DEVELOPMENT ESTIMATES FOR 1963

Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [Allotted Day].

[Mr SPEAKER in the Chair]

2.33 p.m.

The Chairman: Will the Minister signify the recommendation of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara before the Committee proceeds to consider the Development Estimates?

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I so signify.

The Chairman: We are on the Development Estimates for 1963. For the convenience of hon. Members, I intend taking the totals for each Head as they appear in the fourth column of the Summary of Expenditure on page 7 of Paper Cmd. 1 of 1962. We are dealing now with Heads of Expenditure in respect of which amendments stand on the Order Paper.

Head D49 -

Dr Thio Chan Bee (Tanglin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D49 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 9.

Raffles National Library - according to the Estimates here, there is a token revote of $10. We therefore presume that extensions would practically be completed or about to be completed in 1963. Could the Minister in charge please describe to us the nature of these extensions, because in the blue book given to us there was no description or particulars given as regards these extensions?

The Minister for Culture (Mr S. Rajaratnam): Mr Speaker, Sir, about $750,000 was provided under the Plan Cost for the Raffles National Library to meet bills for final expenditure on building and furniture. It is most likely that all expenditure would be paid for in 1962, but the token provision for 1963 is entered to ensure that outstanding bills can be paid for in 1963.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Raffles National Library is practically a monument. Although no doubt we appreciate the fine building, we would appreciate it more if the contents of the library are adequate. Sir, I think if there is money to be spared, we should spend more on equipping the Library with books than the $53,000 that we have voted for expenditure this year. So I wonder whether out of the amount spent on the building we could not devote more money per year to increasing the contents thereof.

Mr Rajaratnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, this is a different proposition. That is annually recurrent expenditure. As far as the Development Estimates are concerned, the building is finished, and that is that.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, if that development is finished, that means that there will be more money available for increasing the contents thereof and I am sure the Minister could do that.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, you cannot do that. Money for development projects are paid out of the Development Fund. You cannot use that to buy books. Books are paid for from the O.C.A.R. items in the Annual Estimates.

Mr A. P. Rajah (Farrer Park): What the Member for Tanglin wants, I think, is an assurance from the Minister responsible that when this big building has been completed, more monies will be voted for the purchase of books annually.

Mr Rajaratnam: Of course.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: The Minister had already asked for an increase, and although the Treasury was unable to agree to the full sum, nevertheless, there was a very substantial increase for last year to be spent this year.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of the assurance given, I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $4,080,070 for Head D49 ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

Head D57 -

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D57 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 7.

Headquarters Project - Sir, we are glad that the Government proposes to move the Ministry of Education's headquarters from Kay Siang Road because the site has been found to be very unsuitable and very inconvenient to members of the public, and to heads of schools and teachers. Since there are transport difficulties, people from Geylang would have to change buses and so on. We would appreciate it if the Minister could tell us now where the headquarters would be sited.

The Minister for Education (Mr Yong Nyuk Lin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am afraid I have to disappoint the Member for Tanglin if he thinks that the headquarters is going to be transferred to Tanglin or that it is going to be nearer to Balmoral Road.

This project will be in the same location. The reason for suggesting a new headquarters project arose out of the fact when the present Government took office in the middle of 1959, the Ministry of Education found itself housed in three temporary structures believed to have been built by the Japanese some 20 years ago. With the expansion of the Inspectorate, we found it necessary early in 1960 to requisition a primary school building just next to the three temporary structures, off Kay Siang Road and Tanglin Road, to house the enlarged Inspectorate. It is understood that the three temporary structures are uneconomical to maintain and, therefore, we have to think a little ahead in view of the tremendous expansion which we have to undergo in the Ministry of Education, especially in respect of the Examinations Division.

For security reasons, it is also essential that adequate measures have to be taken so that there will not be any repetition of leakage of examination papers. If we refer to the Four-Year Development Plan at page 112, Table 9.4. the headquarters project would come to a total cost of $1½ million. It was envisaged to complete the headquarters project in three years, starting from 1962-3-4. So the present provision of half a million dollars in 1962 which was passed recently, Sir (page 41 of the 1962 Development Estimates, subhead 7), shows a figure of half a million dollars. For this vote to account for 1963, we feel that the estimated expenditure for 1962 would amount to $100,000. So the 1963 figure would mean a revote of $300,000 plus an additional $200,000. This is in respect of the Examinations Division block which will have first priority under our Plan.

