SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISION (Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 17 of 1958)

11.45 a.m.

The Financial Secretary (Mr T. M. Hart): Sir, I have His Excellency the Governor's authority to move,

That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $392,997 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure and for the services specified in the Schedule contained in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 17 of 1958.

Sir, this is a small message containing some fourteen items of which three are revotes. The items are all explained in considerable detail in the Paper. If further explanations are required, I have no doubt that the Ministers responsible will be happy to give them. Sir, I beg to move.

Mr J. M. Jumabhoy: Sir, I second it.

Motion committed to Committee of Supply.

Motion and Schedule considered in Committee of Supply.

[Mr SPEAKER in the Chair]

11.47 a.m.

Mr J. M. Jumabhoy: Schedule-

The Chairman: The summary is at page 6. There are no notices of amendments.

Head 7-

Question proposed, "That the sum of $325,000 for Head 7 stand part of the Schedule."

Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, we get presented with these special messages for money so often that one soon becomes indifferent, to what appears in them. But Head 7 is a curious message indeed, for the sum of $325,000, and it appears under Chief Minister - New Subhead - Rural Development. Since when has the Chief Minister's Ministry undertaken this business of rural development? We understood from the working of the Rendel Constitution that his colleague, the Member for Ulu Bedok, the Minister for Local Government, Lands and Housing, is the man in charge of local government and rural development. At this late hour, when the Government is being hard pressed to answer when we are going to have the District Council elections, we have the vote of $325,000 for the Labour Front's District Council elections fund.

Sir, I am not really concerned with the indirect slight which the Labour Front have administered to the Deputy Chief Minister. They must obviously have considered him inept and incapable of administering this fund to the full advantage of the Labour Front, and so he has to allow the Chief Minister to take over rural development.

The Financial Secretary said that full explanations have been given and it is interesting to note what the full explanation for this subhead is. It says:

"It is proposed to establish a Rural Development Fund under the control of the Chief Minister"-

not the Financial Secretary, and not the Deputy Chief Minister who is in charge of local government-

"and, in the first instance, to make the sum of $325,000 available for rural development projects which will enable farmers to take advantage of modern methods to improve their standards of production, and to make the best possible use of their land." A highly laudable project which should receive the tumultuous support of all Members of this House. The explanation goes on to say:

"These moneys are intended to be spent on rural credit schemes, minor development projects, such as the conversion of waste into animal foods, the construction of district incubator units, improved pigsties, chicken houses, etc., ploughing and fertilization projects, improvement of drainage methods, the processing and storage of farm produce, and so forth, publicity, and minor works"

and every other conceivable manner of getting votes in the District Council elections. Let us see what an English-language newspaper said about this - this is after an interview with a Government spokesman. The knowledgeable reporter, in an article published the day before yesterday, said:

"Farmers associations in the Yio Chu Kang, Changi, Amah Keng and Upper Serangoon areas"--

with which the Assistant Minister to the Chief Secretary is, I think, closely associated - with the coming of the elections he is taking a great interest in rural matters and votes-

"hope that the Government will also assist them to stay away from moneylenders and middlemen, who, they said, deprived them of the benefits of their hard work.

According to Association officials, farmers are deep in debt and a major part of their income goes towards paying interest to moneylenders."

Therefore, with the assistance of this fund, they will not be paying interest to moneylenders but they will be paying in votes to those people who patronise farmers' associations with government funds.

The Chairman: Will the hon. Member please identify the newspaper?

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: The paper is the Free Press, issue 14th July, 1958. Sir, it is considered legitimate business of Government to ensure that it will have the continued support of the people. But such a blatant attempt at this late hour to take $325,000 and put it under the personal supervision and disposal of the Chief Minister who has personally come out now to conduct the Kallang by-election -[Interruption.] to retrieve the fortunes - No, no, I hope it does not hurt him at the end of it all. But to have the impertinence to come here and say we should at this juncture give him $325,000 to get votes in the District Council elections is scandalous, to say the least of it, and I ask the House to vote against this subhead.

