ENLISTMENT BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.21 p.m.

The Minister for Defence (Mr Lim Kim San): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

National service was first introduced in Singapore in 1967 and administered under the National Service Ordinance, 1952, which is in turn based on the Federation of Malaysia Ordinance 37 of 1952. Since then, new demands and recent changes in the policy, administration and management of national service in Singapore have rendered it necessary to introduce new legislation on the subject. The said National Service Ordinance, 1952, has been found to be inadequate to meet such changed conditions. Accordingly, a new Enlistment Bill has been drafted.

Under the Enlistment Bill any citizen or a permanent resident of Singapore between the ages of 18 and 40 residing within or without the Republic is liable to be enlisted for national service, in the case of officers and persons who possess special skills required by the armed forces, the maximum age for national service liability is 50. However, this does not necessarily mean that all persons in such age group will actually be called up. With the rapid expansion in the technical services of the Singapore Armed Forces, highly trained and qualified personnel will have to be made available to cater for the maintenance and running of highly sophisticated equipment and weaponry which the Singapore Armed Forces are acquiring over the next few years. The provision of the Bill has extended the age limit for service from 40 years to 50 years in order to make available to the Singapore Armed Forces persons who have had specialised training and extensive experience which may normally not be available from ordinary manpower resources. Some of the special skills we have in mind are:

(1) Electronic engineering,

(2) Electrical engineering,

(3) Telecommunication engineering,

(4) Mechanical engineering,

(5) Marine engineering,

(6) Aeronautical engineering,

(7) Naval architecture, and

(8) Automobile engineering.

National service under the Bill consists of any one of three types of service:

(a) full-time service for a period of two years or, in the case of officers or persons selected for officer training, for a period of three years;

(b) reserve service, which means either service on a part-time basis consisting of -

(i) a period of 14 days followed by eight hours per week during the first six months service, and

(ii) a period of seven days annually and three hours per week or six hours per fort night or 12 hours per month after the first six months; or for periods not exceeding in the aggregate 40 days annually.

(c) mobilized service when the interests of Singapore so require

The Bill also provides that any person who is registered or is liable to register for national service thereunder shall not leave or remain outside Singapore unless he is in possession of a valid exit permit. The granting of such exit permits will be very strictly implemented.

There will be no automatic postponement or exemption from national service liability for any person or class of persons by virtue of profession, calling or otherwise. Such postponement or exemption will only be by way of specific orders of the proper authority.

There is also provision made under the Bill for enlistment of persons in regular service. Ordinarily, persons who are not in national service can apply to serve as regular members of the Singapore Armed Forces under such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.

In order to protect the rights and employment interests of national servicemen, Part V of the Bill imposes on employers three main duties:

(a) employers are required to reinstate in their employment full-time or mobilized national servicemen who were employed by them for a continuous period of at least six months preceding the day they were called up for service;

(b) employers shall not dismiss a person solely or mainly by reason of his having been called up;

(c) employers of the person ordered to report for national service shall grant him leave of absence during the period of such service and shall be obliged to pay the difference between an employee's service pay and his civilian pay when he is called up for reserve or mobilized service.

Employers who have paid the difference between their employee's service and civilian pay shall be entitled under regulations to claim from Government for reimbursement thereof. Similarly, self-employed persons shall be paid make-up pay in the same manner as those who are employed except that their civilian earnings shall be limited to the maximum of $1,500 per month. Thus, no make-up pay will be payable in respect of that part of their civilian earnings which is in excess of $1,500 per month.

Any person who fails to comply with any provision under the Bill shall be guilty of an offence and upon conviction thereunder be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to both such imprisonment and fine.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.29 p.m.

Mr Teong Eng Siong (Sembawang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the purpose of this Bill is to provide various measures for enlistment of persons who include:

(i) all those persons who, on reaching the age of 1 6½ years, should go for national service registration and medical check-up; and

(ii) all those persons in the age group between 18 years and 40 years who are citizens and who are required to enlist for national service.

The Bill also provides for full-time national service, reserve service, and mobilised service in cases of emergency. All these are explained in great detail in the Bill.

Sir, although our national service scheme has been implemented for only a few years, the facts have shown that we have achieved 100 per cent success. All parents understand the Government's policy of building up our national defence because they realise that, as an independent newly emergent country, we should have our own defence capability. Therefore, they encourage their children to take up national service in order to receive military training and to shoulder the sacred task of defending their country. Our young men have also shown their courage, resolution and loyalty in national defence. I believe that, for the sake of our national defence, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, all loyal citizens will not oppose national service and will not object to its importance to our country. They will agree with the principle of national service.

