspirants to see whether they are suitable, ie, those who are called up for interview. In some cases, when we offer the appointment, it is not so much that we are not prepared to offer the appointment, it is that the level of the appointment that we are offering is not something which the applicant is happy with. So the applicant declines. For class size and pupil-teacher ratio, the Ministry's philosophy is not to adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach of stipulating a smaller class size for our schools. Instead, our approach is to build up and maintain a high quality teaching force by recruiting and retaining as many teachers as possible - with the right qualities - in order that schools can be given the additional resources. As I have explained earlier, we have succeeded in doing that. Principals have the flexibility to decide on how best to organise and deploy their teacher resources, according to the needs of their students and the nature of the activities. Some schools where they think they need to give the students a boost in English have organised it in such a way that teachers give more attention to students.”
“Dr Wang Kai Yuen has asked whether a better pupil-teacher ratio at the lower primary level will be beneficial to children's education. I think we have to differentiate between class size and pupil-teacher ratio because a class size is how many students there are in a class, while the pupil-teacher ratio is how many teachers there are to students and that may not be directly related to class size. Smaller class size is only one of many factors which influences the quality of education. The quality of our teachers, the curriculum, the school environment, all play a part in determining their level of educational achievement. We need to take a total perspective of all these factors. Of all these factors, teacher quality is perhaps the most important. In the end, whatever we may say in the Ministry of Education HQ, or for that matter whatever we may say in this House, as pointed out by a number of Members, what actually goes on in the classrooms is what determines the quality of education that is received. The delivery of education is, ultimately, at its heart, a completely human enterprise. To maintain quality in the teaching profession, the Ministry aims to recruit those with teaching aptitude roughly from about the top one-third of each cohort. We have a cohort of about 40,000 a year, and one third is about 13,000 people. If we recruit 2,000 a year, we have to recruit one out of every six-and-a-half persons in this cohort. I am not optimistic that we will be able to recruit many more than that. Any significant reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio, even at the lower primary level, is likely to lead to a sharp drop in the quality of our teachers.”
“We can only employ people if there are posts for them. And we employ people as soon as they join the teaching service, that means, before they go to NIE, while they are in NIE, while they are overseas, and so forth, so the number includes all these. And the Ministry of Finance has been very supportive in giving us posts so that we can recruit them if we are able to do so. So that is the reason why there is a very large number of such posts and the vacancy rate looks quite alarming. But in fact, the vacancy rate is much more reasonable than that. I think the more important figure is what we actually have in the schools. One of the things we have been able to do in the last few years also is to create new teaching posts in schools in anticipation of being able to fill them. In the last two years, we have increased the establishment in schools by 1,500 posts, and not all of this increase has been filled yet. The actual number of trained teachers has gone up by 1,000 from 22,500 in 1998 to 23,500 at the end of 1999. So we had 1,000 more trained teachers in the space of two years. The other teachers that we have recruited are still in the pipeline being trained and they will come into the system soon. We have about 380 schools. So, put in another way, over the last two years, every school in Singapore has on average three more teachers than they had two years ago. So that is a welcome increase, with more shoulders to spread the load on in the schools. But because we have increased the establishment, there are still additional posts in the schools yet to be filled. The situation will improve in May this year, when about 1,700 NIE graduands will be posted to schools upon completion of their pre-service training.”
“I am happy to report to this House that last year, 1999, we recruited 3,300 teachers, the largest number that we have recruited for as long as I can think perhaps the largest number we ever recruited. This exceeded our target of 3,000. We were able to do so in part due to the economic downturn, and because we were able to attract people from previous cohorts of job entrants who were keen on teaching but at the time when they entered the job market, found the previous employment terms unattractive. We do not expect to be able to sustain such a recruitment rate. A more realistic recruitment rate is between 1,700 and 2,000 a year. In the previous two years, 1997 and 1998, in 1997 the economy was still quite strong, we had been averaging 2,100 teachers a year. This is double the average of 1,000 teachers per year that we had been recruiting prior to 1997. The annual resignation rate among trained teachers has also remained quite stable in the last few years, averaging about 2%, that is, about 400-500 teachers a year. This figure may look large, but is very reasonable given the size of the teaching force. If 400 teachers resign in a year, it is slightly more than one per school which I think is manageable. And teachers resign for a number of different reasons: some go and look after their families, some want to try something else, and some come back after that, so that is all right. The figure is quite reasonable when compared to the rest of the civil service, and certainly very reasonable when compared to the private sector where turnover rates are typically double digits. So 2% is quite reasonable. Dr Jennifer Lee has expressed concern at the few thousand vacant teaching posts in MOE. I have to explain what is happening.”
“If you look at some places like the US, for example, basketball, or baseball coaches, had seen accomplished sportsmen in their earlier years. I hope the Minister would seriously consider, if you cannot employ them as full-time in one school, perhaps, part-time, or have a cluster of schools to do that. I think this is important so that while we not only allow for more flexible recruitment, we can also help people who contribute to Singapore, people who want to make a career in sports to see that they have very long and successful careers. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, earlier I shared with Members the Ministry's efforts to build up the "hardware" and "software" of our education system and now we are talking about what is the heart of the whole education system and, that is, the 24,000 teachers who make up our teaching force. Let me first touch on the recruitment, retention and staffing situation, which Mr Hawazi Daipi, Dr Tan, Dr Jennifer Lee and others have asked about. Over the past few years, the Ministry has made it more attractive to join and remain in the Education Service through more competitive remuneration, better promotion prospects, strong emphasis on continual upgrading and professional development. We hope also that our teachers will derive more professional satisfaction in their work as schools get more autonomy and teachers have more opportunities to try out their own ideas for the benefit of their students. I have always considered teaching as one of the most satisfying jobs because you see the children grow in front of you and they always remember later on in life. People walk up to you and say, "Hello." As a result of these efforts, we have been able to recruit more teachers.”
