SINGAPORE MARINERS' CLUB BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.40 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."

The origin of the Asian Seamen's Club dates back to 1948. However, it was not until 1955 that the Singapore Asian Seamen's Club Incorporation Ordinance was passed which created a corporation entrusted with the task of establishing a Club for Asian seafarers. Work on the Club began in that year and the building was completed and declared open in February 1958.

The Singapore Asian Seamen's Club Incorporation Ordinance has remained unchanged since it was enacted in 1955 - 15 years ago. Certain provisions are obsolete and others require amendments for more effective administration. One example of a provision in the Ordinance which has become obsolete is section 4 (d) which states that the Club should provide lectures in nautical and other subjects. This may have been necessary in the old days when there were no teaching facilities available, but the School of Nautical Studies, which was founded in our Polytechnic in 1960, makes this objective superfluous. This section has accordingly been deleted from the Bill.

Section 7 (2) of the existing Ordinance provides that all members of the Committee except the Chairman would retire on expiration of their terms of office. It's considered for administrative reasons that this provision should also apply to the Chairman, and the Bill accordingly provides that the Chairman should also retire on expiration of his period of appointment.

Section 7 (3) of the existing Ordinance states that a vacancy shall arise if a member is absent from Singapore for more than three months. The new section 7 (3) in the Bill amends this period to six months. This longer period is desirable on practical grounds, as some members do normally take long leave exceeding three months.

Finally, the existing name "Asian Seamen's Club" is somewhat of an anachronism and the opportunity is therefore taken to rename the Club as "The Singapore Mariners' Club".

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. - [Mr Yong Nyuk Lin].

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