SINGAPORE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Legislative Assembly of Singapore · 4 March 1959 · 1st Legislative Assembly

Official Report, 4 March 1959, Vol 9, Issue 7 · Open in the reader (summaries, search, filters)

E. B. David E. P. Shanks Francis Thomas Goh Chew Chua John Ede Lee Choon Eng Lee Kuan Yew Lim Yew Hock M. P. D. Nair R. C. H. Lim R. Jumabhoy

Order read for resumed consideration of Bill in Committee.

Resumption of Debate on Question (3rd March, 1959), "That the words proposed to be left out, be left out."

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

10.04 a.m.

The Chairman: In clause 27 the original amendment proposed by the Member for Tanjong Pagar was,

In page 11, line 14, at end, to add- - "; or

(f) open or maintain, for the purpose of any activity directed towards promoting or procuring the election of a candidate at any election, any office in any room, building or any place whatsoever, whether open or enclosed, within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station on polling day.".

An amendment to the amendment has been proposed by the Member for Queenstown,

In lines 4 and 5, to leave out ", whether open or enclosed, within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station on polling day" and insert "in Singapore, whether open or enclosed, on polling day.".

Question "That the words proposed to be left out, be left out," again proposed.

Mr Lee Choon Eng (Queenstown): Mr Chairman, Sir, yesterday at the moment of interruption I was speaking on my amendment on the question of within a radius of 200 yards prohibiting the setting up of an election office. The Chief Minister has now an amendment which serves the purpose of my amendment, and in order to allow the Chief Minister to move his amendment, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.

Amendment to the amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The Chief Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have given thought to the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Queenstown. I am in sympathy with him in regard to the fears that he has if such an amendment is not moved. I have also given consideration to the point raised by the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar that it is necessary that there should be some point or other where a candidate or his election agent shall have contact with the polling clerks and all the other assistants on duty at the polling station on polling day. Therefore, I would like to move an amendment which will satisfy both sides of the House, and I would like to hand to you, Sir, typed copies of my proposed amendment.

The Chairman: Perhaps the Hon. the Chief Minister would like to read it first.

The Chief Minister: Sir, I beg to move,

In page 4, lines 4 and 5, to delete "within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station" and add a proviso-

"Provided that every candidate or his election agent may open or maintain in his electoral division one office which shall not be within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station and the address of such office shall be registered by the candidate or his election agent with the Returning Officer before polling day."

Typed copies of the amendment to the amendment handed in.

The Chairman: The amendment is in order. Copies are available, and they will be distributed.

Copies distributed to hon. Members.

The Chairman: Would the Chief Minister like to comment on it any further before I propose the Question?

The Chief Minister: No, Sir.

The Chairman: The original amendment by the Member for Tanjong Pagar is as appears in paragraph (1) on the Order Paper. The first amendment to the amendment proposed by the Chief Minister is:

In page 4, lines 4 and 5, to leave out "within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station".

The second amendment is:

In line 5, to add-

I will propose the first amendment. The Question is, "That the words proposed to be left out, be left out", and honourable Members will be permitted to range over the second amendment in the debate.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, my view is just that this amendment is completely unnecessary. Considerable thought was given to it when we moved the original amendment, and our amendment was agreed to by the Government. Yesterday, as a result of a bright idea by the Member for Queenstown, he wanted to blot out all election offices during polling day. I then brought up the difficulties which candidates would encounter if they had no place to meet. The Chief Minister then proposed to resolve the difficulties, and save face all round by allowing one election office. I see no reason why election offices should be limited in this way. It is no more than usual for each candidate to maintain one election office for each polling district or division. The average division has about four polling districts, and I do not see the slightest objection to any candidate maintaining four election offices or as many election offices as there are in polling divisions. I would therefore suggest to the Chief Minister that our considered opinion, before the Member for Queenstown upset the general agreement on the subject, was, and still is, the best opinion, and this amendment is unnecessary.

Mr John Ede (Tanglin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to add to what the Member for Tanjong Pagar said. I would point out that particularly in the rural constituencies, which cover a very wide area, one office is certainly insufficient for the purpose and it would cause very great inconvenience to the candidates concerned. It might be all right in a city constituency where the areas are small and distances are not great. But in the case of rural areas, this is a considerable disadvantage to the candidate and this amendment does not meet the point at all. It could possibly be all right if we altered this amendment to "an office or offices", but as it stands I do not think it would be acceptable to this side of the House.

The Chief Minister: Sir, I appreciate the point raised by the hon. Member for Tanglin. I am sure that his objection will not be so great if, instead of having just one office in a whole electoral division, it is permitted for a candidate or his election agent to open or maintain one office in each polling district.