The Chairman: I allowed the word "impertinence", but I think I must disallow the word "scandalous".

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I will withdraw it, Sir, I will say that this must give rise to great indignation in all right-thinking men.

The Chief Minister: Sir, it would appear that the Kallang by-election is being fought in this Assembly this morning! However, as the Member for Tanjong Pagar has seen fit to throw his challenge at me on a matter which is in the interests of rural dwellers, I will take it up. He has admitted that it is a good thing that there should be this development in the rural areas. What he has criticised is that this fund should be created at this time and that it should be administered by the Chief Minister. Sir, rural development has been in the minds of my colleagues the Minister for Commerce and Industry and the Minister for Local Government, Lands and Housing for a long time.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Three and a half years.

The Chief Minister: It has been rather uphill work, in view of the difficulties which were put in the way of the elected Government - difficulties which prevented us from carrying out the plans we have in our four-year programme. Before we left for London, this House gave approval to the appointment of a Rural Development Commissioner with some field officers and other members of his staff. Surely it is not expected that we should appoint this Rural Development Commissioner and his staff and tell them to sit in their office and do nothing because there is no money for them to do what they are intended to do.

The fact that the fund is to be administered by the Chief Minister is because of difficulties encountered under the Rendel Constitution. If this Rural Development Commission were to be attached to the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing, or to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, it would encounter difficulties from other departments in the way of giving priority to whatever project this Rural Development Commission feels should be carried out. If it is entrusted to the Chief Minister, he can issue a directive - and he will so issue a directive - that any priority work demanded or required by this Rural Development Commission should be carried out without any hindrance.

The hon. Member is feeling rather worried and accuses us by saying that this move is vote-catching. The Government does not-

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Vote buying, not vote catching.

The Chairman: Order.

The Chief Minister: It is suggested that the help that the Government is extending to the rural dwellers is vote buying. What this Government does is in the hon. Member's mind vote buying; but what the P.A.P. does in the City Council has - so he describes - appealed to the masses and is wanted by the masses. This poor Labour Front Coalition Government does not know what the masses want. Now when we try to show them that we know what the masses want and that we want to give to the masses what they want, he has the impertinence to say that this is vote buying.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I do not know if the Chief Minister is responsible for his impromptu speech as I know he has not got his set one. But if he were in his usual state of composure, he would, I think, think twice before he admits that he is really in earnest, asking for $325,000 in order to get the masses over to him in the District Council elections.

Sir, there is a distinction between the Government and a public authority like the City Council consciously pursuing a programme at public expense to win over the support of the majority of the population. There is a distinction between that and this belated attempt of a block vote of $325,000, taken specially into his jurisdiction, to spend in some priority which he will decide, for the now admitted purpose of winning over the support of the masses - not in the City Council, because that is a waste of time; that will not come up in another two years - but in the District Council elections. The answer to the Member for Queenstown, if he really wants to know when the District Council elections are going to be held, is that they will be held as soon as the Government feels that having spent this money - this bribe of $325,000 - it can reasonably anticipate a fair proportion of the voters voting for it.

12.00 noon.

The Minister for Commerce and Industry (Mr J. M. Jumabhoy): Sir, I am sorry that the Member for Tanjong Pagar is misinterpreting this move by the Government to assist the rural dwellers. I cait truthfully and honestly tell him that it is about two years since I have been trying to help the rural dwellers because most of the matters affecting them come within my Ministry - the Agricultural Department, the Veterinary Department, the Co-operatives Department and so on. I have all along felt that, in order that the small farmer can stand on his own legs, a fund has to be created - either by the creation of a rural bank or some other method whereby he can be advanced such money as is necessary for him to get away from the influence and clutches of the middleman, and if I had my way, this would have come up two years ago. However, there are priorities in the spending of public funds, and as hon. Members I think know full well, when the Budget comes up there is only a limited amount of money available and it is a matter of fixing priorities. I have not been successful in getting priority for this project, otherwise I could have-

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Until the District Council elections.

