SECTION_NAME:MISCELLANEOUS- <!--ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO THE CHAIR<!--ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO THE CHAIR

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO THE CHAIR:

The Leader of the House (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise on behalf of

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hon. Members to thank you and your Deputies for so ably chairing the proceedings during the debates on the Budget and the Committee of Supply. Please allow me five minutes of your time.

These last five days have seen a total of 52 Members speaking during the debate on the Budget. Fifty-seven Members filed 374 cuts in the Committee of Supply. The number of cuts was down from last year's 401 cuts. It is a clear sign that inflation in the number of cuts has been kept in check. Nevertheless, the quality of the debate has not been deflated. Members have made their points succinctly and no less passionately; speeches have been short and sharp. Members have planned the use of their time effectively, concentrating more fire power on their favourite topics or at their favourite Ministers. Forty-seven out of the 57 MPs use up their full quota of 18 or 20 minutes. One Member filed 16 cuts, another filed only one cut. The longest cut on a single topic was 10 minutes long; the shortest was half a minute.

The three most popular Ministries were MCYS, MOE and MOH. The debate on MCYS lasted more than six hours. As was the case last year, clarification time was well used by both front and back benchers, filling in the gaps in the debate as well as providing further enlightenment. However, some Members' clarifications sounded suspiciously like speeches to me. They were even longer than the original cuts – which must have tested your patience somewhat, Sir. In fact, I am quite tempted to recommend that we introduce a countdown timer for clarifications as well. On balance, I am sure Members will agree with me that the new format is working well. It has allowed the debate to proceed smoothly while providing more than enough time for the major issues of the day to be aired as thoroughly as possible.

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Sir, this year's debate takes place at a difficult time for Singapore and Singaporeans. We face probably our severest test as a nation since Independence. Our response must be robust, determined and united. The Government has announced a Budget which includes the Resilience Package, unprecedented in size and scope. We have tapped into our reserves for the first time in our history. The role of the Members of this House is not only to speak up on behalf of their constituents but also to rally the ground. I want to assure them that their elected representatives have not let them down. Members have spoken up strongly on their behalf reflecting their hopes, their fears, their needs and wishes; big businesses as well as small, local and foreign workers, low income Singaporeans as well as PMETs, the young and the elderly. Members' speeches have been pragmatic as well as philosophical; sometimes witty, sometimes a little bit corny, sometimes sober, sometimes light-hearted, but never downbeat. If there is one catch phrase we should take away from this debate, it is this: let us upturn the downturn.

Once again, Sir, I must express my appreciation to you and your Deputies for being firm, yet flexible in their administration of the guillotine and in allowing clarifications to be raised freely; also, for being flexible and adjusting the guillotine times everyday. This dynamic scheduling has allowed us to finish our business ahead of schedule.

Last year, I had reason to remind Members to watch their time management, not to rush through their speeches. I am pleased that this year, this advice has to a large extent been heeded. As I have said, if the Minister cannot understand what you are saying, he cannot give you a good reply. I also had to remind Members to be present in the House to move their cuts. Thanks to the collective effort of the Whip and hon.

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Members, this has not been necessary this year. Attendance has been good, so I urge hon. Members to keep it up.

On this note, Sir, I would like to thank you and your Deputies, the parliamentary staff, the Clerks, the reporters, the interpreters and the librarians for the support, assistance and cooperation. There is another group of people we must thank. These are the members of the news media. They have been responsible for disseminating the proceedings in this House to a wider audience – reporting, summarising, analysing, presenting it over TV, radio and the newspapers in a manner which is easily understood by the members of the public.

Mr Speaker: Thank you, Mr Mah. I shall observe my own guillotine now. Hon. Members, we have come to the end of yet another Budget Debate. This had been a very intense and serious session, in keeping with the mood of the day, as people all over the world worry about the fate of their jobs and livelihood and when can we come out of this long, dark tunnel.

We have had a good debate. The backbench have engaged the frontbench effectively and, indeed, many times, robustly and there have been no shortage of ideas and suggestions coming from our MPs. But I think, at the end of it all, we have done talking!

The Budget session has given us the opportunity to discuss and debate the means and the ideas on how to face the current recession. But the real work is outside this Chamber: in the offices and factories, in the shops, in our homes. As in golf, every player and caddy is a coach, regardless of his or her handicap. They can comment or give you advice on what is wrong with your swing, what club you

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should use or how to tackle that tricky par 5. But the real test must be the final execution of that advice and where the golf ball finally goes!

So, each of us, every citizen, will have to put our shoulders to the wheel and ensure the realization of what the Resilience Package attempts to achieve to ride this recession and catch the next wind when it finally comes, as it surely would. We will have to close ranks, cooperate and work together to make the various measures work, to help each other and, in the process, strengthen our bonds with each other. If we can do this, there is reason for us to be optimistic that we will come out of this recession, wiser and stronger.

Let me conclude by thanking several people in this House: Mr Mah Bow Tan, Leader of the House and his deputy, Dr Ng Eng Hen; Mr Lim Swee Say, the Whip and his deputies, Dr Amy Khor and Mr Inderjit Singh, for ensuring that the proceedings in this House run smoothly and as scheduled. I would also like to thank my Deputies, Mr Matthias Yao and Ms Indranee Rajah (who is not here now), for sharing my responsibilities during the most challenging hours of the day. My appreciation also goes to the Clerk of Parliament and her staff for the efforts and support during the sittings. Last but not least, I would like to thank hon. Members for taking part in this debate and for their contributions, cooperation and forbearance. [ Applause ].

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ADJOURNMENT: Resolved,

"The Parliament do now adjourn to a date to be fixed." – [Mr Mah Bow Tan].

Adjourned accordingly at

Eighteen Minutes past Five o'clock pm

to a date to be fixed.

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