I will have no objection to it if he wants to move an amendment to this effect.

10.15 a.m.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: The Chief Minister would have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had not tried to retrieve the Member for Queenstown from the predicament in which he placed both his Government and himself yesterday by moving all kinds of gratuitous amendments at the last stage. If in fact the Chief Minister said, "Well, that is right, there should be as many election offices as there are polling districts", then why move this amendment at all? Since we are all so inextricably involved, by all means change the words "electoral division" to "electoral polling district".

Mr John Ede: May I take the advantage to move my amendment?

The Chairman: I was just going to suggest that we deal with the first amendment and then, when we come to the second amendment, the hon. Member's amendment could be an amendment to the second amendment.

We will deal with the first amendment, that is,

In lines 4 and 5, to leave out "within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station".

Question, "That the words proposed to be left out, be left out," put, and agreed to.

The Chairman: There is now the complementary amendment, in line 5, at the end, to add the proviso.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move an amendment to the amendment to the amendment,

In line 3, after "office" to insert "for each polling district".

I would just like to say, Mr Speaker, that I am very grateful to you for your assistance in what has become a combined operation, and I do hope that this will now meet with the support of all sides of the House.

Question proposed, "That the words proposed to be inserted, be there inserted."

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I do not want to be the nigger in the wood-pile in this business, Mr Speaker, Sir, but I can imagine the discomfiture in which the Government is now placed as a result of the adventures of the Member for Queenstown. If we do this - "may open or maintain in his electoral division one office for each polling district, which..."- then the grammar goes wrong in the second limb of the amendment, and we will have to add further amendments that "the address or addresses of such office or offices shall be registered." All this would be completely unnecessary, and I do say this is unnecessary if the Hon. the Chief Minister will just scrub out both his own amendment and the Member for Queenstown's amendment, and leave the amendment as I have proposed and as agreed with the Attorney-General.

The Chairman: I trust the proposer of the amendment has grasped the point made by the Member for Tanjong Pagar?

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, it is my intention to move a second amendment,

After "of" where it secondly occurs, to insert "every",

so that the phrase will read "every such office". I think this possibly meets the point of the Member for Tanjong Pagar.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I would just like to enquire from the Attorney-General whether the phrase "polling district" is a term of art in the Elections Ordinance, otherwise we shall be involved in further difficulties. I still maintain that if - I know saving faces is a very important operation-

The Chairman: Order. I think the hon. Member has made that point on several occasions in the immediate past. Let us try and solve this problem.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Will the Attorney-General inform us whether "polling district" is a term of art in the Ordinance, and if so, where will we find that definition?

The Chief Secretary (Mr E. B. David): Sir, if the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar will refer to section 2 of the Singapore Legislative Assembly Elections Ordinance, Cap. 53, he will find the definition of "polling district", and it reads:

"polling district" means a part of an electoral division subdivided under section 9 of this Ordinance;.

Mr R. C. H. Lim (Nominated): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I suggest that those words to be included by way of an amendment should not come after the word "office" but rather after the word "maintain"? Therefore, the amended amendment should read as follows:

"Provided that every candidate or his election agent may open or maintain for each polling district in his electoral division one office which shall not be.."

etc. Sir, the word "which" would then qualify "office" and not "district".

10.30 a.m.

Mr John Ede: Sir, I am prepared to withdraw my amendment if the Hon. the Chief Minister will withdraw his, and we go back to the first amendment which I think is perfectly satisfactory. I only raised this matter in the first place because I was not satisfied that there should be one office in each electoral division. My own view here is that the amendment as it stood originally was perfectly satisfactory.

The Chairman: The original amendment by the Chief Minister to the amendment was to add a proviso reading:

Since which an amendment has been moved in line 3, after "office" to insert "for each polling district", and it has been indicated that in line 5, after "of" where it secondly occurs, an amendment will be proposed to insert "every". Hon. Members have the proposed proviso before them. It has been proposed in line 3, after "office" to insert "for each polling district".

Question put, "That the words proposed to be inserted, be there inserted."

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Division, Sir.

The Committee divided: Ayes, 19; Noes, 4; Absent, 8. Ayes. Noes. David, E. B. Ahmad bin Ibrahim. Ede, John. Goh Chew Chua. Jumabhoy, J. M. Lazarous, A. R. Jumabhoy, R. Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Choon Eng. Lim Choon Mong. Absent. Lim, R. C. H. Abdul Hamid bin Haji Jumat. Lim Koon Teck. Braga, A. J. Lim Yew Hock. Fergusson, Ewen. Mak Pak Shee. Goh Tong Liang. Nair, M. P. D. Lim Cher Kheng. Oon Khye Kiang. Mohamed Sidik bin Haji Abdul Hamid. Shanks, E. P. Lim Ching Siong. Soh Ghee Soon. Seah Peng Chuan. Tan Siak Kew. Tan Theng Chiang. Tan, William. Thomas, Francis. Wong Foo Nam.