“Sir, by now, I am fully aware of the long list of requests made to the Minister by Members of this House. But, nevertheless, I want to add mine to that list. Specifically, Sir, I want to make a pitch for sportsmen and hope that the Minister will consider expanding employment opportunities for sportsmen in schools and within his Ministry. Specifically, I would like to ask whether there are existing recruitment policies that allow our sportsmen to be employed as PE teachers or coaches, or if not, whether the Minister would consider changing the recruitment policies and organise the structure to make this possible. Sir, we now have seen the growing number of people who want to take a career in sports. But the harsh reality about sports is that they have very short career lifespan, and, certainly, many hope to become teachers. And we do not have that many sports associations, and all that, to employ many of them. I hope for the accomplished ones, people who have done well, at least at the national level, or until national level, I am sure we can find ways where we can employ them. Certainly, if they are good enough to become coaches for professional leagues, I am sure they can be good coaches in schools as well. Now you see a lot of very formal structured certification programmes in place and recognised world wide, or regionally, and I am sure we can also use this as one of the admission criteria. Certainly, we know of many sportsmen who are personalities themselves who can inspire students and I can think of some who are actually good role models for students. Unfortunately, not many can qualify to be teachers if we use the normal admission criteria. But I hope this is one area that we can make an exception.”
“Sir, can I ask the Minister of State for his comments on my request whether he would consider setting up a RECORD committee to recognise the contributions of national servicemen? Mr David Lim: I am sorry I missed that question. Sir, the last time we had a RECORD committee was some four or five years ago. I would be happy to consider the Member's suggestion and make an announcement on this at some later date. 4.45 pm”
“In terms of community relations, we realise the significance of maintaining good communication and support with the public. In this regard, I am specifically asking the Minister to consider setting up another RECORD Committee to recognise the contribution of NS men, in view of the changing economic profile of the NS men. Sir, I said that on matters of developing strategic components of the SAF, building strong and indigenous technologies and purchase of military hardware, it may be best kept confidential in view of its implication on national security. But on all other matters that I have mentioned, I hope the Minister will not hesitate to inform this House how much has been spent on the various programmes to keep peace in this country. I think transparency, and a more open disclosure of information on the one hand and, the need to balance and maintain confidentiality and secrecy on the other hand, can be achieved and possible.”
“We have witnessed how important these military relations are. For example, the personal relationships between SAF officers and TNI officers have been significant in maintaining ties during the difficult Habibie administration. While we continue to maintain relations at all levels between SAF and other armies in the region, can I interpret from the budget that the financial resources available for these programmes are available entirely from the public relations budget? How much are we doing and spending to develop better military relations with our neighbours? Sir, Singaporeans also recognise that we need to make in-camp training more convenient and as least disruptive as possible as people find it increasingly difficult to juggle between their work and their responsibilities towards the SAF. This is a small price we have to pay, but certainly we need to know how much it would cost us. I am aware of the on-going innovation, process improvement of procedures and practices to make training more relevant and realistic. As this would become increasingly important, perhaps we need to ask whether we can do more, or whether there are enough resources allocated towards this objective. Making in-camp training more relevant and meaningful is certainly an on-going commitment. As Singaporeans, we need to ask ourselves: are we prepared and how much are we prepared to pay for this? Singaporeans can also be proud to be able to contribute to international peace, for example, to be part of the United Nations effort in dispute and conflict prevention worldwide, and in terms of donation, assistance of equipment and personnel. How much of our defence budget is allocated for this purpose?”
“Sir, I rise because I am a bit uncomfortable about the brevity of information contained in the Budget statement under the Defence Ministry as it does not give me a good idea of how we are allocating resources to meet our defence objectives and priorities and I would ask the Minister for greater disclosure of information in the Budget statement. Sir, I understand that there is a need to maintain confidentiality on national security matters but would like to attempt to persuade the Minister to give this House a little bit more information on the various expenditures so that Singaporeans know how much we are paying to keep the peace and stability in Singapore through the various programmes and strategies. Singaporeans understand the need to maintain a very strong total defence capability and that we need to maintain a consistently high level of investment so that the SAF can remain to be a strong defence force. Therefore, we need to take a very long-term view that even during periods of economic crisis, we have maintained a very high level of expenditure so that our long-term goals are not compromised. Singaporeans also accept the fact that due to our limited resources, it is necessary for us to conduct training overseas, which is not only a complex matter, but a very expensive matter. As local training becomes more scarce, more sophisticated training facilities will need to be built to provide training conditions which are as realistic as possible. It will be good, and Singaporeans should know how much it would cost them. Singaporeans also understand that as part of our defence policy, we need to strengthen dialogue, confidence-building and cooperation in the region through military relations and commitments through multi-lateral defence agreements.”
