SINGAPORE TELEPHONE BOARD (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

4.10 p.m.

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

This Bill is designed to enable the, Singapore Telephone Board, from time to time, with the approval of the Minister, to capitalise the whole or any part of the sum standing to the credit of the Board's General Reserve Account; such sum to be capitalised to the stockholder (which in this case is the Government of Singapore) as issued and fully paid-up capital.

It is pertinent to draw the attention of this House that the Board's fixed assets and General Reserve increased substantially during the six-year period 1963 - 1968, as illustrated by the following figures: 1963 1968 ($ million) ($ million) Fixed assets at cost 76.6 110.7 Fixed assets after depreciation 43.7 70.4 General Reserve 7.0 40.0 Ordinary Stock 20.0 20.0

In view of the high level of the General Reserve at the end of 1968 and almost a two-fold growth in the fixed assets since 1963 due to the ploughing back of surpluses into capital development, the Board decided in July 1969 to transfer $20 million from the General Reserve Account to its equity Share capital, thus raising it from $20 million to $40 million. The capitalisation took effect on 1st September, 1969, and to regularise matters, it is necessary to bring the Singapore Telephone Board (Amendment) Act, 1970, into force retrospectively to 1st September, 1969, with the exception of clause 5 thereof. This is because clause 5 of the Bill makes it an offence for any subscriber to make unauthorised attachments or alterations, and it is both unconstitutional and undesirable that such provision should have retrospective effect.

Opportunity has been taken to make the following minor amendments to the Singapore Telephone Board Ordinance:

(a) The definition of "auditor" is amended to bring it up to date as the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 174) has since been superseded by the Companies Act, 1967.

(b) The quorum for meetings of the Board has been raised from Two to four members present, in addition to the Chairman or Deputy Chairman, as the total membership of the Board is now nine.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move. 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-

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