Question accordingly agreed to.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg formally to move,

In line 5, after "of" where it secondly occurs, to insert "every".

Question, "That the word proposed to be inserted, be there inserted," put, and agreed to.

Amendment to the amendment to the amendment accordingly agreed to.

The Chairman: The amendment, as amended, to the amendment now is to add a proviso at the end reading:

"Provided that every candidate or his election agent may open or maintain in his electoral division one office for each polling district, which shall not be within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station and the address of every such office shall be registered by the candidate or his election agent with the Returning Officer before polling day."

Question proposed.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, of all the dangerous operation one can indulge in this Assembly, the most dangerous is that of being caught and frozen in an unexpected and unpremeditated posture. I am quite sure the Attorney-General must have been aghast at himself for saying "Aye" - thereby including into the legislation of this Colony a clause which is manifestly inelegant. I ask him honestly to ask his Government whether they ought not to save face by withdrawing this amendment and going back to the original amendment as it stood, or at least try and accommodate the hon. Mr R. C. H. Lim on his point that "which" in fact qualifies not "district" but "office".

The Chief Minister: Mr Speaker, Sir, that amendment was proposed as a result of consultations with you, and it was your suggestion to the hon. Member for Tanglin that it should be moved in that manner. We have therefore accepted your advice, and we do not think it necessary that we should doubt your advice in this matter. We have, therefore, voted accordingly. The hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar would like to say that I need not have to move this amendment to his amendment, but I did so in order to correct something which it is said was out of order.

Sir, when the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar saw me and said that he proposed to move certain amendments to this particular Bill and that as he had already missed the opportunity to submit notices of such amendments, he asked me whether the Government would give its consent to allow him to move such amendments when the Bill was to have been taken through the Committee stage at the last February sitting. I agreed but it was then found that his amendments were not properly and elegantly worded, and the Attorney-General therefore came to the rescue and tried his best to help the poor Member out of his dilemma. Now it would seem that after the Government has tried all it can to help the Member polish up the phraseology of his amendments, it is now thrown back at the Government that we should not have done this or we should not have done that.

The Chairman: Order. Perhaps I could allay the fears of the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar by saying that after "office" a comma will be inserted, and so will a comma be inserted after "district".

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: I do not know if it is correct or proper for any Minister to do it. But I should think that whatever the merits or demerits of your office, Mr Speaker, Sir, defects in legislation certainly should not be laid at the foot of your august Chair.

The Chairman: I think it was all done in fun!

Amendment, as amended, to the amendment agreed to.

The Chairman: Now we have the original amendment, as amended, which reads:

In page 11, line 14, at end, to add- "; or

Provided that every candidate or his election agent may open or maintain in his electoral division one office, for each polling district, which shall not be within a radius of two hundred yards of any polling station and the address of every such office shall be registered by the candidate or his election agent with the Returning Officer before polling day.

Original amendment, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 27, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 28 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to move an amendment which is intended to be a new clause to be inserted after clause 14.

The Chairman: Order. It is a matter of procedure. I think the first thing the hon. Member should do is just to "bring up" the new clause, and perhaps read the marginal title.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: As you please, Mr Speaker, Sir, I formally move that the principal Ordinance is hereby amended by adding immediately after section 34 thereof-

The Chairman: Order. All the hon. Member need say at this stage is that he begs to introduce a new clause intituled and the marginal title is there for him to read: "Polling day at general election to be Public Holiday." Then there will be a motion by the hon. Member that the clause be read a Second time. Standing Order 51(7) reads:

'On the title of any new clause being read by the Clerk, the clause shall be deemed to have been read a first time. The question shall then be proposed "That the clause be read a second time"; if this is agreed to, amendments may then be proposed to the new clause. The final question to be proposed shall be "That the clause [as amended] be added to the Bill".'

