RADIO BROADCAST OF CHINESE PROGRAMMES

Mr Lim Cher Kheng asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware of the strong opposition of the various Chinese community associations and guilds of Singapore to the Government's decision to discontinue using the Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Foochow dialects in the local broadcast of the Chinese, programme from January 1959, and whether the Government will reconsider this decision.

Mr David: Sir, the Government has received a number of representations in this matter. As I informed the House on 5th November, the aim of the Government in making these changes is solely to improve the balance and content of the present Chinese broadcast programmes and advice was sought from several representative bodies and individuals before the decision was taken in agreement with the Government of the Federation of Malaya. Nevertheless, I welcome the opportunity of giving more details of what is proposed, since I think it will be seen that the apprehensions underlying these representations are largely without foundation. No changes will be made in the cultural contributions made by the four communities in question to the Chinese broadcasts. The opera, music and songs will continue as before and, in particular, the Teochew story-teller and those of the other dialects will remain on the air. The only major practical change will be to cut out the regular news bulletins in these dialects. The present practice of broadcasting the news bulletins in seven different dialects means that, out of a total weekly programme of 83½ hours, no less than 10½ hours is consumed in the repetition of news bulletins. Moreover, since these have to be broadcast at fixed times of the day, it leaves little flexibility for periodical adjustments and improvements in the cultural programmes. I should add that in times of emergency, arrangements would always be made for important announcements to be given in as many dialects as possible.

Finally, Sir, I should mention two other improvements which it is proposed to make from 1st January. All Chinese programmes will from that date be broadcast on a single frequency. This will save listeners having to retune their sets in the course of listening to the programmes. Moreover, the total weekly hours of Chinese broadcasts will be slightly increased.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Tanjong Pagar): Do we understand from that explanation, Sir, that the primary reason is to save broadcasting time and not to save cost?

Mr David: Sir, the main object is to save time in order to give more time for cultural broadcasts.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Do we understand from the statement that in times of emergency there will be broadcasts in all dialects, and that in fact the staff necessary for broadcasting in all dialects will still be there?

Mr David: I do not expect that there will he any difficulty in making the necessary arrangements.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Does that mean that as and when they are required, they will be ferretted out, but that there will be no maintenance of constant staff?

Mr David: I would like notice of that question, Sir.

Mr Lee Choon Eng (Queenstown): Is the Chief Secretary prepared to give an opportunity to this House to have a debate on this issue before implementing that decision?

Mr David: I do not think that sufficient reason has been shown, Sir, to justify that.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng (Changi): Mr Speaker, Sir, according to the Chief Secretary's report, the figure for Teochew is 234,000 and that for Hakka is 60,000. Leaving out the Hainanese and Foochow, will the Chief Secretary accept the fact that in this quarter of a million and over population there are many illiterates who cannot write or read in either Chinese or Malay, and therefore they cannot read the daily newspaper? So the only source of information that they can get is either through Radio Malaya or Rediffusion, sitting in a coffee-shop or somewhere else to listen. Since the Chief Secretary has assured us that during an emergency they are going to announce in all the other dialects, why not issue a daily news bulletin for these people so that they can enjoy getting the new bulletins through their own dialects?

Mr David: Sir, I am advised that a person speaking in the Teochew dialect can converse perfectly easily with a person speaking in the Hokkien dialect -

Mr Lee Choon Eng: No.

Mr David: - and that, in fact, 80 per cent of the words used are the same.

Mr Lee Choon Eng: Sir, since the Chief Secretary is not prepared to have a debate, is he aware that this is a very important issue and that it has caused great concern to the four Chinese communities in Singapore?