PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION BILL

Debate on Second Reading resumed.

7.06 p.m.

Mr Ong Chang Sam (Choa Chu Kang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I fully support my colleague, the Minister for Home Affairs, who has clearly stated the aims of the Prevention of Corruption Bill. Although previously in Singapore there were provisions for the prevention of corruption, the Ordinance and its provisions are now out of date and not applicable. Therefore, it is very necessary to amend it and make it a more effective legislation, to plug the loopholes so that we can eradicate corruption in the public services.

We have fully studied the 1950 Ordinance of the Federation of Malaya, and it can be said that we have incorporated in our Bill the merits of the Prevention of Corruption Ordinances of other countries. Although we cannot say that our Bill is perfect, it can be said that, on the side of the Government, we have tried our best. Therefore, with the passing of this Bill, we can fully implement Government policy in this respect. The eradication of corruption is one of our programmes set out during the election. And today's Second Reading of this Bill indicates that we are trying to fulfil our promise. We are determined to eradicate corruption. Previously, in the eyes of the people of Singapore, the public service was a corrupt and inefficient bureaucratic machinery. Because of this, bureaucracy is just a by-product of corruption. Whenever someone went to the Government office, more often than not they experienced some unnecessary difficulty and trouble. Sometimes the dishonest public servants referred them to some other department instead of their own department, and said that such a thing was not workable. Therefore, the people under those circumstances had to offer bribes so that everything could be solved. Even then it was not practical, and they would try some other ways to solve the problem. Therefore, in the eyes of the majority of the people, the Government machinery was just a place of exploitation on a large scale. I do not mean to say, Mr Speaker, Sir, that in the Government service every member was corrupt and that he tried to oppress the people. There were also many clean, honest and able officers, but they were smirched by the corrupt ones. Since the P.A.P. Government came into office, the atmosphere of corruption is now very much less noticeable, because the corrupt officers have realised that the P.A.P. Government would not tolerate such illegal practices existing in the Government; and, secondly, the people are courageous enough to convey their grievances to their representatives who will take effective steps to look into the matter. Therefore, these irresponsible officers at present do not so openly try to take too much advantage. It does not mean that the problem of corruption does not exist in the present Government service. There are some officers who still continue with their illegal practices. To these people, we will take unsympathetic steps.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the aim of this Bill is mainly to extend the power of investigation and to widen the definition of "corruption". The corrupt people previously used to take too much advantage of the loopholes in our law, so much so that the Government were unable to take steps against them. The provisions in this Bill are practical and essential. Only thus can we deal with corruption in the Government service.

Our Minister for Home Affairs has drawn the attention of this House to clause 11. This clause deals with Members of the Legislative Assembly in the matter of bribery. They will be subject to imprisonment and fine. The inclusion of this clause in the Bill is essential, and must be attributed to the efforts of the Minister for Home Affairs.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in China there is a proverb saying, "Promotion and getting prosperous." This proverb since recorded history up to the present is still applied. This does not mean that the scholars have widened its interpretation. In fact. in the history of the world and even in this twentieth century, we find many instances of "promotion and getting prosperous" in the Government service. If a government servant becomes an officer and does not become prosperous, it is rather surprising. In our primary or secondary school textbooks there is such a record of the proverb and in addition we have it in the newspapers too. The people can see for themselves that the public service in the previous Government enjoyed all sorts of benefits. And when they retired, they left lots of riches and property to their generation, so that the latter too can enjoy a higher standard of living. At present, the people can also see for themselves that those who retire from Government service can still continue to enjoy life without having to work. So much so that some of them can afford to leave this country and lead a very happy life in other countries. All this gives the people the impression that public officers must be selfish and corrupt, but we must try to understand their psychological make-up.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in the P.A.P. Government we do not allow such things to exist. We not only do not allow them to exist, but we are determind to eradicate them. In the meantime, we have also to make every officer an honest and obedient servant of the public. I believe that this Bill, studied by the Select Committee and subsequently passed in this Assembly, will really prevent corrupt practices in the Government service.

7.18 p.m.