To enable the Clerk to read the title of the new clause, the procedure is that the hon. Member must "bring up" the new clause formally.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, in accordance with Standing Order 51 (7) I formally bring up a new clause in respect of which the marginal note reads, "Polling day at general election to be Public Holiday." New clause (after clause 14)- 'New Section The principal Ordinance is hereby amended by adding 34A. immediately after section 34 thereof the following new section:- "Polling day 34A.-(l) Polling day at any general election shall be at general a Public Holiday as though it had been so expressly election to appointed in addition to the days mentioned in Schedule be Public A to the Holidays Ordinance. Holiday. (2) Nothing in section 4 or section 7 of the Holidays Cap. 270. Ordinance shall affect the performance on such polling day of any act or thing relating to public offices and departments concerned with elections or of the duty to vote at such elections imposed by section 41A of this Ordinance.".'.

Brought up, and read the First time.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, it is generally agreed that if there is to be compulsory voting, there must also be a public holiday on polling day. The Government has indicated that it proposes to have a public holiday declared by His Excellency the Governor, exercising his power under the Public Holidays Ordinance. However that may be, Sir, we must remember that this piece of legislation which we are pushing through this House is not only valid for this one general election but also subsequent general elections. Unless we have a proviso in the Elections Ordinance that polling day shall be a public holiday, it is always open to a subsequent Government without breaking an undertaking, because none would have been given, not to have a public holiday on polling day. I therefore propose to move this amendment to include, after clause 14, the proviso ensuring that polling day shall, in any general election, either the one we all expect in May or any other subsequent ones, automatically be a public holiday. Sir, I move, "That the clause be read a Second time."

Mr R. Jumabhoy (Telok Ayer): Mr Speaker, Sir, am I correct in commenting on this clause? When the Bill was moved for the Second Reading I emphasised that polling day should be a public holiday. In the past many shops, department stores and business houses remained open, and it was most difficult for employees to get out and vote. The argument now is that the employers will be forced to allow their employees to go and vote. But I do not think that is quite sufficient in the present dangerous state of Singapore under the present Government. Sir, we have to think of females who are compelled to vote when their breadwinners are in their offices working. Grown-up daughters and beautiful wives will find it difficult to go out and vote by themselves without an escort. The thing is this. If there is a public holiday it will be easier for the female folk and the weak to get assistance from their men folk who could accompany them to go and do their duty in, this very important election, when this Government must get out permanently.

Mr E. P. Shanks (Attorney-General): Mr Speaker, Sir, at last the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar has got me to my feet. The form of this new clause that he has proposed I have agreed. But he knows full well that what I have agreed is only the form. I have told him that if a new clause in this form is put into the law it will do what he wants it to do. But I dislike this new clause for two reasons. First, it is, at least for the forthcoming general election, quite unnecessary. An undertaking has been given that polling day will be declared a holiday, and secondly, I dislike this device of seeking to amend a not uncomplicated Holidays Ordinance by putting something into this Elections Ordinance. If the hon. Member were satisfied with the arrangements that will be made for this general election but fearful of what some future Government may do, he should, in my view, introduce a Bill to amend the Holidays Ordinance, and not seek to amend the Holidays Ordinance by the by-blow of some not immediately essential or desirable amendment to the Elections Ordinance. It seems to me that we shall only be storing up trouble for the future if we persist in altering the law haphazardly by these curious cross-references which in practice will, I am quite sure, be liable to be overlooked and cause endless trouble.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am sorry to have got the Attorney-General to his feet to meet my argument, but I think he can at least see that an amendment is necessary if subsequent Governments are to be bound. We can always accept his Government's undertaking, but no subsequent Government has yet come about nor given an undertaking. It may believe that the proper form to maintain legislative elegance and neatness is to amend the Holidays Ordinance, but also he knows that, if a private Member moves a Bill to amend the Ordinance, it must automatically go into Select Committee. It will never be pushed through before this Assembly is over. And I suggest to him that if at a subsequent date his draftsmen consider this to be a piece of inelegance, then the Government that is elected as a result of these provisions which we are enacting can always tidy up the Ordinance before the next body of consolidated laws are issued. I would therefore ask him to consider, or at least the Chief Minister to consider, whether it is not wiser, politically, to allow the amendment, and then at a subsequent date to get the draftsmen to tidy it up.

The Chairman: On a point of procedure, perhaps the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar may be interested to know that a private Member's Bill does not necessarily go to Select Committee, and the Bill mentioned by the hon. Member would be a private Member's Bill. It would not be a private Bill. There is a distinction. A private Bill affecting personal interests must go to Select Committee. It is only a question of procedure.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Whatever it is, Mr Speaker, Sir, you will realise that it is not possible for me, unless I get a Certificate of Urgency from the Governor, to rush it through.

The Chairman: I am not arguing. I am just pointing out a point of procedure. That is all.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, the Attorney General may be right. The proper thing to do would be to amend the Holidays Ordinance. But the life of the Government is only for a few days. There is no time for any Member to move a private Bill. In view of the coming election and in view of my suggestion to give escort to female voters, it is very essential that, as a special thing for this election, we pass this Bill in the interest of the public. I am sure the Government is not going to obstruct that.

