SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISION (Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 5 of 1955)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr T. M. Hart: Sir, I have the authority of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government to move,

That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $17,320,223 should be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure and for the services specified in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 5 of 1955.

Sir, the applications under items 105 to 109 have already been approved under the delegated authority obtained from the Assembly at the last sitting and are now submitted for covering approval.

With regard to item 105, a new compressor is required for the refrigerating plant at the Fishery Station, Bedok. Cold storage accommodation is provided there at a rental of $10 a day for the fish trade to enable it to accommodate glut supplies. The existing compressor was installed in 1937, suffered from lack of maintenance during the Japanese time, and is now becoming rapidly unserviceable.

Item 106 refers to the supply of four Radio-Telephony sets for the Master Attendant's launches to enable communications to be maintained between launches and between the shore and launches in times of emergency; for example, during a fire when all visual signalling is impracticable.

Item 107 refers to the post of the Serjeant at Arms. Hon. Members will recall that this post was entered in the Estimates for 1955, but the question of salary was left in abeyance until Mr Speaker returned from the United Kingdom and until the identity of the officer selected to hold the post was known. Mr Speaker returned late in March, and it became a matter of some urgency to appoint a Serjeant at Arms, and it was decided to offer the post to Che Mahmood at a salary of $650 per month. I am very glad to say he saw his way to accept, and this sum is now required to supplement Head "Legislature" to enable his salary to be paid with effect from the 21st of April.

Item 108 refers to a duplicator required by the Government Medical Store. The present duplicator was salvaged from a Japanese dump and has now been condemned.

As regards item 109, this extra equipment is rendered necessary by the fact that it has been decided that certain categories of Government servants should contribute towards the Central Provident Fund.

Items 110 to 130 are submitted for the approval of the Assembly.

Item 110 seeks approval to create a Grade B post for Mr McNeice. It has been announced already that Mr McNeice will be seconded for duty in connection with the committee that is considering the City and Island Council Bill and other connected matters. He may also be required for other services. His duties will be full-time, and he will not be able to devote any time to the City Council. It is therefore necessary to create a Supernumerary Grade B post for Mr McNeice, and thus free the post of the President, City Council, for the substantive promotion of another officer.

Item 111 is an application for supplementary provision for the Singapore Airport. Approximately $3.8 million has been provided in the Development Estimates for 1955. It is now estimated that the work, which will be completed in 1955, will cost approximately $10,000,000.

You will notice that under item 130 provision of C.D. & W. money to the extent of $1.4 million is sought, and that under item 134 a revote of $208,340 is requested. These, with the supplement sought under item 111 and the money provided in the Estimates this year, will make up the sum of $10,000,000. This will be required for the runway, taxi-tracks and parking aprons which, it is estimated, will cost this year $3.8 million; roads $1,000,000, electrical installations $1,000,000, and so on. I should say, at this stage, that the latest estimate of cost for the Singapore Airport is $46,000,000, of which $10,000,000 will be provided by C.D. & W. Fund and $3.9 million by the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the United Kingdom.

Items 112, 115, 117 and 125 can, with convenience, be taken together, since all arise out of the revision of superscale salaries which took place last year. With regard to Item 112, the post of Deputy Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce was previously graded IB, M.C.S. When the revision of salaries took place, all other Class IB M.C.S. posts were upgraded to Grade E, with the exception of this particular post. The result of the salaries revision in this case was not an upward revision but a downgrading. Since then, it has become quite clear that the post is under-graded at Grade F, and that the duties and responsibilities attached to it warrant Grade E and that is now proposed.

Item 115 refers to the post of Chief Inspector of Schools, which again was graded on revision at Grade F. Having regard to the expansion of educational facilities and the great increase in responsibility which falls on the shoulders of the Chief Inspector of Schools, it has been decided that the post should properly be graded at Grade E.