Mr Wong Soon Fong (Toa Payoh): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, just now our Minister for Home Affairs moved the Second Reading of the Prevention of Corruption Bill. This is an appropriate time to present this Bill, as it meets with the desire of the people of Singapore. En the old Government, corruption was rife. This is very bad and the people thought it was a part of their daily life. Mr Speaker, Sir, we know that if the people of Singapore were under a bad rule and corruption prevailed, and they were aware, of this, then they would rise and try their best to eradicate corruption. We know that under the clean leadership of our party, the P.A.P. Government, the anti-corruption movement has become widespread. Contrasting the Lim Yew Hock Government with the P.A.P. dominated City Council in 1957; the people of Singapore saw for themselves that the City Council only could really prevent corruption. The Lim Yew Hock Government also had the work of eradicating corruption but without any result. Therefore, we can put it in this way - in Singapore corruption once prevailed in the Government.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the new Government have, since assuming office for the last seven or eight months, taken positive steps to eradicate corruption. We have seen that during the last election campaign, the Singapore Improvement Trust was the most corrupt Government office. We therefore made this the object of our attack when we came into office. We have taken a positive attitude towards the prevention of corruption. The people of Singapore are fully aware of this. When the new Government began working on the old Ordinance, they found that they had to plug a number of loopholes, in order speedily and effectively to prevent corruption. Therefore, the moving of the Second Reading of this Bill by the Minister for Home Affairs is further proof that we are determined to plug the loopholes in the Ordinance, and be in a better position to carry out our work of preventing corruption.

Mr Speaker, Sir, you can see for yourself that in Singapore, if there is to be prosperity, there must be a clean and efficient Government. The machinery in the Government offices must be clean, honest and dedicated to the service of the people and the country. If we have no good legislation to carry out these aims, that means that we have no better method of eradicating the previous evil practices. I fully support the Bill introduced by the Minister for Home Affairs.

7.25 p.m.

Mr Rajah: Mr Speaker, Sir, I had not intended to speak on this, because we have all agreed that corruption must be eliminated, and because no question of principle is involved. But the Hon. the Minister for Home Affairs, while he was moving the Second Reading of the Bill, thought it was part and parcel of the principle of the Bill to mention the City Council in the past and during his time? I am sorry that the Minister for Home Affairs exhibited such a pathetic ignorance of the Constitution of the City Council under which he worked and the constitution under which I worked.

When I was in the Council, I worked under the Municipal Ordinance, and under that Ordinance leadership of the Council most definitely, most certainly, and most inexorably rested with the President of the Council. He was a civil servant. He was the leader of the Council. All the statutory powers of the Council were vested in him, and the Council merely assisted him in his work. Whereas, under the Local Government Ordinance, when the Hon, the Minister for Home Affairs was in the Council under the able leadership of the Mayor (he is now the Minister for National Development) who made such a good job of the City Council, things were entirely different. The leadership under that Ordinance passed to the majority party, or the party, which could command the confidence of the House. Under those circumstances, the Hon, the Home Minister's then leader, the Mayor, was the leader of the Council. He led the Council, and it certainly would have been correct to say that the leadership was with the Mayor. Leadership of the Council was certainly not with me when I was in the Council, or for that matter, Mr Speaker, when you were in the Council.

I suppose the purpose of the Hon, the Minister for Home Affairs in mentioning that fact was to tarnish me with the brush, which he so willingly and so readily seems to wield. But might I say this to the Hon, the Minister for Home Affairs that I would like to give him the same answer which I gave to his ex-leader once in this House - the remedy is entirely in the hands of the Minister for Home Affairs, or should I have said the Hon. the Minister?

Mr Speaker: Order. I have allowed the Member for Farrer Park to make those remarks which are completely irrelevant to the Bill merely because the Minister for Home Affairs chose to make a. remark which was equally irrelevant in so far as the Bill is concerned. And that is as far as I am permitting hon. Members to go.

Mr Byrne: Mr Speaker, Sir, may I rise on a point of information?

Mr Speaker: No. I have not allowed the matter to go any further.

7.30 p.m.