Tun Lim Yew Hock (Cairnhill): Mr Speaker, Sir, this is an Education vote. I think, as a Member of this Assembly, I require a little bit of education on the question of revotes.

In 1962 the vote asked for was just $200,000, and yet for 1963 according to the "Notes" column it is a revote for $300,000. Where does the money come from?

2.45 p.m.

The vote for 1962 is only $200,000 and yet it is anticipated that in 1963 there will be a revote of $300,000. I do not know how that is worked out, Sir. Perhaps the Minister for Education can help me in trying to understand how the revote is going to be more than what the actual vote is.

The Chairman: The Minister has indicated that the vote in fact was $500,000. He has referred to the 1962 Estimates.

Tun Lim Yew Hock: In that case, may I have further information? The work is to be started in 1962. It is this year. For 1963 $500,000 is put in. But this $500,000 includes a revote of $300,000. A revote means a revote of the project this year.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Perhaps I should go through this slowly with the Member for Cairnhill. First of all, would he take the 1962 Development Estimates? Turn to page 41, subhead 7. Estimated expenditure, in bold, is shown as $500,000. If we now turn to this vote on account for 1963 Development Estimates - also on page 41, sub-head 7, first column - we see that the estimated expenditure for this year is $200,000. Therefore, there would be a balance of $300,000 which would be revoted back to the next column, plus another $200,000 additional commitment.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, could I take the next item together with this one, because what I wish to indicate is related to "Renovation to Raffles Institute."

The Chairman: Related?

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Yes, because it is a question of siting, Sir.

The Chairman: I suppose the hon. Member is entitled to indicate his points.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, from the point of view of the general public, the present site is most unsatisfactory for the headquarters. If a parent has to change buses several times before he reaches his place to see an inspector or any official, it causes him great inconvenience. And Government policy has been to bring the Ministers and their staff near the public! We fully support it. That is why the Immigration Department has been brought nearer to the centre of the town. Sir, Raffles Institute, I think, is spelt wrongly. It should be "Raffles Institution". It has been changed to Raffles Institute. Now, Raffles Institution is occupying a very ancient building. It is very costly to maintain the present building. We know that even after costly renovations, after a few years the building will again look shabby. We cannot blame the building because it was built over a century ago. Would it not be possible, since there was a project before, for the transfer of Raffles Institution to new and better quarters elsewhere, to have the two projects co-ordinated? Maybe Raffles Institution could go to the present site of the Headquarters and the Ministerial headquarters could go to Raffles Institution site. That is a matter which I believe Rafflesians would be interested in. In, any case, Sir, this is a perennial thing. After a few years, the Raffles Institution building will look very shabby as compared with other new buildings that are being built. I think Raffles Institution deserves a new set of buildings.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Sir, when the file for the renovation of Raffles Institution, amounting to $100,000 (the estimate given by the Public Works Department) came to me late in 1959 I had the same feeling as the Member for Tanglin that it might perhaps be a waste of money to spend $100,000 just to renovate an old building. Of course, it was prevailed upon me that it had a historical interest and old Rafflesians would fight to the last ditch to preserve this building. But I deferred the matter. In six months' time it came back again with a plea that if I did not make a decision on the matter, then the building might collapse because the windows were coming off at the hinges, the stairs were getting very rickety and so forth. I was still adamant that we should spend $100,000 on a new school building. Then the explanation was given to me that for $100,000, we would be able to get Raffles Institution into good shape and also put into it certain new laboratories. It is certainly much cheaper spending $100,000 carrying on with Raffles Institution, which is centrally situated, for at least 2,000 students rather than ponder over the possibility of erecting a new secondary school that would cost as much as $600,000 and to wait for perhaps one and a half years. So I had to agree, after weighing all the various advantages and disadvantages, to proceed with this project. In fact, the repairs and renovations have already started and it is more or less halfway through.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, no doubt after a few years when the time comes for the building to be again renovated, if the Minister should still be occupying his post, he would reconsider this question after discussing it with the Rafflesians. I beg leave to withdraw.

