COMMUNITY CENTRE IN NEW MACPHERSON HOUSING ESTATE

Mr S. V. Lingam asked the Minister of Defence if he will consider the construction of a Community Centre in the new MacPherson Housing Estate, which has a population of about 40,000 people, and when that Centre can be expected to be ready.

The Minister of Defence (Dr Goh Keng Swee): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Government has no plans to construct a community centre in the new MacPherson Housing Estate in the foreseeable future. There are already in the Aljunied Constituency one standard type and one rural type community centres. In nearby Paya Lebar there are one standard type and five rural type community centres. If the residents of the MacPherson Housing Estate urgently want a community centre, they should club together and rent suitable premises from the Housing Board for this purpose. Now that we are an independent nation, social initiatives of this kind are to be encouraged. The attitude of expecting Government to be the universal provider is much to be deplored. It is a legacy of our colonial past.

My suggestion to the residents of MacPherson Housing Estate is far from fanciful. In fact, a community initiative of this kind took place in Tanah Merah Kechil, Changi, where the residents clubbed together, built a community centre, and donated it to the People's Association. The residents of Changi are a sturdy breed. When the sea curfew imposed hardships on their fishermen, they did not sit on their haunches and wait for dole-outs by the Social Welfare Department. They organised a whip-round, bought food and provisions and gave these to the families of the fishermen. Their scale of donations is much more generous than the Government ration scale. It is sturdy self-reliance of this kind that I commend to the residents of Aljunied, who surely cannot be in any respect less worthy than those of Changi.