“If you could collaborate, bring in more entrepreneurs to be involved in some of these projects, we can buffer some of the nationalistic sentiments that some of these countries may respond to when Singapore Incorporated tries to expand to the region. Certainly, I share with Mr Inderjit Singh the other incentives that we need to offer in terms of taxation and incentives to provide training to these companies. I say again that training is not just for those who are already at risk. New technologies are putting at risk a whole host of people who may not be aware that they are at risk today, but certainly it will be too late by the time companies start to move out. By the time companies start to move out, they find themselves completely out of sync with the needs of the economy and technology. 6.45 pm So I think we need to really look far ahead and see who are the people - the receptionists, the tellers, the little managers - who will be made virtually extinct by new technologies. How do we help them before they really become virtually extinct or redundant? This is where I think further collaboration and specific attention given to SMEs, understanding their weaknesses, can help. GLCs can play a great part here to help SMEs. I hope the Minister could give some attention and direct some resources to help these SMEs.”
“So they are not just some sub-contractors but they are themselves investors and personally involved in this. They have spawned world-class companies like Venture, NatSteel in the world. This is where a working model is available in Singapore. So they can have large GLCs. They get business and give it to sub-contractors and some MNCs complain, "I can do what the GLCs can do except that I do not have a name like GLC." To overcome this, what we could do is GLCs starting to take an interest and stake in small companies, take it through mergers and acquisition. In this way, you tap on the entrepreneurial skill but you can also help translate leading edge technologies and practices that are available to GLCs to these small companies. The other thing that perhaps we can do is that at the centres where there is a lot of leading edge, like the universities and the polytechnics, we should encourage more of that to get out and work directly with some of these small companies. These small companies sometimes find it very hard to invest in training. They do not train as well as the MNCs. But if you can tap on to the R&D of universities and polytechnics and get these academics to work on areas other than business, in engineering or in other research work, we can avail these best practices to small and medium enterprises, otherwise they may not be able to afford this. I think GLCs can also benefit because one of the things that may be problematic in the future is that as GLCs try and go into the region, how they are perceived by people in the region may be problematic because they do not just see their commercial presence but they see the Singapore entity behind it and people are very nationalistic. They may not welcome some GLCs.”
“Sir, I share a lot of the views expressed by Mr Inderjit Singh earlier. I want to go into some practical points but, first, in my view, SMEs today face very exciting challenges but very frustrating problems also. Exciting challenges in the sense that never before have they been able to see lower barriers of entry. Technology and Internet allow them to open their market and allow them to make network and connections with many people in the world without even having to leave Singapore. But what is very frustrating to them is that there is a great demand for intellectual capacity for them to take advantage just presented before them. That is for many reasons. But one of the reasons is that in Singapore, when you start to compete with the best and the brightest in the world, you are faced with great odds. Because in Singapore the best and the brightest join the Government. Maybe the second-best join the MNCs and then you are left with a very deprived intellectual pool in the SMEs. When you want to go into very high leading edge practices, sometimes it is very difficult. This is where I feel we can do a lot more to help them because while the workers can do many things, they can get new graduates from the universities and polytechnics, it is the leaders of the companies themselves that must keep up with the speed and changes in the economy. I see the case of Hewlett Packard in Singapore and they have spawned many public-listed companies like Omni Industries, Venture and NatSteel and so on, because when they start to outsource business to these people they do take a personal stake in these companies in the sense that they get their engineers and their planners to be involved in the entire outsourcing process.”
“With the substantial Singaporean investments in Bintan and Batam, it was with concern that I read the press reports on the threatening situation in Bintan just a little more than a month ago, and I listened to questions raised and answered on the issue in our last Parliamentary debate in February. I agree with the Minister for Trade and Industry that much of the solution to what happened in Bintan and, I would add Batam too, depends on the Indonesian government. I am in admiration of the strength of President Abdurrahman Wahid in facing the herculean task of forging a new path for Indonesia in the aftermath of not only the economic crisis, but also the adjustment to a new political era. I have no doubt that he would prevail given time and the support of his people. My concern is that, even when the President succeeds to stabilise this situation, we will face the situation that whatever changes that occur in the political landscape of Indonesia may impact, in varying degrees, on the two islands and on Singapore investors there. In seeking protection for our investors, perhaps, we could look at ways whereby the Government could assist in some way to limit the impact of political ripples in Indonesia on investments from Singapore. Could the two governments work out an arrangement that could help our investors operate in a condition of sustained peace and stability where investments are given an added protection? This arrangement, I believe, should benefit both Singapore and Indonesia, and the workers on the two islands. Needless to say, for Singaporeans, there is added protection and an assurance that these problems will not recur. 6.15 pm”
“Sir, in the case of Singapore-Malaysia relations, I asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs for time, money and effort to assist civil society to bridge people-to-people relationship. In the case of Indonesia, the situation is such that I can only ask the Minister for more time, more money and more help to civil society to do exactly the same. I think civil society has a large capacity, will and enthusiasm to help. But I think money in the pocket will really help. We have seen how civil society groups, like UNIFEM, that is a group of local doctors, have helped, on their own initiative to meet the chronic needs of medicine and food in places like Bintan. So I can only repeat my call for the Minister to give his special attention to civil society groups. Mr Hawazi Daipi: It is widely believed that the political situation in Indonesia, one of our closest neighbours, has improved since the Presidential election was held at the end of 1999. The fear of a military coup has subsided the racial and religious strife in the different areas in Indonesia has reduced somewhat and the economy has shown signs of recovery. But Singaporeans have reasons to continue to be concerned about the political development there as political and economic instability in Indonesia will have implications on the stability and economic development of our region, and indeed Singapore. I know that similar questions have been asked before but considering the importance of the issue to Singapore, would the Minister give his assessment of the political and security situation in Indonesia? Let me move to the situation in Batam and Bintan, where much of the investments from Singapore is located.”