Mr J. M. Jumabhoy: No, it is not so, Sir, If the hon. Member remembers, His Excellency's Speech at the opening of this Session of the Assembly contained a statement of Government policy for this year that a Rural Development Panel will be set up under the Chief Minister's Ministry and this is an execution of the announcement of policy made at that time. In fact, it was as a result of pressure exerted by me that this has been set up under the Chief Minister's Ministry. The reason is that rural development concerns so many Ministries - it concerns mostly my Ministry; it also concerns the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing; it also concerns the Ministry of Communications and Works when rural roads are to be built; it also concerns the Ministry of Finance because finance is involved to a great extent - and it will not be possible, under the present administrative machinery, for one Minister to try and expedite any project which concerns so many Ministries because it has to go through the administrative channels. If the hon. Member has read the newspapers, Sir, I did in fact in a speech made in the Rotary Club in January this year point out that one of the dangers facing Singapore is that the administrative machinery of the Government might not be capable of working to a point of absorbing the dynamism of an elected Government. I cannot say it more clearly than that. It means that the administrative machinery has its methods and so on which are subject to delays, and co-ordination is difficult to achieve between one Minister and another especially when the matter concerns three other Ministries. It has to go through these channels. I am saying all this frankly, Sir, because the hon. Member has sort of alleged that the Chief Minister has got this money as a bribe to buy votes from the rural dwellers. That is not so, I can truthfully and honestly say. I said that the only way to achieve any progress in rural development is for the Chief Minister to take it up himself and set himself up as a dictator over the other Ministers and say, "This must be done, and that must be done." It might be an admission of administrative difficulty - it is so - but I was anxious that the Chief Minister should take it over so that rural development could proceed at a quicker pace. That is the real reason why this vote of $325,000 is under the Chief Minister. In fact, it was announced in His Excellency's speech at the opening of this Session.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: The Minister for Commerce and Industry enumerated the Ministries which were normally involved in or connected with or consulted on rural development. I think I am right in quoting him as saying that they were his own Ministry - the Ministry of Commerce and Industry - the Ministry of Local Government, Lands and Housing, the Ministry of Communications and Works, and the Ministry of Finance - four eminent Ministries, but not including the Ministry of Labour or the Chief Minister's Ministry. Am I right - that this matter does not concern the Ministry of Labour and Welfare, because it does not come under it, nor does it come under the portfolio of the Chief Minister? Would the Minister just confirm this, because I may have misheard him?

Mr J. M. Jumabhoy: Sir, I mentioned four Ministries - they are directly concerned. The other Ministries are also indirectly concerned. Welfare is somethng which concerns everyone in the island. Even education is concerned when it comes to educating the rural folks in fishing methods and so on. We have plans that schools in the rural area should teach fishing and other rural pursuits to the students there. Therefore other Ministries are concerned, but these four Ministries - those of Local Government, Lands and Housing, Communications and Works, Finance, and my own Ministry - are directly concerned. But as I said, Sir, the Chief Minister has been brought in because he is the Chief Minister.

The Assistant Minister to the Chief Secretary (Mr M. P. D. Nair): Sir, I think the allegations made by the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar are quite unjustified. He first said that the idea of rural development projects which will enable farmers to take advantage of modern methods to improve their standards of production was indeed laudable; but when he ended his speech, he urged Members to vote against the $325,000 provided in this vote. Sir, he might be right if we on this side have indulged in empty propaganda. On this rural development authority, we sincerely believe that it would be better to go ahead with a well-planned machine rather than shout our heads off before the actual event took place. Sir, if we had said that this rural development plan had been a dream of the Chief Minister, or that he had vowed to see the establishment of this authority two years ago, then probably it would be said that it is a publicity thing - just as what the Mayor of the City Council said yesterday morning that when he went to see the floods at Braddell Road two years ago, he promised the people there that he would surely give them a mobile dispensary. We do not for a moment believe in fantasy or in unnecessary publicity. We do not even spend any money on banners, like the anti-spitting campaign which has been launched by the City Council. Our intention is not to spend money unnecessarily, but to spend it on necessary projects which will achieve better results for the people. It is quite justified for allegations to be made if we have spent money unnecessarily.