The Chairman: I never heard the Member for Tanglin! Mr Rajah.

Mr Rajah: Sir, as an old Rafflesian, I entirely agree with the Minister when, he says that there is need to renovate the school. When I was more intimately connected with the Raffles Old Boys' Association, when the previous Government, that is, the Lim Yew Hock Government, made the decision to move Raffles Institution to some other place - I think it was in Dunearn Road, if I remember rightly - there was a lot of objection from the Old Boys' Association and from the old boys of Raffles School. The old boys felt, quite naturally, a sentimental attachment to the original site and that it should be preserved. I for one, Sir, speaking as an old Rafflesian, would not like to see the headquarters of the educational department shifted there, not because I do not think it is an appropriate site - it is an ideal site - but merely because I would not like to see the historical connection of the school with the site disturbed.

On the question of siting for the headquarters, Sir, there is opposite to the school itself across the road what the City Council preserves as an open area. It is next to the Club. I believe the previous Government had some ideas about erecting a building there - a civic centre and all that sort of thing. But that did not come to pass. That site is still available. It is not earmarked for any particular project on the Master Plan. I was wondering whether the Minister could look into that aspect of it to see whether that site in front of Raffles Institution across Beach Road might not be a suitable place for the Education Department.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: I think my colleague, the Minister for Health and Law, would be very pleased to hear this, because that was originally reserved for the Health Ministry, before the Education Ministry parked itself there. We shall give it some consideration.

Mr David Marshall (Anson): Mr Speaker, Sir, for myself, I think it is wholly inappropriate to remove Raffles Institution. If there are sites available to which it can be removed, they are in any event urgently required for the erection of secondary schools to which we are committed. But I would urge that a long-term view be taken of the school which has survived for more than a century and that we should have some plan for the erection of a substantial secondary school building which would replace the existing building on that site for the same purpose and with the same aim.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I was going to say the same thing because I feel that it is a waste of money if a building is too old and we keep on renovating it as we are renovating an ancient monument. Today a modern secondary school requires buildings built along different lines because of the emphasis on science. I would suggest that after this period when the renovation period is over, the Government should plan to rebuild Raffles Institution so that in prestige it will be equal to all the bigger schools in Singapore. I am sure today the old boys feel unhappy passing by to see the building looking as if it is ready for demolition.

An hon. Member: Not like the A.C.S.!

Dr Thio Chan Bee: No, Sir. We want to be fair because we believe that all schools must be given equal chances. It is not right that one building is new and another building is old. Sir, I beg leave -

The Chairman: Will the Member please take his seat? I do not know whether there is any response from the Minister.

Mr Rajah: The Prime Minister is concerned about Raffles Institution. He was so sorry about the whole matter that he got up and walked out when this issue was being discussed!

The Chairman: Now, Dr Thio.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, if there is nobody else who wants to speak, then J beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The following amendment stood in the name of Dr Thio Chan Bee -

• That the sum to be allocated for Head D57 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 12.

The Chairman: Amendment No. (2)* is not being moved, I take it?

Dr Thio Chan Bee: No.

The Chairman: Amendment No. (3)+.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, I beg to move,

• That the sum to be allocated for Head D57 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 23.

Sir, the item here is a peculiar one: "Percussion. Drill for School Site Investigation Works - One". Sir, the sum to be spent is about $60,000. We in school used to remember an item in a school concert called "percussion band" where little children beat drums and cymbals. We like some clarification on this. What does percussion drill mean in this setting?

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker, Sir, this is an item really put in by the Economic Development Section of the Ministry of Finance. For a clearer explanation for the Member for Tanglin, perhaps I might have to call upon my colleague, the Minister for National Development. There is a thing called positive piling. I do not know if there is such a thing as negative piling. But this particular item "percussion drill" for school site investigation works, I understand, is a machine - and not a musical instrument - which is required for soil testing purposes in connection with the structure of school building. It was approved last year by the Development Planning Sub-Committee as an essential equipment. I suppose the Member for Tanglin is aware that we hope to build as many as 17 to 19 schools each year. It is perhaps in the long-term interest of the Government to purchase such equipment rather than depend on private contractors every time we want to test the soil for the building of schools.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: I beg leave to withdraw, Sir.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

3.00 p.m.

