SINGAPORE TELEPHONE BOARD (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.20 p.m.

The Minister for Communications (Mr Yong Nyuk Lin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Subsection (1) of section 5 of the 'Singapore Telephone Board Ordinance provides that the Board shall consist of (a) a Chairman, (b) a Deputy Chairman and (c) five other members, or a total membership of seven members. The Bill now before the House seeks to amend this subsection in the Ordinance in order to increase the number of members of the Singapore Telephone Board (other than the Chairman and Deputy Chairman) from five to seven, or a total membership of nine members.

During the past two years there has been quite a substantial increase in the Board's activities to cope with the rising demand for telephones. It was originally estimated that for the 5-year period, 1966-1970, there would be an average growth rate of 8 per cent, or nearly 30,000 direct exchange lines would have to be installed to meet the public's demand for telephones. But the actual number of direct lines installed during the years 1966 and 1967 was 5,800 and 8,400 respectively, which gives an average rate of growth of 12 per cent over two years, or 50 per cent higher than the original estimated rate of growth of 8 per cent.

In fact, the present waiting list for telephones is 2,400, and with the Government's development plans being further accelerated, the demand for telephones must therefore increase still further and the Board has no alternative but to revise upward its plans again.

To meet this increasing demand, the Board has set aside $15.6 million for development this year, and another $16 million for next year, thus making a total of over $31 million for the two years on development programmes and capital expenditure in building new exchanges, laying new cables and installing new equipment.

Besides the new 50,000 exchange lines now under construction at the junction of Exeter Road/Devonshire Road to meet the rapidly growing hotel and business sector along the Orchard Road area, the Board has plans to erect another two exchanges in the near future, one in the Crawford area and perhaps another small exchange to serve the Ama Keng area.

With the increase in the Board's activities, there has been a corresponding increase in the duties and responsibilities of the Board members. It is considered that the business of the Board has reached a stage to warrant an enlarged membership, which is the sole aim of this Bill.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.25 p.m.

Inche Mohd. Ariff Bin Suradi (Kampong Kembangan): (In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to support the Bill moved by the Minister which seeks to increase the membership of the Board from seven to nine members. It is time that we enlarged the membership of the Board so that it would be more efficient in achieving the objectives as outlined by the President in his speech in this House. As explained by the Minister for Communications, the work of the Telephone Board is increasing day by day and this Bill is necessary for the development of telephone communications in the Republic.

However, besides increasing the membership of the Board, the Minister should also pay attention to the interests of the Board workers. He should appoint another representative of the Board workers to sit on the Board. At present there is only one representative of the staff of the Telephone Board sitting on the Board. If one more representative is added, I am sure the workers of the Telephone Board will have more confidence in the Board. They will co-operate in achieving their objective of being more efficient and thus improving the economy of the Republic. With the introduction of the new Employment Bill, there will be doubts and fears in the minds of the workers. Therefore, with two representatives of the staff members sitting on the Board, the interests of the S.T.B, workers will be ensured.

I would also like to draw the attention of the Minister to the need for erecting more telephone booths in the Republic. He should give this matter his serious consideration. There have been many applications for the erection of telephone booths in the rural areas, but they have not been entertained. Applications for the installation of telephones in private premises have also not been entertained due to lack of facilities. There are areas with cables but without appliances and equipment. There are also areas -

Mr Speaker: I think the Member is straining the rules of relevance to bring what he is saying within the ambit of this Bill.

Inche Mohd. Ariff Bin Suradi: (In Malay): There is another matter to which I hope members of the Board will give serious attention. I hope they can formulate a policy on the use of public telephones in booths in the interests of maintaining an efficient service. At present a person can use a public telephone by paying ten cents and he can speak for as long as he likes. There are booths where people make use of the phone for hours, especially when two lovers are talking. This prevents others from using the telephone, and it can be serious if the matter is important or there is an emergency. In order to prevent the misuse of telephones in booths, I suggest that a time limit be imposed on the use of the telephone. For example, on paying ten cents a person can use the telephone for only 10 to 15 minutes.

Mr Speaker, Sir, with the increase in the membership of the Board from seven to nine, the Board should be able to think of more facilities which can be given to the public and see to it that these will not be misused.

3.30 p.m.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker,, Sir, of the present seven members on the-Board there is, as stated by the Member for Kampong Kembangan, already one representative from the N.T.U.C. I am afraid that his request for an additional workers' representative is not acceptable' to me because, in my view, one workers' representative should be more than adequate for the purposes of workers' representation. In fact, I found to my surprise that although the Singapore Telephone Board is such a large corporation with a capital of $20 million and a general reserve of $25 million, there is not even a Ministry representative on the 7-member Board. So I have decided that of the two new members who will be sitting on the Singapore Telephone Board, one will be a Government representative who will keep an eye on the large funds that are being disbursed in this organisation. All the' other members are non-Government members, and I think it should be so. This very important organisation, which comes under the general heading of Telecommunications, is a monopoly at present, because there is no other competing telephone company to offer its services to the public. I would like-members of the public to participate in the supervision of this organisation and I look forward to appointing a non-Government member - perhaps another accountant or an economist - to serve on the Board. This will have to be done very soon.

As for the request to increase the number of telephone booths, this matter is receiving attention. All requests from the Urban and Rural Services Committee come up for consideration. But I wish to state that there are over 750 public telephone booths throughout the island and I am given to understand that they are frequently used.

An hon. Member: Many of these telephones are out of order.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: If the telephones are out of order, they will be attended to.

I agree that a number of would-be subscribers have not been able to obtain telephones. I have indicated that there is already a waiting list of 2,400 applications. This is a matter which will have to be put right.

I shall be giving the Singapore Telephone Board my own personal attention. I visited it a few days ago. I think I can assure the Member for Kampong Kembangan that there will be increased activity in the Board hereafter.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. -[Mr Yong Nyuk Lin].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.