SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISION (Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 8 of 1959)

10.54 a.m.

The Acting Financial Secretary (Mr Oon Khye Kiang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I have the Governor's recommendation to proceed with the motion; I beg to move.

That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $735,672 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. 8 of 1959.

Sir, the Schedule consists of a list of six applications for supplementary provision amounting to $735,672. The reasons for these supplementary votes are given in detail in the Sessional Paper.

There are two items which involve a substantial sum of money. One of them refers to a revision of salaries of the midwives. The Singapore Midwives' Union originally claimed in early 1956 that these midwives should be on the same salary scale as that of qualified nurses; but this claim could not be accepted by Government and had to be submitted to arbitration in March 1957, in accordance with the Arbitration Agreement executed between the Official and Staff Side of the Civil Service Joint Council. In November 1957 the Tribunal made an award that midwives should be given a substantial increase to their salaries, the exact amount of which was to be negotiated between the Government and the Union and to be effective from 1st February, 1957. As no agreement could be reached after six months' negotiation, the Tribunal was reconvened and fixed the salary on the timescale of $168-8A-200/bar/220-10A-270 in December, 1958.

This salary scale was actually Government's last offer to the Union. The Government and the Union had conscientiously sought to reach a settlement of this dispute during negotiation. It was not possible to agree to pay the midwives at a rate higher than that designed for them and similar grades in the general revision of Civil Service salaries. Any substantial departure would disrupt the overall salary structure of the public service.

The new salary scale gives a very substantial increase from 10 per cent to 27 per cent over the midwives' existing salaries. It compares very favourably with that paid by the City Council and to other grades of Government servant, and compares more than favourably with the salaries which prospective midwives could command from commercial or industrial employers. The additional annually recurrent costs, assuming that all the posts are filled, of paying at the new rate, would be $92,000. There is, again, the additional cost of payment of arrears and Central Provident Fund contributions at the new rate retrospectively from 1st February, 1957. Altogether, $202,000 will be required.

The other big item is the revote of $499,867 to meet the cost to be borne by Government in connection with the Constitution Exposition at Kallang. Under the authority given by the Assembly, a warrant has been issued to cover the expenditure which has beefs incurred.

Sir, I beg to move.

Inche Mohamed Sidik: I second it.

Motion committed to Committee of Supply.

Motion and Schedule considered in Committee of Supply.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

10.59 a.m.

The Chairman: The summary is at page 5.

Head 4-

Question proposed,

"That the sum of $20,000 for Head 4 stand part of the Schedule."

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, may we enquire just what area this railing will enclose? I ask this because I think Members are aware that at the river end of this building there is hardly space to manoeuvre a vehicle between the P.W.D. garage and the storeroom which contains the air-conditioning plant of this building. If we are to take the middle line between the outward ends of the two buildings, it is very unlikely that any vehicles can pass at all. I am just interested in the geometrical configurations that will be involved in the railing of this Building.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Mr Speaker, Sir, as a Member of the Assembly, at least, I would like to know what portion would be enclosed, and how it would be enclosed. It would have been much better if a sketch plan could have been laid before this House so that we could understand the position.

The Chairman: Perhaps the Financial Secretary will inform the House that the railings are meant to follow the present road dividers.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, if I understand the significance of that remark from the Chair, Mr Speaker, I take it that there will be no railings at the river-side of this Building. I believe that the object of delimiting the precincts of this House is to invest the sacred grounds, of which the railings will form the boundary, with some kind of legal sanctity. If, in fact, there is going to be an open gap at one end, then the whole purpose of the railing will be defeated.

Mr M. P. D. Nair: Sir, I can only say something from memory. If I remember correctly, the fencing will come on to the road divider, on the Victoria Memorial Hall and the Civil District Court sides and then go on the same side of the wall of the Assembly building on the other side. We do not expect there will be any difficulty with traffic arrangements. I believe the hon. Member is a Member of the House Committee, and he will have got a copy of the proceedings of the Committee's deliberations. That is all I can tell from memory, Sir, I hope it is right, and the hon. Member may be able to verify from the Minutes which he has received.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, we have natural railings round the Assembly in the form of big buildings surrounding us. I do not know why this $20,000 should be spent. If it is necessary to get a vote of $20,000, the Government should at least have put up a sketch plan showing what they want to do.

The Chief Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, this Assembly has appointed a House Committee, and the House Committee has gone into this question and has made recommendations. I am sure the hon. Member does not suggest that the Members of the House Committee appointed by this Assembly have not done their job properly. Moreover, Sir, I went into the C.P.A. Room just now and found that the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar is a Member of the House Committee.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, we know there is a House Committee. Has the House Committee's Report been submitted to the Members of this Assembly? If it has not, how are we to know what is being done?

Mr Nair: Sir, I would like to speak on this question again. The question of security by fencing the Assembly was discussed in the House Committee, and we felt that there should be railings fixed. It is done in many countries. We have had so many difficulties in the past, because nobody understood the precincts of the Assembly, and the House Committee Members thought it was a very good suggestion. The vote is not the actual cost of putting up the railings. It has been proposed that the old railings which surrounded the Girl Guides' Home will be used and repainted. So this $20,000 is not the cost of putting up the new railings. It is the old railings which are to be erected there and painted. I am sure that if railings are erected outside the Assembly House, the Assembly will look better and dignified.

The Chairman: The Member for Tanjong Pagar may be informed that there is a road divider on the river side as well.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, there is only one more point. The Government is spending a lot of money, and there is another $20,000 more. But will the Government promise to circulate to Members the Minutes of the House Committee and also to give us a sketch plan?