On the other hand, we must also recognise that since the implementation of the national service scheme, we have been experiencing a shortage of labour or skills in certain fields. In this respect, I would like the Minister to clarify the Government's policy of opening the door wider to non-citizens to apply for work permits. The questions are:

(1) Whether the implementation of this Bill will create a labour shortage in our labour market. If so, has the Minister any remedial measures?

(2) What is the Government's policy in relation to applications by students in colleges and universities for delayed or postponed national service? Has the Government any better arrangement whereby there can be a balance between military training and the education of the boys so that there will be no shortage of personnel for nation building, and no undesirable consequences in this respect?

(3) The Bill contains certain provisions regarding the employment of national servicemen. These are all very good. But if certain employers disregard or infringe these provisions, what measures will the Government take to deal with them?

(4) The Government has announced that it will give priority of employment opportunities to national service personnel. This is a very reasonable measure and it has been announced many times. But I have recently received complaints from people who have undergone two years' full-time national service. Their complaint is that they have not been able to get any jobs even after two or three months of their release from national service. I hope the Minister can investigate into this matter and try to remedy it. However, national service is the bounden duty of every citizen. If we want our country to survive, we must ensure that we have stability and progress.

I fully support this Bill.

Mr Lim Kim San: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am sure that in his heart of hearts the Member for Sembawang welcomes national service. I shall try to clear up his doubts.

I have mentioned in this House before that there is no question of a labour shortage being caused when we conscript the 18-year olds. What I said was that there would be a temporary labour shortage while these people are in national service. There would be a delay of two years before they come out into the labour market. Moreover, the present labour shortage is not so much a shortage of unskilled labour. When a boy or a girl of 18 years leaves school, he or she is considered as unskilled labour. The present shortage is greater in respect of skilled labour than unskilled labour. So I would say that enlistment or conscription of our 18-year olds will not cause a labour shortage. It is actually a delay in supplying labour. Conscription first began in 1967. And in 1969 some of the national servicemen were released, and quite a large number of them have been placed in employment.

This brings me to the complaint voiced by the Member for Sembawang -that those who have been discharged from the armed forces after a service of two or three years, as the case may be, have found themselves without jobs for three months or so. We will try to place all discharged personnel in employment as quickly as possible, but this takes time. In our short experience of national service, we have found that we have had no difficulty in placing a discharged national serviceman in employment if he is not very particular. Some of them are really choosey as they feel that they deserve more than what they are offered. But I think that less than five per cent are still unplaced after three months of their discharge. In most cases, if a national serviceman has a realistic assessment of his capabilities, a job will be found for him.

As regards the problem of either conscripting the 18-year olds or allowing them to continue with their education, we have considered that very carefully and have devised a scheme. I would like to inform the House that last year, of those who have the full Higher School Certificate, we have given deferment from national service to 855, and have allowed them to proceed to higher institutions of learning. As for the rest of those who have obtained the full H.S.C., about 572 have not been called up, and we expect to call them up by June.

There is a discussion going on at present between my officers and those from the institutions of higher learning, particularly Nanyang University and the University of Singapore, to make arrangements for conscripts with full H.S.C, qualifications to do a year's course of study if they are chosen as officers. With this arrangement, the completion of three years' service in the Army would be taken as equivalent to the first year in the university, so that after their discharge as officers of the armed forces, they could join the university at the second-year level. There are a lot of details to be worked out, but I can assure Members that both parties, i.e., officials from the universities and my officers, are trying their very best to work out a solution for those who are conscripted and fit enough to be officers in the Singapore Armed Forces to save a year in the higher institutions of learning after they are discharged from national service.

Another question raised by the Member for Sembawang concerns the employment of national servicemen. He asked me whether we can take action against employers who infringe the provisions of the Bill. I think I have already mentioned that any person who fails to comply with any of the provisions under this Bill shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding $5,000, or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I think I have fully replied to all the queries raised.

Mr Teong Eng Siong: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister has omitted to answer one of my questions. What is the Government's policy with regard to non-citizens?

Mr Lim Kim San: Sir, the Enlistment Bill gives no option to a permanent resident, who is a non-citizen of Singapore, not to serve. Under this Bill, a permanent resident in Singapore is liable to be called up. However, there is no provision for a person who is a non-citizen and a non-resident of Singapore to serve in our armed forces at all.

Mr Teong Eng Siong: (In Mandarin): Sir, does the Minister mean that as long as a person is a permanent resident of Singapore, even though he is not a citizen, he is liable to be called up under this Bill?

Mr Speaker: Order.

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 Lim Kim San].

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