“People are going to look for signs, signals and gestures as an indication of their attention and commitment to this issue and I therefore urge the Minister to allocate the required resources through civil societies to enable a larger group of Singaporeans to be effectively and actively involved in this process of developing better relations with our neighbours.”
“I suppose we have no other choice because one thing we cannot change is our geography. I am also requesting for more and generous funding to institutions like the Singapore International Foundation and the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and other civic societies so as to allow them to develop programmes that would help bilateral relations. New technologies allow civil societies to be better connected and the growth of civil societies in our neighbouring countries makes this a potentially effective vehicle to develop better relations between our people. Unfortunately, Sir, sometimes you need money to make friends, especially in this instance. For example, members of civil society can tell you how embarrassing it can sometimes be when they are unable to reciprocate visiting groups from neighbouring countries with the same generosity and hospitality. Ironically, for civil societies, it is usually easier to obtain funds from foreign institutions than from local donors. Besides, there are other uncomfortable implications for civil societies to obtain foreign funding. With more money, civil societies can help enhance cultural, educational and sports exchange because it is only through people that we are able to let others have a better perception of us. Because what others think of us is important, although ultimately, it is who we really are that matters. Unfortunately, a lot of the perceptions of who we are depend on what our neighbours hear from their leaders and what they read in the media. Very often, this is less than complimentary. For example, when we meet, say, for a business meeting, for someone who does not have the benefit of a personal relationship, he is more likely to be influenced by the political stance adopted by political leaders.”
“Sir, I would like to think and hope that Mr Malik Tahir does not represent a large majority of Malaysians. Neither am I as optimistic as Mr Chiam about our state of bilateral relations with Malaysia. For the past one year, relations between Singapore and Malaysia, in my view, have been both difficult and problematic. I think it will continue to be difficult and unpredictable. Yet, when I look at the Budget Statement, under the operating expenditure budget, while it is made specifically clear that there will be higher operating contributions to international organisations and foreign technical assistance programme, there is no mention of any specific programme or funding, especially on one of our most problematic areas, relations with our immediate neighbour. I am asking for special attention to be given to this matter because I think more can and should be done to develop a more sustainable people-to-people relationship. While relations at the political level are important, it is at best unpredictable as it will be determined largely by domestic agenda. Singapore can and has become a convenient political scapegoat. 6.00 pm While we have a common history with Malaysia, it does not mean that we will continue to see things the same way or from a similar perspective as we become more and more a product of our own distinctly different environment, that even the same family with members in Malaysia and Singapore will find that they differ in outlook, attitude, social and political values. In my view, the inability to appreciate these differences has been and will continue to be a source of difficult problems between Singapore and Malaysia. Therefore, I think people-to-people relationship can be better enhanced.”
“We should not forget that only recently, amidst growing job retrenchments, issues of race and discrimination in job advertisements surface. It is only because we have an open and honest discussion here that many of the perceived sensitivities are better understood. And I hope this conversation can continue even at the highest level in this House so that we continue to give our people the hope and confidence that, come what may, multi-culturalism is a value that all Singaporeans will cherish and protect.”
“For example, if left on its own, only Malays will play sepak takraw, Chinese will play basketball and perhaps only Indians play hockey. I think we should look at some of these activities and organise sports, perhaps purely for this purpose alone. Today, Sir, we have become a society which is tolerant and respectful of other races and cultures, but we must go beyond to become a society that can celebrate our diversity and differences. We have festivals and celebrations, but have we really taken full advantage to use these festivals as a means for social cohesion and racial understanding? Christmas and New Year parties may become common celebrations in offices because of the predominantly Chinese population in work places, but it is precisely this that, unless we take an effort to understand and appreciate the special festivals of minority groups, we cannot fully become a multi-racial society. Unfortunately, Sir, in Singapore, on matters like this, sometimes it takes Government, itself the biggest employer, to make a start and to be a catalyst of change. So too with foreign talents and immigrants. We need to take this extra effort to make them feel recognised and valued, that we respect their culture and tradition despite being in the minority, have a place in Singapore and, better still, can be celebrated by all Singaporeans because precisely we value their differences and the diversity that they bring to Singapore. 1.30 pm Finally, we must keep the conversation going and have an open and honest discussion which, I think, can lead to better examination of attitudes, behaviour and wisdom that will allow us to find new and useful strategies.”
“Because only by doing things together, especially things that typically have nothing to do with race, will people succeed in breaking down racial barriers. Because shared activities build bonds and trust among groups and create a foundation on which people can have more personal and deeper understanding of relationship. With this in mind, I have a few suggestions for consideration. Perhaps it is time for us to consider setting up a multi-cultural agency, a statutory board under the Prime Minister's Office, to promote multi-culturalism. This may be a lofty idea, or a very vague idea at the moment, but the achievement of this idea is so important that it leaves us with no other choice but to try. The other thing is that the Community Development Councils must be developed to be the focal points for all inter-racial activities within a municipal area. However, to achieve this, we may have to review policies that allow ethnic and religious based organisations to continue to provide an ever increasing array of services that, in my view, may potentially retard racial integration. What cultural values do we expect our young to have if they spend their entire pre-school years mixing around with people of their own race and religion? Perhaps, we now have to define the limits on which ethnic based groups can organise their activities. CDCs can provide better incentives to draw social and ethnic based organisations to locate their services in CDCs and to carry out activities there. As most have problems securing funds, I think CDCs can offer a lot more help. Thirdly, I think sport games, festivals and celebrations are powerful vehicles for social integration.”