Sir, the Member for Tanjong Pagar is probably quite worried now because he has said that the Government is undertaking a project which will benefit a large number of rural people. I hope and believe that if he has the interests of the rural people at heart, he will give unstinted support for this project and for all others which the Government undertakes in the interests of the people.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I was waiting for some valuable information which I thought the Assistant Minister would provide us. Is he or is he not connected with the Yio Chu Kang peasants or rural dwellers association which, according to the Free Press, hopes to get interest-free loans?

Mr Nair: Sir, it was in 1952 when I took a direct and keen interest in the establishment of a rural development authority. I had filed more than six questions to the then Colonial Secretary to ascertain from him what the Government policy was at that time in regard to rural development. I must tell the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar that in my manifesto as an Independent candidate, one of my promises to the people was that I would try my best to see that a rural development authority was established for the proper and well-planned development of the rural areas.

Sir, I am not only concerned with individual farmers and I am not concerned with my constituency alone. This is not a matter affecting any part of anybody's constituency. This project will benefit about 400,000 people who are now undergoing considerable hardships of various types. Hitherto all the departments interested in rural welfare have not been co-ordinated and, as a result, there have been no well-planned projects in the rural areas. Sir, I wish to say this - that I am not taking this matter as affecting my constituency alone.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, the Hon. the Assistant Minister to the Chief Secretary has still not provided me with the information which I was trying to elicit from him.

Mr Nair: Sir, the association with which I am connected is the Singapore Country People's Association. It has 2,500 members and they come from all over the rural areas. Question put, "That the sum of $325,000 for Head 7 stand part of the Schedule."

The House divided: Ayes, 24; Noes, 2; Abstention, Nil. Ayes. Noes. Abdul Hamid bin Goh Chew Chua. Haji Jumat. Lee Kuan Yew. Braga, A. J. Chew Swee Kee. David, E. B. Abstention. Ede, John. Nil. Goh Tong Liang. Hart, T. M. Jumabhoy, J. M. Absent. Lee Choon Eng. Ahmad bin Ibrahim. Lim Choon Mong. Jumabhoy, R. Lim, R. C. H. Lazarous, A. R. Lim Yew Hock. Lim Cher Kheng. Mak Pak Shee. Lim Ching Siong. Mason, J. M. Lim Koon Teck. Mohd. Sidik bin Haji Abdul Hamid. Nair, M. P. D. Seah Peng Chuan. Shanks, E. P. Soh Ghee Soon. Tan Siak Kew. Tan Theng Chiang. Tan, William. Thomas, Francis. Wong Foo Nam.

The sum of $325,000 for Head 7 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

The sums stated for the Heads stated below ordered to stand part of the Schedule. Head Title $ 8 Chief Secretary 19,941 19 Statistics 8,743 20 Legal 36,874 25 Contributions and Cha-ritable Allowances 17,160 45 Education 10 51 Labour 445 52 Social Welfare 28,000 54 Civil Aviation 550 15 Police 1,070 37 Marine 1,542 D59 Telecommunications 1,400

The sum of $392,997 for the Heads of Expenditure and for the services specified in the Schedule ordered to stand part of the motion.

Motion and Schedule reported, without amendment.

Question on the Motion put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $392,997 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure and for the services specified in the Schedule contained in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 17 of 1958.

Mr Speaker: I think this is a convenient time to suspend. I will take the Chair again at half-past two.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 12.19 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. Sitting resumed at 2.30 p.m.