Item 117 refers to the post of Director of Botanical Gardens, which should be upgraded to Grade F. Hitherto, before the revision of salaries, it was placed on the same grade as Director of Museums and Deputy Director of Broadcasting. On revision, these posts were graded Grade F, but the post of Director of Botanical Gardens was left, for no understandable reason, at Grade G. It is now clear that the responsibilities and status of the Director of Botanical Gardens merit upgrading, and it is now proposed that the post should be Grade F.

Lastly, item 125 - Deputy Government Printer - on revision of superscale salaries, the salary of this post was fixed at $1,300, which was in the middle of the professional officers' timescale. There was no real reason for creating this special superscale salary. It is now thought desirable, especially having regard to the duties performed by the Deputy Government Printer, that it would be better to substitute the upper segment of the timescale.

Passing now to the other items, we come to item 113 - Customs Secret Service. Rewards are paid from time to time for information which leads to the apprehension of smugglers and to the seizure of dutiable goods, and some of the rewards are substantial. $100,000 was provided in the Estimates, and that is now exhausted, and there are one or two substantial rewards remaining to be paid. In 1954, expenditure under this Head came to over $300,000, and it is possible that expenditure this year will be of the same order. Therefore, we seek a supplement of $200,000.

Item 116 - Refunds of Estate Duty - it sometimes happens that estate duty is overpaid and a refund has to be made. At the present time, there is a case outstanding, where duty has been overpaid to the extent of $27,000, and we seek to supplement the Vote, which stands at $10,000, by $26,907.

Items 118 and 119 refer to two posts lit the Ministry of Lands - one for a (G.C.S. Clerk and one for a Stenographer. My hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government, Lands and Housing, finds that his Ministry is understaffed, and he seeks the creation of these two new posts.

Item 120. About two months ago, when the question of entertainment allowance for Mr Speaker was considered, it was felt that, like the Ministers, he might call upon the block Entertainment Vote when he had to entertain. This is now clearly quite unsuitable, and it is desirable that Mr Speaker should have an entertainment allowance of his own. It is not subject to any scrutiny or control by the Treasury. It is therefore proposed that we should give him an entertainment allowance of $400 a month, which is the same as that for the Chief Justice and the Chief Secretary. Provision is now asked to pay this allowance from the 1st of August this year.

Item 121 seeks further provision for the upkeep of Mr Speaker's house and grounds. Hon. Members will recall that at the first sitting of the Assembly, I sought provision for precisely this service. That provision was based on an estimate of my own as to the sum required to upkeep Mr Speaker's house and grounds. Now, I fear I have rather under-estimated the matter. Neither did I allow for sufficient servants nor did I propose to pay them enough. I am now satisfied that I have under-estimated the matter and now seek further provision to enable Mr Speaker to employ the minimum staff required to maintain his house and grounds till the end of the year. This provision also provides for the employment of one "Tukang Kebun".

Item 122 is a very substantial item. It was decided in August last year to invite the members of the Colombo Plan Consultative Committee to hold their next meeting in Singapore. It was considered appropriate that this should be done in a year of great constitutional development in Singapore. This invitation was extended in Ottawa and was accepted with very great pleasure.

The meeting will fall into two parts. Firstly, in the last week of September and the first two and a half weeks in October, there will be a meeting of officials from all the member countries to consider the progress of the Colombo Plan over the previous year, to consider the reports from the various member countries, and to draft the statistical and annual reports of the Colombo Plan itself for presentation to the meeting of Ministers. In the third week of October, Ministers from all the member countries will attend and will discuss questions of policy arising from the implementation of the Colombo Plan, economic developments of East Asia and other kindred matters.

It is quite clear that this is going to be a very considerable undertaking. A very high standard has been set at previous meetings in London, Karachi, New Delhi and Ottawa and it is considered that Singapore should endeavour to achieve the same standard. The arrangements which have been made so far in the Treasury are now being made under the supervision of a Committee of Members of this House, consisting of the Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry, the Member for Paya Lebar (Mr Lim Koon Teck), Mr Sutherland and myself. I think all arrangements are up to date, and I feel confident that we will be able to stage a conference in the same way and as successfully as has been done in other countries.