“Sir, one positive result of the recent Straits Times' survey on race relations said most Singaporeans feel that, compared to 10 years ago, relations between different races in Singapore are better now. They do not foresee a racial riot happening in Singapore in the next 10 years. This is extremely significant because the survey was carried out in the midst of racial problems in our neighbouring countries. This shows great progress we have made in ensuring racial harmony and the freedom Singaporeans have in the system of law and order. As to the result that half of the respondents do not think that friends of a different race would protect them should a race riot break out in Singapore, a friend of mine remarked that it is almost like asking someone whether he would drink water from the tap should a cholera outbreak break out in Singapore. There are therefore reasons not to be too pessimistic about it. However, what is disturbing to me personally is the revelation that Singaporeans generally have about only five friends of a different race. I think this is far too small. Either we really have very few friends or we are such unfriendly people. As we look closely at the various activities where different races come together, a large number of them have meals together and frequently speak to someone of a different race. But when it comes to more personal activities, like shopping, going to the movies, and sports, many tend to do so with only people of the same race. I find this worrying. Clearly, we need to do more to forge greater inter-racial harmony and one way is really, we have no other choice, to seize all available opportunities for greater inter-racial collaboration.”
“Sir, may I ask the Minister, at the moment, whether there are any plans - I suppose that madrasahs will remain - to integrate madrasahs as part of the national education system? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: The Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions, and so have I, that madrasahs are an important part of Singapore as a whole. It is important that there are madrasahs to provide the opportunity for members of the Muslim community to train their religious leaders for the future. But I think it is premature for me to make a comment on whether it is appropriate for what is basically a religious educational institution to be incorporated into the national education system. PHYSICAL EDUCATION PERIODS IN SCHOOLS 11. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang asked the Minister for Education whether his Ministry will consider increasing the number of periods for Physical Education in primary and secondary schools.”
“Sir, there has been very diverse and even conflicting response from different madrasah administrators, for example, a section of the community. How can these be grouped together to get some consensus, at least among the community, before the Committee can consider what steps to take? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: The Committee would take into the account the feedback of all the various parties before coming to a decision on how to proceed with compulsory education. But it is up to the members whether they want to get together to arrive at a consensus or not. It may not be possible for them to arrive at a complete consensus.”
“Sir, this is a very sensitive and emotive issue amongst members of the Malay/Muslim community and certainly not just for the persons involved directly with madrasahs alone. How would other members of the community and those outside the Malay/Muslim community be involved in this process because education is for every one of us. RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Mr Speaker, Sir, I completely agree with Mr Zulkifli that this subject is one which involves more than just people who run the madrasahs but involves the community at large, and Dr Wong has invited many of these people to attend the sessions to provide their feedback and her Committee would welcome feedback as well, and they would be prepared to receive it directly.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether bilateral relation between Singapore and Malaysia is affected by the delay and non-resolution of the outstanding issues. Second, whether this delay and non-resolution has affected ties in terms of sports, arts and culture. We used to have a lot of relationships. Thirdly, the CPF issue. The fact that they are requesting that we return CPF monies belonging to Malaysian workers is a major obstacle in the apparent unwillingness of Malaysia to resolve these bilateral issues. And fourthly, whether we should, in fact, fix a definite time line to resolve these issues. So at least we get some commitment and secure terms to negotiate some of these outstanding issues.”
“We could charge a flat fee to allow certain companies who provide such services to participate in a programme, because they are parking their vehicles all around the central business district the whole day. I think we could do more things to refine and facilitate such services, and I hope the Minister of State would consider this carefully. Secondly, we will find issues of competition. Singapore Post, CISCO and somehow people like Telecom do provide services which sometimes can be considered in direct competition with private courier companies. But here, there is a problem because sometimes people feel that the enforcement agencies are more lenient when they see a CISCO van in certain parking places compared to other courier companies, for example. And I think this is very unhealthy because if quite clearly they do only critical and essential jobs, that is fine. But what is more difficult is that these companies do more and more commercial businesses, in direct competition with other commercial companies. I think the level of enforcement, the level of fair play of these people who are authorised to do that and how they carry out the job between CISCO and Government-related companies vis-a-vis private companies must be taken with care. Sir, I hope the Minister of State can assure this House that in discharging such responsibilities, proper care is taken that some of these companies are not unnecessarily disadvantaged or targeted in the course of doing their work. I hope the Minister can clarify these two points.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Bill, but wish to highlight two clarifications for the Minister, especially with regard to new section 4 where the Land Transport Authority is now given powers to provide suitable parking places for vehicles. Recently, with the introduction of new enforcement measures in the central business district (CBD), there has been feedback about the problems faced, specifically, by courier companies and those who provide such despatch services, and there are two points here which I would like to raise. One is with regard to operation and the other the perception of fair play and equity. First, it is important to recognise that in any major city like Singapore, it is important to have the services of very efficient courier service providers to move documents, parts and samples from place to place within the central business district. This is a crucial and very essential part of our infrastructure. The current legislation requiring couriers to park their vehicles only at designated lots is, at best, very inconvenient. They could park at the basement, leave their vehicles and part of their products behind, and move to a few floors upstairs, pay their parking charges and all that. It is going to be very inconvenient. It certainly has affected the productivity of a lot of these courier companies. If you can understand that as very important and essential, then I would like to ask the Minister to consider whether he would have a scheme whereby certain public parking lots can be provided in front of buildings as such essential services can be provided to facilitate these people to go about doing their work.”