The sum of $25,217,950 for Head D57 ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

Head D58 -

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D58 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (1) of subhead 21.

Agricultural and Kampong Roads - $600,000 in 1963. Sir, could we have an idea of the basis on which priorities for improvements are given for these roads? I understood from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, who has something to do with this project, that the petitions of various people - I sent some petitions on behalf of certain kampong people - have been lost in view of the changes in the P.A.P. The one who retired as head of the relevant committee did not leave the papers in the proper places and apparently the present officer in charge could not locate them. So I was asked if I could send a petition for certain improvements. Sir, I would like to know the basis on which these priorities are given, so that we will be able to put forward, our cases properly.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Tan Kia Gan): Sir, the priority and approval of requests for improvement or construction of agricultural and kampong roads are fixed by the Committee called the Urban and Rural Services Consultative Committee. In view of the fact that there was some misplacement of previous requests for construction or improvement to these roads, I would like to call upon the present Chairman of the Committee to give a clarification of this matter.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Goh Chew Chua): Kampong road priorities are always given to those roads that are very bad. We just send an engineer to investigate which road has priority and then we put it to the meeting.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Are we to understand that priority depends on the degree of disrepair and not the extent of the use of the road? Just because a road going through a lonely swampy area is very bad does not mean that that road must be repaired first. I should think that where a road is in disrepair and it serves a very large kampong, that one should come first. We know places where taxis dare not go in because the taxi-drivers say if they go in, it is not worth the fare in view of the danger of the axle breaking or something going wrong. Sir, perhaps that could be considered by the Chairman of the Committee.

Mr Goh Chew Chua: When a road is in disrepair and kampong people send in their complaints, we always send a road engineer to investigate. Then when a meeting of the Committee is held we immediately ask the officer concerned to take action to have the road repaired. Certainly we are not going to make a road near a swamp, as the Member for Tanglin has suggested. We are not so stupid. I live in the rural area and I know how to make a road. The Member should go and see what the kampong roads look like and not come here and say that we are building roads near the swamp.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I will take up this matter later on whenever there are roads requiring repairs, because as I say, Sir, he is quite aware of that. There are other factors that decide the state of disrepair of a particular road. Being old enough and mature enough, he would, I think be able to give due and careful consideration.

Mr David Marshall: I would enquire, Mr Speaker, Sir, whether we are to understand that the vote sought would be adequate to meet the requirement for repair to all agricultural and kampong roads and that it is merely a question of priority, so that by the end of 1963 all our agricultural and kampong roads now in disrepair will be fully adequate?

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Mr Speaker, Sir, we always look into this matter. If sometimes the vote is not adequate, certainly we will ask the Prime Minister to give us some more money for this.

Mr David Marshall: I must ask for more assistance than that, Mr Speaker, Sir,I would repeat my request. Surely he does know whether the vote is adequate in respect of the number of agricultural and kampong roads in disrepair in connection with which he has received complaints. Is it adequate or is it not adequate? Has he had reports in respect of all the complaints or has he not?

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think the vote for this year to repair these kampong roads is adequate.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, I move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D58 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (10) of subhead 21.

Sir, item (10) concerns private streets. In view of the fact that the property tax has now been increased and in view of this anomaly which arose in colonial times of regarding certain streets as private when they are no longer private, since the public are allowed to go through all of them, could we ask for clarification whether these private streets will be given adequate attention, because I see the Government is going to spend $500,000 on private streets? Sir, private streets were not in the care of the City Council. Repairs to private streets have to be done by the private owners, and naturally it is difficult to get co-ordination and co-operation among the private owners living in one private street. For instance, Sir, if it is an estate, even a new estate, I remember how difficult it was to get one road in the Siglap Estate, Siglap Hill or Siglap Road, where several of the Ministers, I believe, stay -

The Minister for Health and Law (Mr K. M. Byrne): We live in lorongs, not in public streets.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Private streets, we used to call them, Sir. But it took a long time before the residents got the Government to agree to make up the so-called private streets and to declare them public roads. I wonder what this item is for. If it is still for private streets, it means the Government has adopted new principles which we appreciate, that private streets needing repair would be repaired and not neglected.