It will, however, be a costly undertaking. The Victoria Memorial Hall will have to be redecorated, and the first floor arranged and prepared as the main conference chamber. On the ground floor will have to he built office accommodation for various delegations. This has been done at previous meetings in the past. A secretariat for the conference will have to be set up, and will have to consist of able officers. A very high standard of ability will be required to run this conference. Accommodation will have to be provided for all delegations in accordance with precedent. Transport will have to be provided, and there will have to be a certain amount of entertainment, particularly at the Ministerial level. We have estimated that the total cost will be somewhere between $270,000 and $300,000. I cannot say at the present time just exactly how much will be spent. Every effort will be made to reduce expenditure as much as possible, but I think it will be of the order of $270,000 to $300,000. Members will also recall that this expenditure has already been accepted in principle by the entry in the Estimates for 1955 of a token vote for the cost of the Colombo Plan Conference.

Item 123 refers to anti-malarial and other health precautions which have to be taken at the Singapore Airport to comply with international civil aviation standards. Previously, we sought a vote of $100,000 for drainage works and $25,000 for the laying of a piped water supply. Now, we find that further drainage work is required and certain equipment will have to be bought for anti-malarial work. Hence, we seek a supplement of $20,000.

Item 124 refers to the construction of accommodation for a Police Ghurkha contingent at Mount Vernon on Bartley Road. This work falls into two phases. The total cost is about the order of $3,000,000. Phase I has been virtually completed. A small revote of $200,000 is asked for later on in the Schedule. The P.W.D. now find that they can press on with Phase II this year. It was intended to enter provision for Phase II in the Estimates, but it was inadvertently overlooked. We now seek $1,250,000, which is required to complete Phase II.

Item 126 seeks authority to create a post of Superintendent of Prisons. Under he Criminal Justice (Temporary Provisions) Ordinance, and I think under section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1955, provision is made for two new types of detention. I think they are called "corrective training" and "preventive detention", the object being that while a prisoner is detained, provided that he co-operates with the prison authorities, he will be sent out into the world, on completion of his sentence, fit to take his place in society. As I say, the co-operation of the prisoner is required. It is, however, essential that a man of great experience in this type of work be obtained to carry out the scheme and, at the same time, to train other officers to expand and continue the scheme.

Item 127 seeks provision for the staff required by the Chief Minister in his office of the Chief Minister. It was, I think, envisaged at the time when the Constitution was drawn up that, as far as the Chief Minister was concerned, the emphasis would be on a portfolio and that the officer holding the portfolio would be Chief Minister in addition. The Constitution has developed very considerably in the last two months, and we find that the Chief Minister has responsibilities which are quite distinct from and certainly not less important than those arising from the Ministry of Commerce. It has been found that if he is to do his work as Chief Minister, he requires a very capable staff, and the staff which he requires is shown in the first portion of item 127. The second portion of item 127 makes provision for the Economic Adviser and for the staff required for his sub-office. These posts, of course, will not be filled until an Economic Adviser is appointed.

Item 128 makes provision for stationery and other matters of a similar nature required by the Chief Minister's office.

Item 129 seeks provision for new office furniture and equipment.

Item 130 seeks the authority of the Assembly to draw $1.4 million of the $10,000,000 grant from the C.D.& W. Fund for expenditure on the Singapore Airport this year.