“I must thank them for their willingness. On the other hand, Malay-Muslims too need to be more relevant on national and international issues and be more actively involved in the various social community organisations outside the Malay-Muslim community. Malay values of gotong-royong must be extended to include other Singaporeans. I personally know of many organisations who are desperately looking for Malay-Muslim members. Malay-Muslims must and need to respond to this. Finally, I would like to touch on the issue of Malays in the SAF which was touched upon by the Member for Cheng San. First, let me say that the Senior Minister's comments came from his personal experience. More significantly, our geography makes this issue a relevant and permanent one. In my view, the reaction of the community is good because it indicates that Malays care about what other Singaporeans think of them. It would be worse if Malays have not responded. Perhaps the only way to change perception is for Malays themselves, especially those in the SAF, to continue to demonstrate their commitment through working with other Singaporeans, earning mutual respect and trust of fellow soldiers and Singaporeans. Beyond rhetoric, we need to demonstrate good deeds. But I must caution that it would be unwise for anyone to think that this can be solved through one dialogue session. Anyone is free to write and speak on this issue provided racial sensitivities are not breached. While Malay leaders like Encik Othman Wok and Encik Rahmat Kenap have earned the trust and confidence of the Senior Minister, I am sure there are many other younger Malays deserving of such an association. Hopefully, over time, many more will be identified. Because only then can perception change.”
“At the recent Mendaki-MUIS Tea Party to congratulate Malay-Muslim graduates from higher institutions last week, I was seated with four young Malay graduates, whom I later discovered, two of whom will be going for further education overseas. I was delighted to find out that all four of them told me their families no longer depend on them for financial contribution. This demonstrates how far sections of the Malay-Muslim society have progressed. However, when I asked them what would be the most difficult problem they would face when they enter working life, they remarked that the perception others have of them would be the greatest obstacle they would face and they expressed concern that they may not be given equal opportunities by employers. If the best and ablest of our society and those who have profited and benefited from our system feel pessimistic, I wonder how less successful Malay-Muslims feel. On another occasion, as a member of the Work Group on KBE, initiated by the Malay PAP MPs, we met two groups of bankers separately: one, Malay-Muslim workers in the financial sector and, two, representatives of major banks who coincidentally are all Chinese. Our discussions revealed wide differences of perceptions one has of the other. These are no small matters which cannot be resolved overnight but efforts must be taken quickly as part of a long and permanent process of bridging these perceptions. For a start, I have asked these bankers whether they are prepared to help Malay-Muslims in the financial sector to improve and upgrade themselves as the community is short of skilled expertise and resources to face the challenges of KBE. They are quite happy to help knowing that their efforts will go a long way towards bridging these perceptions.”
“Therefore, we must not only be prepared to learn from others but also become active contributors ourselves to other causes in the region. On this note, I would like to respond to the very encouraging gestures that Simon Tay and I would like to undertake a study on "Civil Society in 21st Century Singapore". This, in our view, is an indication of how civil society can proceed and progress beyond discussion and debate. The report would address on the potential contribution and personal limitation and challenges facing Singapore's young civil society. The issues that our report would address include the registration of societies, limits on speech, assembly and association, especially in public, and the role of private foundations and Government agencies in supporting civil society organisations. The report would also look at civil society in Singapore in a broader regional and international context. I would now like to quote from Judith Shklar an extract from the National Standards for Civics and Government: "Active citizens . are public meeting-goers and joiners of voluntary organisations who discuss and deliberate with others about the policies that will affect them and who serve their country not only as taxpayers and occasional soldiers, but by having a considered notion of the public good that they genuinely take to heart. The good citizen is a patriot." Mr Speaker, Sir, allow me to touch on another issue of social cohesion. I am prompted today to include these two issues in view of the recent incident which in my view demonstrates the fragility of a social cohesion and that each and every Singaporean has a part to play to preserve and enhance social cohesion.”
“However, I do sense that some of the replies from the Government may be a bit too personal which may tend to discourage public discussion. Having said that, I would say that being thick-skinned must certainly be one of the necessary prerequisites of anyone intending to engage in public debate. For those who feel personally slighted or rebuked, I have this to say to them, "Don't Quit" because this country was not built by quitters. Next, is for the Government agencies to use the strength and not weaknesses of civil societies. Quite often, civil societies are bogged down by fund-raising activities. Lack of financial and administrative resources are common complaints of civil societies. This is where greater collaboration between Government agencies and civil society can be more effective to tap their enthusiasm, commitment, network and not rely on their weaknesses for fund raising. Third, globalisation. Like anything else, civil societies too are affected by internationalisation and globalisation. Their values on society and environment, for example, are no longer domestic or national issues. It transcends geographical boundaries. Increasingly, civil societies will find more things in common with civil societies in other countries. There will be greater need for joint collaboration and mutual assistance. This is where civil societies in Singapore are sometimes unnecessarily disadvantaged as many exercise self restraint in obtaining assistance of financial help from other institutions overseas as they may be perceived to be promoting a foreign agenda or, worse still, become elements of other undesirable organisations. We need to recognise that working with foreign organisations is going to be part and parcel of a larger civil society as we become part of a global family.”