Mr Tan Kia Gan: Sir, under section 143 of the Local Government Ordinance, where any private street or part of a private street in the opinion of the local authority requires the execution of street works, the expenses incurred by the local authority in executing such street works are apportioned among the premises fronting that street. This practice still carries on.

Mr Rajah: Mr Speaker, Sir, this is merely recoverable expenditure which the Government incurs in the first instance. I understand that position. Could the Minister assure us that there are corresponding entries in the income estimates which will recover these monies from frontagers?

Dr Goh Keng Swee: I so assure the Member for Farrer Park.

Mr David Marshall: Mr Speaker, Sir, there are, in fact, at present private streets which are both adequate and utilised by the public to such an extent that they should be declared to be public streets and taken over. Would he indicate Government policy in that regard?

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Mr Speaker, Sir, public streets and private streets are two different things. Government will take over a private street and turn it into a public street. The frontagers of the property have to pay for making up the roads and also the drains and land. In an area which is just developing, one acre of land may cost about $5,000, and to make up a road would cost over $20,000. So how could the Government take over when the place is not fully developed? That is my answer.

The Chairman: The Parliamentary Secretary did not understand the Member for Anson.

Mr David Marshall: If it please you. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would ask the Parliamentary Secretary to indicate whether all these private streets are exclusively in undeveloped rural areas? Surely not.

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Some of them are in the town area and some are in the rural area. Naturally the Government will take over the roads which are less developed and turn them into public roads or public streets, whatever they are called, and the frontagers have to pay for the cost of construction.

Mr David Marshall: I do not wish to pursue this, Mr Speaker, but are we to understand then that it is Government's policy to take over those roads which are being extensively used by the public and that this money is required exclusively in respect of roads in undeveloped rural areas?

Mr Goh Chew Chua: A private street or a private road is a public street or a public road when the place is congested or the road leads to schools. That is priority, Mr Speaker, Sir.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I understand that many owners of property on private streets do not want the private streets to be taken over because they want some privacy. But where the private streets have become really public streets with people going through them because they are thoroughfares, as it were, then perhaps the Government would consider taking over them as public streets. If the owners have to share the cost, well, then, the owners must share the cost.

Mr Tan Kia Gan: This is a matter for consideration by the Public Works Department (Roads and Engineering Section). When this Section recommends that the private streets be taken over as public streets and the frontagers co-operate with the Government to build the roads and pay their dues, then the private streets are turned into public streets.

Mr David Marshall: He is helpful, Sir, but could the Minister add, what is the policy of this Committee governing the recommendations for taking over private streets?

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, the policy is to leave well alone.

Mr David Marshall: Mr Speaker, Sir, that is not a policy. That is sheer laziness.

Mr Rajah: Sir, I do not know what the policy of the present Government is. As I was connected with these private streets in the City Council, perhaps I might state what the policy of the City Council was. That might help the Member for Anson.

Sir, in similar circumstances, there were votes in the City Council budgets for these amounts which were recoverable from frontagers. As and when requests came in from frontagers that their private streets should be made up by the City Council, the City Council made them up to certain specifications which the Council insisted upon. Once those roads were made up to those specifications, then the Council declared them as public streets and took them over, from which time of declaration they became public streets and thence forward they were repairable at the expense of public funds. That I must assume is the position today too. As and when owners require public streets to be made up, this particular Committee has them made up and charges the cost to this particular vote and then recovers it from the frontagers.

Now insofar as new development estates are concerned, the policy which was prevalent when I left the City Council was that the Singapore Improvement Trust insisted that all roads before development took place on a particular site be made up to City Council standards, or to Rural Board standards, as the case may be, and before any house could be sold the public streets were in fact taken over either by the City Council or by the Rural Board as the case may be. So I am assuming that this $500,000 is in respect of present private streets which have not as yet been taken over. That would be so if the policy of 1957 still prevails.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D58 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (13) of subhead 21.