Now the remaining items, that is items 131 to 229, make up a very formidable list of Revotes, the majority of which refer to public works and capital works. These are presented in this Paper in the form in which it has been customary to use in the past; but having seen it in print, I now appreciate that it would be desirable, and it would have been clearer to hon. Members, if I had given details in columnar forms; for example, if I had laid out this Paper in the following way in columns: Amount voted in 1954:Amount spent in 1954: Balance unspent at the end of 1954: Amount revoted in the 1955 Estimates: Additional revote now required - that would give hon. Members all the information about the revotes which they required. This new layout will be followed in future. In the meantime, however, I have all the necessary information here, and I will be only too glad to supply it to hon. Members in connection with any item they may wish to raise. Of these applications for revotes, items 134, 136, 137, 138, 140, 142, 145, 156, 161 to 169, 171, 176, 183, 184, 192, 193, 203, 204, 207, 209, 211, 223 to 227 are unforeseen revotes, in addition to revotes already shown in the annual Estimates. How these are arrived at I will make it clear by quoting an example. Let us imagine that provision has been made in the Estimates for a school costing $300,000. By the time September comes round, when the Estimates are being finalised, the Director of Public Works considers that a certain amount of work will have to be left over to be done in the following year and the estimated cost of that work is $100,000. He therefore seeks authority to enter a revote of $100,000 in next year's Estimates. After September, something unforeseen happens - perhaps a dock strike in the United Kingdom or delays in delivery of material - and when the accounts are finally closed, it is found that instead of $100,000 worth of work undone, $150,000 worth of work was left undone. Therefore, it becomes necessary to seek an unforeseen revote of $50,000.

The remaining items in the Schedule refer to revotes which were completely unforeseen when the Estimates were drawn up in September last. Either the money for the project is voted too late to be spent in 1955 or else something unexpected happened after September, 1954, which prevented it from being spent. In the case of these unforeseen revotes - and when I say unforeseen revotes, I refer to the last category which I mentioned - where work has had to go on, advances have been made by the Treasury in accordance with previous practice. This practice is, in my opinion, open to objection in so far as it commits funds without the sanction of the Legislature, and it was partly to overcome this objection that I sought power at the last sitting of the Assembly to approve revotes in certain circumstances in advance of the covering approval of the Assembly. However, I appreciate the constitutional apprehensions of the Member for Tanjong Pagar in this connection, and it has now been arranged that applications for necessary unforeseen revotes will be made at the last sitting of the Assembly in each year. These revotes will merely be rough guesses of the amount left over unexpended at the end of the year, but will enable work to continue uninterrupted into the next year. In the middle of the year, as we are doing now, after the accounts are closed, we will come forward for an unforeseen revote of the balance remaining unspent. This will obviate the need to authorise advances as has been done in the past, and, at the same time, obviate the need to approve revotes in advance of the approval of the Legislature, as was proposed in the last sitting. The power given to the Government at the last sitting of the Assembly will consequently only be used in cases of emergency.

All these applications for revotes have been examined with care in the Treasury and by the Finance Committee of the Council of Ministers to make sure that the need for the work continues and that no more is asked for than is required to complete the job. The services and projects themselves were approved by the Legislature in the first instance, because they were regarded as being essential services and works of top priority. There are some 90 items altogether. It will take too much time if I have to explain each one in detail. In any case, not all hon. Members are interested in all the applications. In the circumstances, it would probably be better if I left it, to hon. Members to speak on those items in which they are interested and to seek further information. Sir, I beg to move.

Mr Chew Swee Kee: I second it.

Question proposed.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have listened with considerable care to the remarks of the Hon. the Financial Secretary in his presentation of this motion, and I am somewhat less bewildered now that we have had his explanations of some of the details, than I had been in the last two days by the mass of figures on the Paper before us.

Sir, before you give hon. Members, as I hope you will, the opportunity of raising as many points as they desire - on as many occasions as they desire - I wish to make a few general observations regarding financial procedure and to ask my hon. Friend for clarification regarding such procedure. It is our right, indeed our duty, as Members of this House to keep a jealous watch on the expenditure of public money, and I am not entirely convinced that this House is being asked to vote this sum of over $17,000,000 in entirely the proper manner, so that we can be reasonably certain that this huge sum will be or has been properly spent.