“The more involved and committed - perhaps prompted into action - would then participate as members of the various organisations that best suit them. Therefore, there is a need to change the mindset and to view these people, not as irritating commentators to policy makers, but perhaps as a growing and untapped pool of young idealistic citizens who can play a part in our common goal to help improve society. To help change this mindset, we can do a number of simple things: (1) have civil servants, employees of statutory boards and Government corporations to be more involved in civil society so that they can have a better appreciation of civil society and perhaps become civil society's active citizens themselves. Quite frequently, the problems of civil societies are at the operational level - with the bureaucracy; (2) have Government agencies involving relevant civil societies to participate in the various activities and to be invited to some of the relevant functions organised. Of course, civil societies too must reciprocate but here the common complaint is usually the unenthusiastic response from Government agencies; (3) civil societies themselves should start by not excluding other organisations like the CDCs and self-help groups and many other agencies as not being part of the larger family of civil society. We should not differentiate the Government sponsored civil society and independent groups as, ultimately, they both serve a common goal for our society; and (4) Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam talked about the fear that Singaporeans have in involving themselves in debate and public discussions. First, it must be clear to anyone intending to venture into public discussions to be prepared to be intellectually challenged, even robustly. This is to be expected.”
“To the Singaporeans at large, they have witnessed how collective efforts of both the Government and private sector have brought about the desired results during one of the most serious crisis experienced by Singaporeans. On this note, Sir, allow me to respond to the two main issues that were discussed, ie, active citizenship and social cohesion. It is a great day for me as a member of civil society to listen to Members of the House speaking in support of active citizenship. This alone demonstrates how far we have progressed in terms of developing an active people sector. This is a strong endorsement to the many people working in civil societies. Let me remind the House that civil society is not a western concept. However, there remain many challenges to overcome and I would like to highlight a few of them: One is changing mindset. In the past, it is quite common to hear of civil societies being categorised into social workers and armchair critics and social commentators who are frequently challenged for the lack of involvement in social and charitable activities. It is as if one must be involved in charitable activities before being considered as doing something for society. While it is clear that the ultimate objective is for the best and ablest in the society to help the less able through volunteerism, members of civil society are usually initially driven at least by enthusiasm, passion, spontaneity and idealism. Quite often, it starts with them articulating their views as many feel the need to contribute in terms of ideas and feedback. The more accessible communication channels today make it more convenient for many to make their first start by contributing ideas.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion and wish to express my thanks to the President for his Speech. I have come across many Singaporeans who, like Mr Chiam See Tong, think that the President's Speech does not contain anything new in terms of the Government's visions and policies for the future. Personally, I do not expect anything new nor do I think there should be one. Indeed, the economic crisis has served to adequately remind us that our current policies with regard to managing the economy, responsiveness to changes, openness and transparency of information, being pragmatic and ready to take the pain and involving our best and brightest, both in the Government and private sector, remain relevant now and in the future. Perhaps what is quite less understood by many Singaporeans is the fact that the changes made to the banking and financial sector, recommendations contained in the Committee on Singapore's Competitiveness and policy on foreign talent, are by any measure a major transformation and reformation of our economy and society. The fact that this was implemented without any accompanying violent protest and political instability that have rocked our neighbours does not make it less exciting or significant. Many have lost their jobs, suffered wage and CPF cuts. Small and medium enterprises continue to face severe challenges posed by a variety of global pressures. Perhaps one visible aspect during the economic crisis has been the important role the private sector has played in tandem with the Government through the various committees to draw up plans to get us out of this crisis.”
“Next, as we now move towards instituting a new President, the White Paper can also serve to facilitate the smooth transition of office for the next Elected Presidency. Every Elected President by sheer qualification will be a man of strong character and can be expected to exercise his own judgement on the power that is bestowed on him. However, being an elected process, despite the stringent qualification, there is no guarantee that the new President will abide and keep to the conventions agreed between the Government and the previous President. We have seen how, in my view, completely unsuitable Singaporeans made comical attempts to contest for the Elected Presidency. Perhaps I would like to suggest that we find a way to get the new President to, amongst other things, as his first duty, confirm his desire to abide by the terms of the convention; or perhaps at some future date, consider translating the White Paper into a stronger legislative process. On the whole, I think we have had a very good outcome of all these discussions. And I hope one day we can look back and say that one of the more solid contributions of the first Elected Presidency has been the White Paper which I am quite sure will in the long run strengthen not only the institution of Elected Presidency but the Government.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for allowing me to speak. I rise in support of the motion in the name of Mr Shriniwas Rai. Although most of the issues have been clarified yesterday, I wish to emphasise a number of points and implications in the White Paper. First, I think the clarification yesterday has given a lot of Singaporeans a sense of clarity and a sense of comfort over some of the issues that have disturbed some Singaporeans prior to this. And the other thing that is more important, despite the very uncomfortable issues that were presented to Singaporeans, we did handle the issues without really hurting the Presidency, the Government or the personalities involved. I think that is a good thing that has happened out of it. I wish to raise a number of points. One is that I would like to see the White Paper as one of the more notable contributions of the Elected Presidency. Through his experience and clarifying some of his problems, I think we are now better able to clarify many of the technical issues related to the Principles for determining and safeguarding our accumulated reserves. And therefore there is a good outcome out of all these. The differences on this matter have brought about a positive and concrete outcome in terms of the White Paper. The provision therefore provides for a more effective channel of communication to deal with the matter. While the clarification had been necessary, it was no doubt uncomfortable and I think the White Paper today can serve as a better platform for future Elected Presidents and the Government to deal with many of the problems that can be expected to evolve over time as we continue to strengthen the institution of both the Government and the Presidency.”
