AIRPORT (Announcements in Mandarin and Tamil)

Mr William Tan asked the Minister for Communications and Works whether he will now consider arranging for announcements of the arrivals and departures of planes to be made in Mandarin and Tamil over the public-address system at the Singapore Airport, in addition to the languages now used.

Mr Francis Thomas: Sir, the question of arranging for announcements to be made in Mandarin and Tamil over the public address system at the Singapore Airport of the arrivals and departures of aircraft has been under consideration for a number of months. The hon. Member for Tiong Bahru was invited as long ago as April this year to let me have details of what he had described as "many instances in which passengers missed their planes or went to the wrong plane just because they did not know English". I have received no such evidence either from the hon. Member or from any other source that passengers have been inconvenienced by the fact that announcements over the public address system are not made in Mandarin and Tamil. Until I do get such evidence, I am not prepared to direct that such announcements should be made.

Mr William Tan: Why does the Hon. Minister for Communications and Works not check with the Information Bureau of the Singapore Airport that passengers actually have been inconvenienced? Whenever announcements are made in English or Malay, we find passengers rushing to the Information Bureau to ask whoever is in charge what the announcements say.

Mr Speaker: The hon. Member should not make a speech.

Mr Francis Thomas: Sir, the hon. Member must be aware that a question of this sort is not answered by the Minister from his private thoughts but that it is circulated to the officials to get full official accounts for reply; and of course the Airport authorities have been very fully questioned on this matter and the reply is based on the information given by them and by the airline operators, who naturally would themselves be concerned if their passengers failed to arrive at the aircraft. I am sure that the airline operators are fully satisfied at present that their passengers are not inconvenienced and do in fact arrive at the aircraft at the times and places that they should.

Mr William Tan: Is it not a duty to check up whether passengers have been inconvenienced or not?