I put these views forward with considerable diffidence, but I must confess myself to being a novice in the intricacies of government finance, as indeed perhaps are many hon. Members present, and our problem has not been made easier by the fact that this motion and the financial details involved reached hon. Members only two days ago. At the risk of repetition, I must add my protest to those of my colleagues at the way in which the business of this Assembly is being conducted -

Mr Speaker: Order, order, Mr Ede. Your observations on financial procedure could be referred to the Standing Orders Committee or you could bring those points forward by way of a substantive motion. What is before the House is a motion asking that the Assembly resolves that a certain sum should be supplied to the Government for certain expenditure. The procedure may be open to criticism, but I do not think this is the proper time to criticise the procedure as such.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I be advised as to whether I may ask questions on different items, taken as a whole or separately, as we proceed through the items?

Mr Speaker: Hon. Members will remember that I did lay down a procedure last time we dealt with a resolution of this nature. I think the most satisfactory way is for Members to raise points on any one item, and then I will invite discussion on that particular item only. When all Members have spoken on that particular item, I will invite suggestions or criticisms on another item. In other words, we will take item by item as they are raised.

Mr Nair: Sir, on page 2, item 113, Subhead 4 - Customs Secret Service.

Last year, Sir, as the Hon. the Financial Secretary stated, there was an expenditure of about $300,000 on Secret Service, and I see that there is every prospect of repeating this amount. Sometimes it may be even more. Sir, I wonder whether this procedure of giving rewards to the Customs Service to find out the culprits is a very desirable thing to do. I feel that it amounts to a bribery from the Government side, and that the existing personnel should be asked to strengthen the service in order to enable the culprits to be caught, rather than being paid a reward for bringing these culprits to book. I feel, Sir, that investigations should be made into tile existing procedure of finding culprits and to see whether economy could be effected in spending this money. I do not think the public of Singapore can afford to pay $300,000, or sometimes perhaps more, or a similar sum entirely for a secret service of this nature. There are so many other social services in abeyance. The other point, Sir, I wish to raise -

Mr Speaker: Order, order. Have you finished with that item?

Mr Nair: Yes, Sir.

Mr Speaker: Item 113. Mr Hart, would you like to reply now, or would you like to reply right at the end?

Mr Hart: I think probably it would be better, Sir, if I reply item by item. Sir, first of all, I would like to say to the Member for Seletar that the efficiency of the Customs Service is our constant preoccupation, and I should also like to say that, in my opinion, it is a most efficient service. Secondly, I would like to say that these rewards are not paid to members of the Customs Service. They are paid to members of the public who are prepared, in some cases, to risk their lives to give us notice of attempts to smuggle dangerous commodities into the territory. In many cases, the value of the goods seized as a result of this information exceeds many times over the amount of the rewards paid. In my opinion, this money is well spent. Rewards over a certain amount are not paid without reference to me. I am satisfied that no rewards have been paid wrongly or unwisely.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, if I may be permitted to take several items coming under the heading of Personal Emoluments with Token Votes -

Mr Speaker: Will you name them?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: It is 110 - "Personal Emoluments, Subhead 1, item (new) - Supernumerary Officer, Grade B ($2,075) ... $10.00 (Token) - Commerce and Industry - Personal Emoluments, Subhead 1, item (2) - Deputy Secretary to Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Grade E" -

Mr Speaker: Item 112, is it not?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: 112 - Head 12.

Head 15, item 1l5 - "Chief Inspector of Schools, Grade E ... $10.00 (Token): Botanical Gardens - Head 18, item 117 - Director of Botanical Gardens, Grade F ... $10.00 (Token)".

Head 23, items 118 and 119 - there is no quarrel with that at all.

Head 33 Printing Office - "Personal Emoluments, Subhead 1, item (2) - Deputy Government Printer ... $10.00 (Token)", and Head 34 Prisons - "Personal Emoluments".

