SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISION (Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 16 of 1959)

11.15 a.m.

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

That this Assembly resolves that the sum of $13,500 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure and for the services specified in Schedule D contained in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 16 of 1959.

Sir, in its White Paper on Malayanisation Policy, the Government stated that a complete reorganisation of the Civil Service was in course of being planned. One of the main objects was to ensure that as many Malayans as possible should be enabled, either by promotion within the service or by recruitment to the service, to fill posts vacated by expatriate officers. The general basis for the complete reorganisation of the public service has been agreed as follows:

(i) The large number of salary scales in use for officers in Divisions I-III should be replaced by 4 key salary scales for men and 4 key scales for women appropriate to candidates of different academic attainments. There should, in addition, be a small number of key salary scales to which officers, after their first appointment, could be promoted.

(ii) A new simplified salary structure for Division IV officers, consisting of 17 key scales, which had been agreed with the Staff Side of the Singapore Civil Service Joint Council in 1957 and implemented for the great majority of Division IV officers should be applied to the remaining few (except the Police) who had been omitted from the main revision for various reasons.

A number of these proposals have been completed and approved by the Assembly. Hon. Members will recollect that the reorganisation of the General Clerical Services was implemented in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 14 of 1957 and approved by the Assembly on the 25th April, 1957. The revision and rationalisation of salary scales in Division IV as contained in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 43 of 1957 was approved on 16th October, 1957. The General Executive Service Scheme was contained in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 5 of 1958 and approved by the Assembly on the 24th April, 1958. The revision of the salaries of Revenue Officers in the Customs Department in Division IV was implemented in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 23 of 1958 and approved by the Assembly on 13th August, 1958.

It is now proposed to implement the revision of salary scales of the other categories in Division IV in respect of:

(a) Officers in the technical grades.

(b) Open vote employees such as

(i) Tan Tock Seng employees, who are 604 in number,

(ii) School servants and others in aided schools, who are 701 in number, and

(iii) Government employees, who number about 200.

These were left out in the original review in 1957 referred to above pending examination of their status. The details of these revisions are set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 and Schedule A of the Sessional Paper, and have been agreed with the Staff Side of the Joint Council.

The Customs Department is mainly staffed by officers who can seek their advancement in that department alone, i.e. they are not in the Common User Services. it is not necessary that they should have professional qualifications and, for this reason, there is no special difficulty in devising Schemes of Service which allow able men to reach the higher posts. They bear comparison with officers in the General Executive, General Clerical Officer and General Clerical Assistant Services in respect of the nature of the duties. On this basis, comparable Schemes of Service have accordingly been agreed with representative staff associations, namely:

The Customs Officers Service,

The Revenue Officers (Senior) Service,

The Revenue Officers (Lower) Service.

The salary scales used in these three Services are those used in their counterpart Common User Services.

At the same time, an extensive examination of the duties of Customs Officers was undertaken, and it is anticipated that by a more economical use of Customs Officers a considerable saving in expenditure will be possible in future. No additional funds are, however, required.

Although a complete revision of the salaries of all medical personnel is contemplated, it has been found expedient to deal first with Nurses, Hospital Assistants and related grades. An extensive survey of the working conditions and terms of service of these grades was carried out in 1957 as a result of which it became apparent that a very considerable reorganisation was necessary. For many years prior to that date, a grade of officer known as Hospital Assistant had been employed on a multiplicity of duties connected with hospital work. Their duties included nursing, dispensing, laboratory work, hospital administration, storekeeping, etc. It has been found under modern conditions that it is impossible for a man liable to such varied employment to become proficient at any one duty, and it is therefore decided that the Hospital Assistants Service should be broken up and its members transferred, so far as possible, to the Specialised Services appropriate to the duties they were actually performing. Some Hospital Assistants nevertheless remain who cannot be transferred to Specialised Services on account of differences in training.

The services to which Hospital Assistants are to be transferred are those which deal with laboratory work, dispensing and nursing. At the same time, as the reorganisation of the Hospital Assistants Service is effected, it is also desirable to reorganise the services to which they are to be transferred. One of these services, the Nursing Service,, is closely related to the Assistant Nurses, Midwives and other Services. It has thus become desirable to revise the salaries and Schemes of all these related Services in one operation. In the event, it has been possible to come to agreement on new salaries and on detailed Schemes of Service for:

Nursing Sisters

Laboratory Technicians

Public Health Inspectors

Dispensing Assistants

Midwives

Dental Technicians

Dental Nurses

Assistant Nurses

Dental Assistants, and

Hospital Assistants (the residue who cannot be transferred to other Services).

In respect of the above reorganisation, in most cases, there will be long-term economies when recruitment and promotion is made on the lower salary scales, but from the immediate point of view there are additional costs. In most cases, there are equivalent offset savings and, in all, supplementary provision of $13,500 only is required. The details are set out in Schedule D.

With this development considerable progress has been made in implementing the decision to reorganise the Civil Service. It has however not been possible to finalise negotiations in respect of other sections of the public service which are now in progress. Other proposals will no doubt be considered at the next appropriate moment.