Mr Chan Chee Seng (Jalan Besar): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I have heard the speech just now of my colleague on the Prevention of Corruption Bill. At the outset, I thought that the Member from the opposite side was not pleased to talk on this Bill, because in pursuit of the discussions, previous unpleasant things in the City Council might be revealed to this House.

Mr Speaker: Order. I have already ruled on that subject. There can be no reference now to the City Council and its past.

Mr Chan Chee Seng: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am sorry. My colleague has just now indicated clearly the stand of the P.A.P. Government. We move this Bill with this purpose - to implement our task and fulfil our responsibilities, which were given to us by the mass of the people. Our desire is to satisfy the aspirations of the people. That is why we have solemnly introduced this Bill in this House. I personally support this Bill.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not like to repeat the points and arguments put up by my colleague. But I would like to tell the House what the P.A.P. did in the general election. Mr Speaker, if you had come to our mass rallies you would have seen for yourself that there were many brushes and brooms at our meetings. All these brooms were presented to us by the people. This gesture signified the aspirations of the people because they knew that in the Government under the leadership of Lim Yew Hock, there was corruption everywhere and all the time. Therefore, when the P.A.P. took part in the election, the people wanted a clean and effective Government to be put in. At that time, we clearly accepted, the aspirations and the demands of the people.

Today when we put this Bill before the House, our purpose is to make the aspirations of the people a reality. I do not like to go into details. What I would like to say is that I fully support the Bill.

Tun Lim Yew Hock: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Opposition strongly supports the Bill. Any Bill introduced by the Government to wipe out bribery and corruption will have our full support.

Sir, it is always the people of the country who suffer if we have a corrupt Civil Service, or if we have corrupt people in power. Therefore, what the Bill seeks to do is to prevent such things from taking place. I do not think it can totally be prevented. This Bill is to see to it that there is less opportunity and less freedom for such malpractices being carried out. It is a Bill that should be fully supported.

The P.A.P. is fond of saying, "We are a clean Party. We are a clean Government." I would like to tell them that it is not for them to' say whether they are clean or good. It is for others to pass judgment. If you are clean, the people will know it. If you are not clean, so will the people know it. But corruption, Sir, is not only illegal gratification. There are other forms of corruption, and I do not think these forms of corruption are included in this Bill, nor could they be prevented from being practised, even if we were to amend this Bill. I refer, Sir, to political corruption.

Mr Byrne: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Cairnhill has made only a very short sermon to us, on this Bill today. The pity of it is that he did not take the trouble to introduce a similar Bill when he led the Government. Mr Speaker, Sir, in all these things, it is always better to practise what you preach. If he had taken the trouble to practise rather than to do what he did - to try to preach to us today - then possibly things might have taken a different turn. Mr Speaker, Sir, we know what has happened in the past. This Government is different from other Governments, because it is determined to stamp out corruption not only in the Civil Service but also in public affairs. That is why we have discussed penalties for Legislative Assemblymen who misbehave themselves, and I think those provisions have been particularly inserted so that we can be sure that the Members of the Opposition behave themselves.

Mr Speaker: Order. I do not think I should permit innuendoes of that nature in this debate. The hon. Member does know that in so far as that particular section is concerned, a similar provision is already contained in our law.

Mr Byrne: Mr Speaker, I am glad to know that the Opposition have associated themselves with the Government and praised the Government for introducing this Bill. As the House has already been informed by the Minister for Home Affairs, it is the intention of the Government to refer this Bill to a Select Committee on which I have no doubt Members of the Opposition will be serving.

The purpose of this Bill is to eliminate the opportunities for corruption both in our Civil Service and in our public life, and also to make it possible for the State to detect corruption whenever it occurs. The power therefore must be given to State officials to enforce the law. It must be as wide as it can be, and we would welcome participation by both sides of this House in making this Bill a really effective Bill to do away with corruption in our Civil Service and our public life.

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, it is really gratifying to note that the Members of the Opposition have expressed their support for this. Bill. With the strengthening of this Prevention of Corruption Bill, and with the support and co-operation of the people, I am sure that this Government will be able to eliminate corruption in the course of time.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Committed to a Select Committee consisting of Mr Speaker as Chairman and seven other Members to be nominated by the Committee of Selection.- [Mr Ong Pang Boon].