Sir, as I understand the Hon. the Financial Secretary, they fall under two categories. One, in the case of the item under Head 34, was necessitated by a revision in the Criminal Procedure Code. The types of punishment meted out made necessary a different kind of officer to fill a new appointment. The others, as far as I can make out, fall under the other category of regrading as a result of the constitutional changes.

Going from Grade F to Grade E, for instance, in the case of the post of Deputy Secretary to Ministry of Commerce and Industry -

Mr Hart: On a point of information, Sir. The items to which my hon. Friend the Member for Tanjong Pagar refers, excluding item 110 which refers to the post necessitated by Mr McNeice's transfer to other duties, do not arise out of any constitutional change. They arise as a result of the revision of superscale salaries which took place in the middle of last year.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Do I understand the Hon. the Financial Secretary to say that these superscale revisions had nothing to do with the creation of the various Permanent Secretaryships and Deputy Permanent Secretaryships as a result of the impending constitutional changes?

Mr Hart: Yes, Sir. As I say, this was revision of salary - this question of revision of superscale salaries was embarked on long before there was any question of constitutional change.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: July, last year?

Mr Hart: The question of revision of superscale salaries started very considerably before that. It came to fruition about the middle of last year. These posts were, in fact, regraded on their merits as part of the service and had no relation to constitutional developments, the creation of Ministries, or anything like that. The post of Deputy Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was the previous post of Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry. It still is and the officer holding it performs the same functions and the same duties.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew rose -

Mr Speaker: Still on information?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Still on information, Sir. Do I take that explanation to mean that all these revisions would have been made in any event, regardless of the creation of these Permanent Secretaryships?

Mr Hart: Sir, these are anomalies which have arisen out of the full scale revision of superscale salaries, and we merely wish to rectify the anomalies.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, I may refer to the same items as the Member for Tanjong Pagar. I hope I am not encroaching on a matter of procedure again. I think it is a question of voting money. I would ask my hon. Friend to elucidate why Token Votes of $10 are given in each of these cases. I was under the impression that Token Votes are only inserted in an estimate because the grant cannot be estimated due to insufficient details being available, but in all these cases, the details of grades and salary scales are, in fact, stated in the Paper, and I see no reason why the proper amount required cannot be asked for now. I ask that, also because, if I may refer to item 127, it will be seen under that Head that a total vote has been asked for even in respect of the Chief Minister's Economic Adviser, who has not yet been appointed. I fail to see therefore the distinction between the different Heads, and I would like elucidation.

Mr Hart: Sir, perhaps I may deal first with item 127, that is the Chief Minister's Office - that is a new office. We are creating, in effect, a new department. A new Head of the Estimates will appear in next year's Estimates. There is no money voted so far for this particular service. We are creating a new vote.

With regard to the other items which were mentioned, we are merely adding a post to an existing establishment, and we have found from experience that no matter how accurately we estimate personal emoluments in any government, there are invariably savings at the end of the year. Consequently, when we create a post in any department, we usually ask for a token vote because we know that there will be savings available from the money already voted to pay the salaries. That is the explanation. Have I made myself clear?

Mr John Ede: On a point of information, Sir. Under item 127, are we to assume that these appointments to the Hon. the Chief Minister's office staff have already been made and that they are receiving salaries? If so, how is it that this was done ahead of the sanction of this House, unless there is some vote on account. I am not questioning the right of my hon. Friend to have an office staff, but I would like just to know what the procedure is.

Mr Hart: I think that some of the incumbents of these posts are not yet known. They have not yet been appointed. Those officers who are already officiating in the Chief Minister's office are held against their existing posts and are on loan for the time being to the Chief Minister's office.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Under item 127 there appears a post of Press Liaison Officer ($690-30A-930/ Bar/ 960-35A-1,240). Sir, I understand that there is such a thing called the Public Relations Department with a very efficient, supposedly efficient, Public Relations Officer. May we please know more specifically the duties of this Press Liaison Officer?