Sir, I beg to move. it.

Inche Mohamed Sidik Bin Haji Abdul Hamid: Sir, I second

Motion committed to Committee of Supply.

Motion and Schedule considered in Committee of Supply.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

11.25 a.m.

Inche Mohamed Sidik Bin Haji Abdul Hamid: Schedule-

The Chairman: Schedule D, at page 25. Unless any hon. Member wishes to speak on any particular Head, I propose to take all the Heads en bloc.

Mr John Ede (Tanglin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to speak on Head 49.

The sums stated for the Heads stated below ordered to stand part of the Schedule. Head Title Total $ 8 Chief Secretary 10 (Token) 9 Broadcasting 10 (Token) 15 Police 7,400 (Token) 16 Printing Office 10 (Token) 17 Prisons 10 (Token) 27 Customs and Excise 10 (Token) 31 Agricultural 10 (Token) 34 Fisheries 10 (Token) 37 Marine 10 (Token) 40 Trade Marks Registry 230 41 Veterinary 10 (Token) 43 Land and District Offices 10 (Token) 44 District Councils 10 (Token) 45 Survey 10 (Token) ------ Total to be voted $7,750 ------

Head 49-

Question proposed, "That the sum of $2,500 for Head 49 stand part of the Schedule."

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to enquire whether I am correct in thinking that whereas up till now male nurses and female nurses have been, generally speaking, on the same salary scale, it is now proposed that male nurses be paid a higher salary than female nurses. I base my assumption on what is contained in Schedule C, page 22, for example, where at present both male and female nurses, or assistant nurses are on the same salary scale of $120 to $190, there is now a differentiation as between male and female nurses, for example, from $170 to $330 per month in respect of male nurses, and $160 to $270 per month in respect of female nurses. There is also a differentiation, if you turn to page 19 - male nurses, as they will now be called, and staff nurses on page 23, it appears they are now on the same scale, and there is to be a differentiation in favour of the male nurses.

Sir, we would like to know the reason which prompted the Government to make this differentiation. We cannot accept the situation that female nurses, of all people, should be paid less than their masculine counterpart. When one talks of nurses, one naturally thinks of female nurses - the care, the attention and the devotion which women above all can give to the sick and the suffering. I think there is no question that male nurses come second in our minds as being employed for only a limited number of specific tasks. In this respect, therefore, we oppose this particular Head as being thoroughly wrong and unjust to the devoted band of women who form the major part of the nursing services.

11.30 a.m.

Mr David: Sir, the matter raised by the hon. Member is one which is an issue of principle and is to be found throughout the salary scales in the public service below a certain level, and it is not based on any lower regard for the woman officer as opposed to the male officer. But it is based primarily, as I understand it, on the responsibilities which attach to the male member of the family in maintaining a family as against his female counterpart. Until such time as the principle itself is amended and equal pay for equal work is accepted in the Government service in Singapore, I do not see that there is any reason to single out any particular service in order to make an exception to the principle.

Mr John Ede: Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to inquire from the Hon. the Chief Secretary whether it is not a fact that up till now there has been equal pay for equal service as between male and female nurses as shown in this paper.

Mr David: On that, Sir, it was made clear by the Hon. the Financial Secretary in moving his motion, that this has been a cleaning-up exercise in order to put all scales appropriately in line with one another, and this has been part of the negotiations with the Staff side of the Singapore Joint Council and is agreed with the Staff side.

Mr John Ede: Sir, the Financial Secretary says this is a cleaning-up. This is discriminating against the female nurse - a new departure for which we can see no justification.

Mr David: Sir, I can only say that the hon. Member is entitled to his own opinion.

Mr Lim Cher Kheng: Sir, in this item, the explanatory note is quite clear - "This Unit would perform static guard and escort duties." And in the last part of the note can be seen the words, "It is proposed at present not to retrench those Special Constables who would not be absorbed into the Guard and Escort . . ."-

The Chairman: Order. We are on Head 49, Medical and Health. I cannot imagine that police constables are male nurses!

Mr R. Jumabhoy: Sir, with regard to the explanation given by the Hon. the Chief Secretary in reply to my colleague, the hon. Member for Tanglin, is it not possible that the words "Male Nurses" be changed to something else? They sound very awkward. If we can expect service from a nurse, it is a female nurse and not a male nurse. If any difference in salary is to be kept, I think a wise move on the part of the Government will be to change from "Male Nurses" to something else for males.

Mr David: Sir, as far as I am aware, it is only in the mental hospital that male nurses are in fact employed. The hon. Member is, of course, entitled to his own opinion as to which sex he prefers in his own nursing attendance. I would only say, on the point he raises, that I think it will be a pity if this Assembly should concern itself with details of this kind in matters that have been negotiated and agreed with the Staff side.

Question put, and agreed to.

The sum of $2,500 for Head 49 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 58-

The sum of $3,240 for Head 58 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

Head 60-

The sum of $10 for Head 60 ordered to stand part of the Schedule.

The sum of $13,500 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 $13,500 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure and for the services specified in Schedule D contained in Sessional Paper No. Cmd. 16 of 1959.