Mr J. M. Jumabhoy: Sir, may I clarify that it is not entirely a Government measure? It is a measure recommended by the House Committee of this Assembly.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, I have been pressing all the time, and there is no satisfactory reply forthcoming. What I want is a sketch plan. Can the Financial Secretary, who is bringing up this vote of $20,000 before us, give a sketch plan to the Members of this House?

Mr Oon Khye Kiang: Sir, I will arrange for a sketch plan to be submitted to Members of this Assembly. With regard to the point raised by the hon. Member for Telok Ayer, this proposal has been very closely examined by the Treasury, and the Treasury is satisfied that this $20,000 is the minimum that can be spent on this project.

Mr Nair: As a Member of the House Committee, I will certainly inform the next meeting of the desire of the hon. Member, and I will recommend that a copy of the sketch plan be circulated to all Members of this Assembly.

Sir Ewen Fergusson: Sir, I think it was stated that the railings were coming from the Girl Guides' Association. I am not quite certain of that. Do we have to get permission from the Girl Guides' Association to remove their railings?

Mr Nair: Sir, the railings were made by the Public Works Department. We thought probably the railings there would be of help. After all, the Girl Guides' Association is a small institution, and we thought there is no need for it to have strong railings.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I do not know, Sir, whether the Minister for Communications and Works (Mr Nair) knows the Girl Guides well. I do not. But the other day I heard some very unpleasant incident which happened to a dancer - a very attractive young lady - who was not properly enclosed!

Question put, and agreed to.

The sum of $20,000 for Head 4 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 11-

The sum of $3,300 for Head 11 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 20-

The sum of $900 for Head 20 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 49-

The sum of $202,000 for Head 49 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 57-

Question proposed,

"That the sum of $15,000 for Head 57 stand part of the Schedule."

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, I am in favour of increasing the general revenue of the Colony by selling new stamps at the appropriate time. But I would like to enquire from the Minister concerned what the motif in these stamps will be, not from a purely philatelic interest in the matter, but purely from the point of view of the politician who has been associated with the constitutional discussions. We do not want the constitutional progress, which is a limited one, presented in such a way that it is the end of the political road along which we wish to travel. It should rather try to convey to the minds of the people of this island that this is a stepping stone to further and greater political progress. Therefore, the motif in the series of 10, 12, 20, 25, 30 and 50 cents stamps should bear a relation to: (1) the limited constitutional progress we have acquired; (2) the ambition and desire of the people to be free; and (3) if the Government is able to think of it, the ways and means by which such ambition and desire can ultimately be fulfilled.

The Chief Minister: Sir, the motif is not flesh but a stone lion.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Sir, I am not interested in making a repartee to that. The Chief Minister is a particularly unhappy man at this moment because his counterpart in the Federation has resigned and he is still holding on. I think he is feeling a sense of guilt. But I would like to ask the Minister who has been responsible, if not the present incumbent of the post, then his predecessor who has been so quietly ousted while the people of Singapore are revelling at the Singapore Constitution Exposition in order that they may not notice that he has been relegated to the Back benches of the Government to which he did not belong - to explain what the motif is. The point I want to make is that the purpose of the new Constitution should be explained to the people, in these new stamps.

Mr Francis Thomas (Nominated): I should like, Sir, to speak as one who has a great interest in artistic and cultural matters. The stone lion which is featured on the new stamps is appropriately called "Singa". He derives through Indonesia, probably from a Hindu origin. But he also has what is to my eye markedly Chinese characteristics. In other words, he has the qualities of all the major Asian cultures which are met with in Singapore. He is also a very charming personality. He has one paw upraised in goodwill, as though he is going to shake hands with you, and a smile on his face; and he looks a most happy and charming animal. I am sure he will be a credit to Singapore, as representing a happy fusion of different Asian cultures all in this one territory.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: There are a series of six sets of stamps, Sir. As I see from the note accompanying the vote, there will be 10, 12, 20, 25, 30 and 50 cents stamps. Surely we are not going to be entertained with stone lions on all the six stamps?

Mr Francis Thomas: I take responsibility for this lion, Sir, since he was engendered in the days when I occupied the Ministry. To the best of my recollection, he appears on all the stamps with the same background but with a change of colour. The background is what we call the civic centre of Singapore. It is subject to finalisation by the expert draftsmen who produce stamps. The general principle is that you see the civic centre of Singapore - the Assembly House, the Courts of Justice, the City Council, and, I expect, a little bit of the Victoria Memorial Hall as well.

The Chief Minister: Sir, the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar suggested that there should be a stepping stone now. What better stepping stone can there be than the stone image of the Singapore lion?

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: It is interesting indeed that from the stamps debate we have now been led to quite an important political issue, and that is whether the Lennox-Boyd Constitution is a stepping stone or should it be advertised now, especially as the exhibition is going on? The P.A.P. are very hearty supporters of the Singapore Constitution Exposition in which they are taking part, and they have extended an invitation to even all the Mayors in the Federation to come to Singapore to enjoy the Singapore Constitution Exposition. That shows how much support the P.A.P. have given to the Lennox-Boyd Constitution. At least to me this constitution is not a stepping stone but a stumbling block to building the unity of Malaya, Singapore and the Borneo territory.

Question put, and agreed to. The sum of $15,000 for Head 57 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 14-

The sum of $499,867 for Head 14 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

The sum of $735,672 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 $735,672 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. 8 of 1959.