The Chief Minister: I am delighted, Mr Speaker, Sir, to receive such a bouquet from the Member for Tanjong Pagar for the Public Relations Officer.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Orchids!

The Chief Minister: The Press Liaison Officer, Sir, that I require for my office - I find that I wish to be kept in constant touch with the opinion of the Chinese Press and people and, through the Chinese Press, the Chinese-reading public to be kept in constant touch with our views. The Public Relations Officer has discharged that duty very efficiently so far, but I should like to intensify that aspect of the work, and it is my idea to have an officer permanently attached to me for full-time service in that direction, an officer who has experience with the Chinese Press of the Colony.

Mr Lee Choon Eng (Queenstown): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am very glad that the Member for Tanglin has just told us that we are here to watch jealously that public funds are properly spent. From items 131 to 229, these figures or these estimates come under the headings of Revotes, and I take it that these figures were voted by the former Legislative Council where the Progressives were in majority.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: They only had six seats.

Mr Lee Choon Eng: Oh, only six seats! I am so sorry. [Interruption.]

Mr Speaker: Order, order.

Mr Lee Choon Eng: I refer now to item 154 under Head D5 Governor - "Alterations to Government House", where a figure of $200,390 is supposed to be for alterations to Government House. We are here today to endorse the figure that was voted by the previous Council, and I am really alarmed that such a big figure for alterations of the building is now to be considered. I presume that this figure could build a big palace; I wonder if it is not too much or too low. The Hon. the Financial Secretary has just said that he is pleased to answer any queries that arise, and to give us details, and I am quite sure that Members of this House will be very glad if the Hon. the Financial Secretary will tell us the details of how this figure is arrived at.

Mr Hart: This work has been completed. The sum was voted in connection with the creation of the chamber for the Council of Ministers, for the creation of the offices for the Clerk to the Council of Ministers and for his staff, and for alterations necessitated in another part of Government House by the fact that the Governor and his staff had to vacate their premises to make way for the Council of Ministers. The total sum voted was $220,300. Only $19,000 was spent last year because the work was only put in hand towards the end of the year, and all the money was spent before the new Government came into being.

Mr John Ede: The Council of Ministers are now comfortably housed!

Mr Nair: Sir, may I know why that item has been shown under development estimate?

Mr Speaker: Which item?

Mr Nair: That same item - Head D5, item 154.

Mr Hart: Sir, the answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Seletar's question is that it was the practice last year to put the majority of public works non-recurrent expenditure in connection with capital projects and building projects in the development estimates, and this supplement was voted under the particular Head in the development estimates for Government House.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I take items 132 and 133 as examples of any items under the Head "Revotes" which require some explanation from our hon. Friend? I have searched, I hope diligently, in the Estimates for those items 132 and 133 and expected them as having been voted for in 1954, but I cannot find them. How can we be asked to revote what appears not to have been voted in the first place?

Mr Hart: The answer to that question, of course, is that the money was not voted in the Estimates. It was voted as a supplementary provision during the course of the year. As I said previously, the money which Government has to spend is made up of money which appears in the Estimates and is covered by the Supply Bill, and of money which is voted after the passing of the Estimates in the form of applications for supplementary provision. These two cases were applications for supplementary provision.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I then take it, when such a Paper as the request for money is brought to the House again, that all these apparent obscurities will be made clear by providing greater detail as the Hon. the Financial Secretary mentioned earlier?