11.00 a.m.

The Chief Minister: Sir, I am afraid, as usual, the hon. Member for Telok Ayer has failed to grasp the real meaning of the exchange of words between the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar and the Hon. Attorney General. It is just a question of how to achieve this - whether it should be by amendment to this Bill or amendment to the Holidays Ordinance. The Government has stated a long time ago, Sir, that polling day will be a public holiday and I am happy to note that the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar does not doubt Government's intention. What the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar seeks to achieve is that it shall be so stated in some Ordinance that polling day for future general elections should also be a public holiday. This is a matter in which I have to rely on the advice of the Attorney General. He advises me that that is not the proper way to achieve it. And now, I hear from the hon. Member for Tanjong Pagar that it would be better if the intention could be stated in some form or other so that it is clear and that if the intention is made clear in this Bill, subsequent Governments can have it amended at a later date.

In view of that, Sir, we are not going to oppose his amendment.

Question put, and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time and added to the Bill.

New clause (after clause 17)- 'Amendment Subsection (1) of section 46 of the principal of Ordinance is hereby amended-section 46. (a) by deleting the words "and the counterfoils of the ballot papers; and" appearing in the eighth and ninth lines thereof and substituting therefor a semi-colon; (b) by inserting immediately after paragraph (b) thereof the following new paragraph:- "(c) the counterfoils of the ballot papers; and"; and (c) by re-lettering paragraph -(c) thereof as paragraph -(d) .'.-[Mr E. B. David]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Mr David: Sir, I beg to move, "That the clause be read a Second time."

This clause, Sir, is necessary to implement the provisions of clause 17 of the amending Bill and is connected with the amendment I moved to that clause previously in connection with retaining the marked copies of the register of electors.

Under section 46 (1) of the principal Ordinance, the presiding officer in each polling station is required, as soon as practicable after the close of the polls, to make up three separate packets and to affix seals thereto. The first package contains the unused and spoilt ballot papers placed together; the second package contains both the marked copies of the register of electors and the counter-foils of the ballot papers; and the third package contains the tendered votes list. Since it is now provided under this amending Bill that the marked copies of the register of electors should be opened and retained by the Returning Officer in order to check who has or who has not voted, it is desirable that there should be separate packets in respect of the marked copies of the register of electors and of the counterfoils of the ballot papers. The object of this new clause is to make provision accordingly.

Question put, and agreed to.

Clause read a Second time and added to the Bill.

The Chairman: Consequential amendments will be made in the numbers of clauses consequential on the addition of two new clauses.

Bill reported with amendments.

Third Reading

Mr Speaker: Third Reading, what day?

Mr David: Now, Sir. Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill, as amended, be now read the Third time."

Mr Nair: I second it.

Question proposed.

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, I do not know whether I am in order - please correct me if I am not - in making a general observation. It is in the interest of all the Parties contesting the elections. This is what I want to say.

Some of the rich candidates or rich Parties or those who can afford to buy votes may try an indecent way of buying votes. A voter does not place his vote in the booth. He carries it with him and later on the one who has succeeded in buying votes may throw in a bunch of ballot papers at a time.

My suggestion to the administration is that they must keep an eye on the voter putting his vote into the box and that he does not put in more than one ballot paper. In the past the booth is closed on three sides. Nobody knows what the voter does - whether he throws in one paper - his own voting paper - or a bunch of papers. My suggestion is that the police and the person in the booth should see that no malpractice of this nature is attempted by anyone.

11.06 a.m.

Mr Francis Thomas: Sir, I want to ask the hon. Member for Telok Ayer this question. Is he proposing that there should be a policeman to watch the marking of the ballot by the voter? It appears to be, from what he is saying. I can hardly believe that it is his intention that the police should stand over the voter to see that he votes one way or another.

Mr David: Sir, in reply to the hon. Member for Telok Ayer, the procedure, as I understand it, which already operates is as follows. The voter, after his name has been checked on the list of voters, is issued with a ballot paper. He takes that ballot paper into the polling booth where he marks it in any way he thinks fit and out of the view of anybody else. When he comes out of the booth he is required to put the ballot paper into the ballot box, and therefore there can be no question of ballot papers being popped in or removed from the polling station. They are only issued once to each voter and he is required to put the ballot paper into the ballot box.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill, as amended, accordingly read the Third time and passed.

Source: Singapore Parliament Official Report (Hansard) for 4 March 1959. Republished on SGParliament.