NATIONAL LIBRARY (Purchase of Chinese, Malay and Tamil books)

Mr S. Rajoo asked the Minister for Culture and Social Affairs (a) whether there is any difficulty in obtaining Chinese, Malay and Tamil books for the National Library; (b) what are the sources for the purchase of such books; and (c) what was the cost in local currency per rupee of the Indian price for purchases made in Singapore of Tamil books published in India before devaluation of the Indian rupee and what is the present such cost.

Mr Fong Sip Chee (for the Minister for Culture): Sir, there is some difficulty in obtaining Chinese, Malay and Tamil books as not many Chinese, Malay and Tamil books are published annually compared with English books. So selection is limited and some subjects are not well represented, for example, science and technology. Few bibliographies, book lists, catalogues and other buying aids are available. Some Chinese books published in China do not conform to our local requirements. During the Indonesian confrontation it was not possible to obtain Indonesian publications.

Poor physical quality of the books, for example, paper, ink, binding and illustrations, means that books in these languages do not last very long even when rebound and have to be frequently replaced. Such books are purchased from local and overseas booksellers.

With regard to the rate between the local dollar and the rupee before the devaluation of the Indian rupee, the cost of Tamil books was 80 cents to one rupee and the present rate is 70 cents to one rupee.

Mr Rajoo: Mr Speaker, Sir, is it true that the Ministry of Culture depends on a certain individual by the name of Jeyadawat to get Tamil books for the National Library?

Mr Fong Sip Chee: Sir, that is not true. The Ministry of Culture is not dependent on anybody. In fact, we have a list of agents and publishers and, depending on the availability of catalogues and bibliographies, we order the books as we deem fit from whichever source available.