Mr Hart: As I have said earlier, Sir, I appreciate that this is not an adequate presentation of the revotes under present circumstances, and in the future I will set it out in columns, showing what has been voted in the Estimates, what has been spent, what remains unvoted, what has been revoted and what is required in the form of an unforeseen revote.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, on a point of elucidation. Do we understand that from henceforth, in September every year, there will be a revote asking for expenditure which is not expected to be incurred in that particular year, but that a further revote will only be asked for on unexpected increases or unexpected delays in expenditure? I understand -

Mr Speaker: Order, Mr Lee. I think you are confusing the motion. Let us stick to the motion, shall we? That is a point which I think Mr Ede might probably raise on his substantive motion. It is a matter of procedure.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: But, Mr Speaker, Sir, with great respect, I was seeking clarification of an explanation that the Hon. the Financial Secretary gave of how he proposed to give this House better control and better understanding of what was happening in the case of revotes, which in this particular case total about two-thirds of the amount involved in this -

Mr Speaker: It is not strictly within the terms of the motion, Mr Lee.

Mr Hart: If I may, Sir -

Mr Speaker: Yes, certainly.

Mr Hart: I will give an explanation now and settle the matter once and for all, if I may?

Mr Speaker: I think we are just wasting time on the whole matter. There are criticisms, and I quite agree they are very grave criticisms, on the procedure which is extant in our Standing Orders. I think the Standing Orders need a lot of revision as far as financial procedure is concerned, but we are now concerned with a motion which asks the Assembly to resolve that a certain sum of money be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure appearing in this Command Paper. What is to be done in the future, I think, is not within the terms of the motion. What we should deal with now is what is before the House.

Mr Lim Koon Teck: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I draw the Hon. the Financial Secretary's attention to item No. 222 - "Accommodation for Ministers' Offices - $278,140". It seems to me to be a very princely sum, and I hope the Ministers are well accommodated. [Interruption.] I would like some explanation for this amount spent.

Mr Hart: This money, Sir, was provided for the creation of the accommodation required by the Ministers and their staffs, not just the Ministers alone; and, in certain cases, it did necessitate a certain reconstruction, particularly in the Ministry building at Palmer Road to accommodate the Minister for Health and the Minister for Education.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, one final question. The motion before us reads:

"That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $17,320,223 should be supplied to the Government ..."

Yet on page 9 of the Paper concerned, you will read that the total amount to be voted is $17,324,748. The discrepancy is due to a sum of $4,525 which it is desired to delete. Surely any sums voted in the 1955 Estimates should not be deleted during the course of the year, but should lapse at the end of the year and become the subject of scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee in due course. Should not the gross sum be voted and not the net sum?

Mr Hart: Sir, in making this application, I only seek the actual amount of money which is required. I do not want to ask for more money than is required, and the net sum required here is that shown at the bottom of page 9 - $17,320,223.

Mr John Ede: On a point of information, Sir. I still do not understand why these items amounting to $4,525 have been deleted. They have been estimated. So why do they not remain in the Estimates?

Mr Hart: These are not deletions, Sir. They are estimated savings which have been shown in expenditure. I cannot give you the details because I came unprepared for that particular problem.

Mr John Ede: Sir, am I to understand that this is the only item of saving so far during the course of this financial year?

Mr Hart: I cannot recall what appeared in previous messages. I have not got copies here, but I think you will find similar deletions if you refer back to the messages which have been presented before, not only in the life of this Assembly but in the life of the Legislative Council before it was prorogued. As I say, I regret that I cannot give you the actual details of this, because I came unprepared, but perhaps if you will see me in my office, I shall be delighted to give you the information.

Mr Goh Tong Liang: Mr Speaker, Sir, can I come back to item 113 under Head 13, Customs Secret Service?

Mr Speaker: Yes, you can speak.

Mr Goh Tong Liang: I think, if a reward has been given, we have received something in kind. What happens to those things? [Interruption.]

Mr Speaker: Order, please.

Mr Hart: If goods such as opium and other contraband are seized, they are sold through the Crown Agents and the proceeds are credited to revenue.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $17,320,223 should be supplied to, the Government under the Heads of Expenditure and for the services specified in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 5 of 1955.