Sir, this concerns slabbing over roadside drains and the amount for 1963 is $¼ million. Those of us who go along kampong backlanes and roads find that some of the drains are not along the roadside. They are right across the roads and lanes, and if slabbing is put over the roadside drains, I hope that it will also be put over the drains that cross the roads. The taxis, lorries and so on experience difficulty because the drains go right across the roads without any slabbing over them. In some of the kampongs in Farrer Road, there are cases where right in the middle of the road there is a drain going across and there is no slabbing.

So, Sir, I hope the Minister in charge will see that this is not followed literally, and that slabbing should not be just over roadside drains but also over drains across the roads.

Mr Tan Kia Gan: Sir, this item is mainly for the slabbing of roadside drains in the City area, particularly in the Chinatown area.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: In that case, Sir, what about the kampong lanes? It is no use having lanes made up when people wanting to go in taxis find that they cannot do so because of the drains and then the taxis have to stop. That is the whole trouble with some of these country lanes, Sir.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: What sort of drains is the Member for Tanglin referring to? Are they man-made drains - drains made by the P.W.D. - or are they lanes as a result of erosion?

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Made by the rural people.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Rural people? Why do they do this sort of thing?

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Well, I thought the Government would know because they are in charge of these areas. What I saw was that the kampong people were compelled to make these drains to drain away water from their homes. Very often their homes are in a higher level and they have to drain away the water from their homes. The water must cross the roads. So they just build drains across the roads. If only the Government, when making up these roads, will instruct their engineers to provide some kind of cover, there will not be this unnecessary division of a kampong road into two or three sections so that people travelling in taxis have to stop and then walk round.

Mr Goh Chew Chua: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have never seen a drain across a kampong road at all. It is only on the site of a house where a drain is not covered. It has to be covered by the occupant of the house. I would like to invite the Member for Tanglin to show me one day the place where there is a drain across the road over which a taxi cannot go over.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, Sir, in view .of the assurance that the Parliamentary Secretary is prepared to go personally to inspect some of these roads -

Mr David Marshall: Pirate taxis!

Dr Thio Chan Bee: - I will be glad to do so. Therefore, I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D58 be reduced by $10 in respect of item (14) of subhead 21.

Sir, item (14) reads "Street Lighting - (i) Public Streets; (ii) Agricultural and Kampong Roads"; but I am worried about the omission of private streets. The Government has accepted the principle that there should be street lighting for agricultural and kampong roads. There are so-called private streets with no lighting at all, and when the people living there switch off their lights, the whole place becomes totally dark. In view of the prevalence nowadays of people resorting to highway robbery, I would suggest that where these private streets lack street lighting, the Government extend this privilege to the private streets in view of their acceptance of the principle of street lighting for agricultural and kampong roads.

Mr Tan Kia Gan: I can assure the Member for Tanglin that this is being considered.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, I beg to move,

That the sum to be allocated for Head D58 be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead 21.

Subhead 21 refers to "Improvements to Roads and Backlanes". Sir, there is one road in my constituency, Fernhill Road, which in a curious manner has been divided into two parts; one part has been made up as a public road up to where some members of the staff of the Commissioner-General reside, but the other part that goes through a Malay kampong has been neglected.

Sir, the kampong people there are mostly U.M.N.O. people and they did not vote for me. But I went there several times. I sent in my petition requesting for the making-up of the drains and the roads, but nothing has been done these few years. Of course, I made certain enquiries from a Government Back-bencher and he said that the documents had been mislaid.

Sir, if the officer in charge will travel along Fernhill Road, off Stevens Road, he will know what I mean. There are two portions: one is neglected and the other one is well laid being in a European area. But since there is going to be no discrimination in the same area. I hope the Government will pay attention to this particular road and make it up so that there will be no unpleasant comparison between the two sections of Fernhill Road.

Mr Byrne: Mr Speaker, I remember some years ago I tried to locate the residence of the Member for Tanglin. He was then in Balmoral Road. We tried to trace it through telephone calls to his address. Eventually we were able to locate him there. But he then never complained, Mr Speaker, Sir. He was in the Executive Council and he wielded considerable powers then. He did not want any developments to take place in this particular estate where he lived before. But now that he is in the clear, he is asking that there be road developments in the area where he lives.

