SELECT COMMITTEE ON ASSEMBLY STAFF

The Chief Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, the motion that stands in my name seeks the appointment of a Select Committee with you as Chairman to consider the question of staffing, both as regards personnel and conditions of service, for this Assembly. I cannot do better, Sir, than use your own words, when discussing this matter with me, when you said, "It is essential and desirable that the fact that the Assembly staff is independent of the Government should be widely known and should be absolutely obvious." I could not agree more, Sir. Although we, on this Bench, have the privilege and the honour today of being the Government, we are also Members of this Assembly, and we are acutely conscious of the necessity of this Assembly being absolutely independent of the Government of the day, being able to control its own staff and provide the necessities that it deems requisite for its existence and its proceedings.

At present, Sir, there is no friction at all. No one can vouch for the future. At present all the staff are appointed by Government and are subject to General Orders. The motion that stands in my name seeks the appointment of a Committee which will itself recommend the appointment of staff as regards personnel, and which it is hoped will produce a scheme, to be approved by this House, of salaries, remuneration and conditions of service, so that this House will have employees, who are paid through Government agency with its approval, absolutely independent of Government control.

I beg to move, Sir, the motion that stands in my name, namely,

That Standing Order 62 be suspended to enable the following motions to be made:

(a) That a Select Committee be appointed to enquire into, report upon, and make recommendations in respect of the staff at all levels in the employment of the Assembly, the methods of their appointment, their salaries and terms of service, and generally all matters relevant to the Assembly staff; and

(b) That the Select Committee do consist of the Speaker as Chairman and five Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection.

The Minister for Health (Mr A. J. Braga): I rise to second.

Question, "That Standing Order 62 be suspended to enable the other motions to be made." put, and agreed to.

Mr M. P. D. Nair (Seletar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I consider that this motion is a very timely one. Having had the privilege of serving in the last Legislative Council. I have observed very closely the volume of work that the staff of the then Council had to undertake. After the general elections, of course, the volume of that work has considerably increased, and I have also known the extent of the stress and strain that the staff has to undergo in the discharge of their functions.

I fully associate with whatever the Chief Minister has expressed regarding the independence of the staff, and I endorse his motion very whole-heartedly.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, no one can doubt that this is a very important step forward. It is not only important because it creates a completely independent institution separate and distinct from the Government, but it also marks a break from the past, when the Colonial Secretary directed how things should be done by his minions in this House. He seconded someone from his office and appointed him Clerk of Councils, and this person had to do the bidding of the then Colonial Secretary!

We welcome this move as the first step. It does not go all the way to an independent Parliament, but we shall be here pushing it until we have gone the whole distance.

The Chief Minister: You did not push this!

Mr Lim Choon Mong (Serangoon): Mr Speaker, Sir, we welcome this step, and I think it is one in the right direction and should have been done very much earlier. Indeed it has our support because the Assembly staff should all the time be neutral and should all the time be serving the Assemblymen in this House.

Question,

(a) That a Select Committee be appointed to enquire into, report upon, and make recommendations in respect of the staff at all levels in the employment of the Assembly, the methods of their appointment, their salaries and terms of service, and generally all matters relevant to the Assembly staff; and

(b) That the Select Committee do consist of the Speaker as Chairman and five Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection,

put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

(a) That a Select Committee be appointed to enquire into, report upon, and make recommendations in respect of the staff at all levels in the employment of the Assembly, the methods of their appointment, their salaries and terms of service, and generally all matters relevant to the Assembly staff; and

(b) That the Select Committee do consist of the Speaker as Chairman and five Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection.