GOVERNMENT CHINESE SECONDARY IV EXAMINATION (Statement by the Minister for Education)

2.31 p.m.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yong, ministerial statement?

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker. Sir, I am pleased to report to Members of this House that today, the last day of the first Government Secondary IV Examination in the Chinese medium, the highest number of candidates which sat for the examination so far was registered, namely, 1,958 out of a total of 3,169 candidates, of whom 2,956 were candidates from Chinese secondary schools and 213 were candidates from the Adult Education Board, that is, the Lembaga Gerakan Pelajaran Dewasa. This figure represents 62 per cent of the candidates taking the examination despite determined and concerted efforts by political agitators to boycott the examination through picketing and other methods of intimidation.

I wish to pay the highest tribute - and so will all Members of this House and the people of Singapore who stand for law and order and for sanity - to the thousands of students and their parents who refused to be cowed by intimidation. I wish also to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to all presiding officials, invigilators, principals, teachers and staff of schools, and the staff and officials of my Ministry for their unflinching loyalty in the cause of national education in the Chinese medium in the face of great provocation and intimidation that went on for the past five days.

In view of the stress and strain to which candidates have been subjected as a result of the picketing of examination centres by those agitators who organised the boycotting of this examination, the marking of examination scripts will certainly take into consideration the psychological handicaps and the unfavourable conditions under which candidates answered the examination papers. Whenever necessary, the school records of candidates will also he taken into account.

A supplementary examination in all subjects will be conducted next week, as announced yesterday, for all candidate who were prevented from sitting for any of the papers in the regular examination conducted this week. Candidates are, however, advised not to sit for papers next week for which they have already sat. Details of the supplementary examination are as follows:- Centre 1 - Teachers' Training College, Paterson Road; Centre 2 - Tanglin Boys' School } Off Tanglin Road, } behind the Ministry of Education, Centre 3 - Tanglin Girls' School } Kay Siang Road.

The time-table will follow the same order as the regular examination:

Monday, 4th December, 1961:

9 to 11.30 a.m. - Chinese Language

12.30 to 2.30 p.m. - Chemistry

Tuesday, 5th December, 1961:

9 to 11 a.m. - Elementary Mathematics

12 noon to 2.30 p.m. - Art (Still Life)

Wednesday, 6th December, 1961:

9 to 11 a.m. - Chinese Literature

12 noon to 2 p.m. - History

3 to 5 p.m. - Biology

Thursday, 7th December, 1961:

9 to 11 a.m. - Additional mathematics

12 noon to 2 p.m. - Geography

3 to 5 p.m. - National Language

Friday, 8th December, 1961:

9 to 11.30 a.m. - English

12.30 - 2.30 p.m. - Physics

3 to 5 p.m. - General Science

The Government Senior Middle III Examination, will be held as scheduled at 44 centres from Friday, 8th December, to Thursday, 14th December. There is no change in time-table or examination centres.

As the Teachers' Training College will now be used as a centre for the supplementary examination of the Government Chinese Secondary IV Examination from 4th to 8th December, the T.T.C. Professional Part 1, Part II (all language media) and T.U.O.S. (Trained under other schemes) (all-years) examinations scheduled to be held from the week commencing Monday, 4th December, will have to be postponed for one week to Monday, 11th December, 1961. The detailed time-table arrangements from day to day will remain unchanged.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in accordance with the principle of equal treatment for the four language streams of education in Singapore, I am pleased to announce that those who pass the Government Secondary IV examination, in Chinese, will be eligible to apply for 100 bursaries, which will be tenable for two years in Upper Secondary classes, valued at $420 per annum. The award of bursaries will, as usual, be based on academic merit and financial need. This. Sir, is similar to the 100 bursaries now available to students in the English secondary schools who passed the Cambridge School Certificate Examination and are attending two years of upper secondary classes prior to taking the Cambridge Higher School Certificate Examination.

It may be pertinent to ask, Mr Speaker, Sir, why this boycott has failed and why the evil men who tried to use misguided students as cover for their sinister and dangerous political operations have been reduced to a state of impotent frustration. The first reason is that the Government, in tackling this delicate issue, steadfastly refused to fall into the pro-Communist trap of hitting out at the misguided and excited student picketers in order to get at the manipulators who hid behind the students and who in their cowardly way used the bodies of school children as their shield. The second reason is that the stand of the Government on this issue was a just and sensible one. That being so, public opinion was on the side of the Government's stand which was that no one was compelled to take this examination. It is quite clear from what happened during the past one week that the vast majority of students wanted to take this examination. Despite intimidation by politically manipulated student picketers, more than half of the students braved the pickets to take the examination. If there had been no intimidation by hostile and unruly picketers, there is no doubt that the attendance would have been higher. This is shown by today's attendance. As the dispirited picketers melted away, more students turned up for the examination. The third reason why this boycott failed is that students and parents on their own initiative decided that they were not going to be cowed by the picketers and their cowardly leaders. Gone are the days when students and parents could be intimidated in this fashion. The moment students and parents decided to stand up to the picketers and to exercise their rights, the so-called boycott collapsed like a house of cards. This should be a good lesson to the pro-Communist conspirators that the days are gone when they could intimidate the people and bamboozle students and parents with false slogans.

The past week's events have shown clearly that there is no real foundation for the myth that Chinese schools are centres of unrest and indiscipline. Last week's events have proved that the vast majority of Chinese school students, like students in other language streams, are not only basically law-abiding and responsible, but will not hesitate to stand up bravely for what is right and fair, in standing up to the picketers, they were asserting their rights as students to take an examination which would not only equip them educationally but also enable them as educated citizens to contribute to the welfare and progress of our country.

In today's Free Press there is a picture, Sir, of parents and supporters standing outside the Ministry of Education to protect students, who wish to sit for the examination, from the picketers. You will see, Sir, that unlike the picketers there are no handkerchiefs tied around their faces to hide their faces. This is because they have nothing to be ashamed of. There was no reason for these people to hide their faces from the people. But not so the picketers. They all had to hide behind handkerchiefs. They dared not reveal their true faces.

The students who sat for the examination and who forced their way through booing and sometimes violent pickets are the kind of Malayans and citizens on whom we base our hopes for a peaceful, prosperous and happy Malaya. Contrast them with the misguided students who were tricked into picketing instead of taking the examination. They have wasted a year of study. They have got nothing out of the picketing and their leaders will not be able to make good this loss. These leaders will abandon these misguided students and seek fresh stooges and reckless adventures elsewhere.

Mrs Seow Peck Leng (Mountbatten): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I seek clarification on one point? May I ask the Minister the reason for the hurry in holding the supplementary examination on Monday, and whether it will not be better to hold it when conditions are more normal and tempers have subsided?

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: I think, Sir, it is necessary to carry on because the people have shown that they have fight in them and they can therefore proceed next week because the other Government Senior Middle III Examination will take place in any case from Friday. So whether there is tension or not, examinations will go on. The agitators behind this must realise that they are fighting not just the Government but the students, the parents and all the people of Singapore. And if they still continue to do so, it will be at their peril.