Mr Rajah: That is not fair, is it not?

The Chairman: It is surely unfair.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, I was at that time the Member for Balestier. Therefore, I had to look after my constituency; and since today I am the Member for Tanglin, it is only natural that I must look after this area.

The Chairman: The remarks of the Minister seem to be completely unfair and irrelevant.

Mr Rajah: The Member for Tanglin lives nowhere near Serangoon Estate. He lives in Balmoral Crescent which is a good mile away from Fernhill Road. It is no part of the estate in which the Member for Tanglin lives. I think it is a completely unfair statement.

Mr Byrne: I thought he was referring to the place where he lived.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Sir, there have been two references to missing documents. It is a very serious state of affairs if, in fact, these documents are missing. Now that we have the Member for Upper Serangoon present - he was formerly in charge of this Committee - can we, have a word from him as to whether he is keeping these documents, or any documents; and if he still has any official documents in his possession, when is he going to surrender them before legal action is taken to dispossess him of them?

Mr Chan Sun Wing (Upper Serangoon): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, as far as I understand, this was the situation relating to applications for standpipes. When the Member for Hong Lim was suspended from the P.A.P., I was appointed Chairman of the Urban and Rural Services Consultative Committee and I received a great number of applications; but I did not take custody of the documents. Later when I left the Urban and Rural Services Consultative committee, I did not take away any relevant document addressed to this Committee. At that time, this Committee was in the charge of a civil servant who had to reply to letters written by members of the public. As far as I know, this public servant was transferred. So I think the present Chairman of the Committee will be able to answer how the letters were dealt with by this public servant.

The Chairman: It is completely irrelevant. Further enquiries can be made departmentally.

3.30 p.m.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, no reply has been given to my question about Fernhill Road - not the road where I live in - a road that is a good distance away and where we might say people who were there voted against me.

An hon. Member: How do you know?

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Yes, at that time. Sir, I feel this particular section has been neglected and in order to prevent any further discrimination, I ask the Government to see that the road is made up.

The Chairman: Surely this is a matter which the hon. Member can refer to the Minister in charge. It is a particular matter.

This motion is a motion to reduce by $10 the sum in respect of subhead 21 which relates to general improvements to roads and backlanes. Therefore, there must be some debate on principle. If there is any particular road to which the Member for Tanglin wishes to draw the Minister's attention, surely he can do it by letter.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: I beg leave to withdraw. I will refer that matter to the Minister.

The Chairman: If the Minister wishes to make a reply, he may do so.

Mr Tan Kia Gan: Sir, I cannot do anything to help the Member for Tanglin if he cannot get the votes of the people down there. But if he really wants to do something for them, I think he should see the Chairman of the Urban and Rural Services Consultative Committee as soon as possible.

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Mr Speaker, I will do that, but I want to repeat here that I have written to that particular committee twice, I think.

The Chairman: Yes, that has been mentioned three times!

Dr Thio Chan Bee: Sir, I beg leave to withdraw.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $33,550,480 for Head D58 ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

The Chairman: The remaining Heads of Expenditure in respect of which no amendments stand, on the Order Paper are as shown on page 7 of Paper Cmd. 1 of 1962, other than the Heads we have dealt with, that is, Heads D49, D57, and D58.

Question, "That the sums stated for those Heads as they appear in the fourth column of the Summary of Expenditure on page 7 of Paper Cmd. I of 1962 stand part of the Development Estimates", put, and agreed to.

Question, "That the sum of $173,783,444 shall be supplied to the Government under the Heads of Expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates contained in Paper Cmd. 1 of 1962", put, and agreed to.

Resolution to be reported.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left tile Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the Assembly.

3.34 p.m.

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to a certain resolution.

Resolution reported -

"That the sum of $173,783,444 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates contained in Paper Cmd. 1 of 1962."

Dr Goh Keng Swee: Mr Speaker, I beg to move, "That the Assembly doth agree with the Committee on the said resolution."

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolution accordingly agreed to.