“Sir, Singaporeans heard of the President's problem through a press conference and today we are hearing the Prime Minister's clarification. I certainly think there is a better way for Singaporeans to know about the problems faced by the President and the Government. Is there a way we can find where we could discuss these problems, know about them, without having risk agencies downgrading us and without causing concern among the population?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, first, in view of the uniqueness and infancy of the Presidency and the likelihood of differences of opinion between the President and the Government, does the Prime Minister see a need now to review the CPA, so that they are better able to handle the differences between the Government and the President? Secondly, because the senior civil servants report directly to the Prime Minister, whether he could call upon the CPA to have senior civil servants report to them to answer issues of difficulties that the President may face.”
“Would the Minister give a breakdown of the number of students who have gone to Islamic schools, special education schools and private schools separately? RAdm Teo Chee Hean: I do not have the breakdown with me right now. I will try and get it. But if the Member would file another question, I will try and get the data for him. I may not be able to get all.”
“Sir, the newspaper reports show that Malay workers are more prone to retrenchments and have greater difficulty in finding new jobs. Two questions: (1) Do the latest statistics from the Ministry confirm this? (2) How successful have retrenched Malay workers been looking for new jobs?”
“Sir, enforcement against illegal immigrants at the causeway has brought about other problems, especially to companies which require to move goods to and from Singapore. How do we ensure that these companies are not affected as more stringent enforcement is conducted? Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: If the Member is referring to the lorry queues, the situation, as I have said, has stabilised. Again, initially in the first few days, arising from teething problems, not just the lorries but all the other vehicles were affected. But in the second week of operations that we have monitored, the situation has improved and now the lorry queue is back to normal. EMPLOYMENT SITUATION 7. Mr Harun A. Ghani asked the Minister for Manpower if he will give an update on the employment situation since January 1999 to date, in particular, (a) how many new jobs were created; (b) how many jobs were lost; and (c) whether workers can expect to see better job prospects for the rest of 1999.”
“There must be a graduation and then probably, if it is of a commercial success, there should be a public listing of the company and the original shareholders would exit or partially exit, and the structure will change. So, when you go in, it is for a reasonable expectation, but not indefinitely. And that we have tried to explain to the investors. Naturally they are still concerned but we would do our best to hold their hands.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Deputy Prime Minister, in view of our reduced role and stake in Suzhou, whether we would be able to provide the same support and service level to these companies, many of whom have invested in Suzhou simply because of our involvement and reputation and credibility there. BG Lee Hsien Loong: Sir, that is one of our major concerns in negotiating the MOU, which is to make sure that we do our best to safeguard the interest of the tenants who have gone in, because we have encouraged them. They went in because we gave them comfort. We persuaded them. They went in expecting our help and support in navigating any unexpected bumps in the night. Now, we will still be there but in a much lesser role. We have taken some pains in making this agreement to get the Chinese side to commit, which they have done so publicly, that anything which has been settled with the tenants before this will remain in force after this and will not be changed by the signing. At the same time, we have gone round and explained to the tenants and reassured them what the agreement consists of and what the arrangements are which we are making over the next two years. There is a transition period of two years to the 1st of January 2001 before the shareholding structure changes and by that time, Suzhou Industrial Park will be nearly seven years in existence. It would have been in existence for a considerable length of time and companies which are tenants in our park would have been able to establish themselves. We could not have expected this project to continue indefinitely. At some stage, it must complete and the experiment must be declared either a success or not.”
“And the clarification is really the role that Mr Heng will play there. I do understand that in all constituencies, we have advisors and helpers, but I think what people would like to see is Mr Heng playing the role, and not necessarily the same role as has been played by the elected Member. To me, not having a by-election is actually a loss to the PAP, more than to the Opposition. In my view, it can perhaps demonstrate that Singapore is different from the rest of the region. Because in an economic crisis, contrary to the experiences in the region, where the economic crisis has brought about a more vocal, prominent Opposition in local politics, I would think even if a by-election were to be held, it could demonstrate that Singapore is quite different that despite the crisis, the Government is able to win elections, because it has, I think, in most cases, demonstrated that the Government is a very strong catalyst of change and reform in Singapore. I personally do not see the Opposition playing that role. So, that is quite a big difference. Having heard Mr J B Jeyaretnam, I feel that he has not made a very strong case for calling for a by-election. The vacancy, as I said, was brought about by a crime. But Mr J B Jeyaretnam has not made a case of that crime basically perhaps because of the Government's own firm and open attitude in dealing with it very openly and fairly. And it is for this reason, Sir, that I cannot give my support to Mr J B Jeyaretnam and his motion.”
“Here, in my own sense is that the PAP suffers from a very high moral position it occupies of not being corrupt and taking a firm and strong position even against its own members. For this reason, some may then want the PAP to take that high moral position by calling for a by-election in Jalan Besar. There are some questions that come to mind in trying to balance this. First, even if there is a general perception, which I tend to agree, and the feeling that the constituents do not want a by-election, and they see that the other Members are able to carry out their duties quite effectively because of their good track record, the question then is: should not we then leave it to the voters through the election process to decide whether they really want to have their Members of Parliament re-elected? Second, I would like to ask if we need clearer guidelines in fact to determine the circumstances where a by-election may be required, if, say, two Members of Parliament in a GRC are unable to continue office for whatever circumstances. Because then it can be argued that the remaining MPs would be physically incapable of carrying out the functions and duties in the GRC. I must say that I, like most Singaporeans, can see the practical argument for not calling for a by-election in Jalan Besar. But having said that, Sir, some Singaporeans are a little bit confused because recently we heard that the PAP has announced that Mr Heng Chee How will be sent to the GRC to look after some of the duties left behind by the former MP. Why is there a need to have Mr Heng carry out this duty if the other three Members can effectively perform those roles? I think there is some confusion there. Perhaps, we may need some clarification.”