PRESIDENT'S SPEECH Debate on the Address (Third Day)

3.23 p.m.

Order read for resuming adjourned debate on Question [16th October, 1972],

`That the following Address in reply to the Speech of the President be agreed to:-

"We, the Parliament of the Republic of Singapore, express our thanks to the President for the Speech which he delivered on behalf of the Government at the opening of the First Session of this Parliament.".'. - [Mr Chai Chong Yii].

Question again proposed.

Mr Yeo Choo Kok (Delta): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the President mentioned in his Address that we should not "allow foreign interests with large financial resources to manipulate our internal politics, by financing Singapore political parties, professional, academic and other groups". Because of our geographical position, our social structure and the changes in international politics, many foreign powers would like to know or even influence our political trends. And some countries even do not like to see us succeed gradually. As in the case of political parties, institutions of higher learning in our country will also be targets for manipulation by these foreign elements. There must be a reason why our students become indifferent to the society and the country in which they live, and for them to adopt a hostile attitude towards our society. If we are not vigilant enough, some of our institutions and students may engage in activities beyond the scope of their function under the pretext of cultural exchanges. On the one hand, we welcome international scholars to come here and genuinely help us improve our academic standards, in order to realise what the President has said in his Address that "we can become a centre for excellence in all fields important to our economic and cultural life." On the other hand, we should guard against the possibility that our institutions of higher learning or even the whole of Singapore will one day become a centre for international espionage under the pretext of cultural exchanges.

Mr Speaker, Sir, in the addendum relating to the Ministry of Education, we are happy to note that the Ministry has laid emphasis on the need to improve the quality of teachers, teaching methods for the second language, and the quality of the teaching curriculum. This shows that the teaching and the curriculum of the second language in the past were far from satisfactory; and my argument is well-founded.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has issued a booklet of certain simplified Chinese characters which are used by the Chinese press. This booklet is to help those who want to learn Chinese as a second language. However, in the Primary I Chinese textbook used in English schools, though the characters are of the simplified version, the workbook, however uses characters of the non-simplified version. Therefore, the same character appears in two forms. If this is already very confusing to those who learn Chinese as their mother-tongue, it will be even more confusing to those primary pupils who learn Chinese as a second language. I understand that after complaints have been made to the Ministry, the workbook has been withdrawn. The experts on the curriculum committee should be responsible for permitting such unnecessary difficulty to creep into the learning of Chinese as a second language. Besides, in the Primary II textbooks for Chinese and Civics, both the simplified and unsimplified versions are used. If such textbooks are used again, changes must be made. Similarly, there are faults with the second language textbooks for non-English schools. In the Ministry of Education there is one specialist in teaching English as a second language. He compiled a textbook for use in primary schools as a textbook on English as a second language. I do not know who approved it, but before it could be used, there were criticisms in the English press pointing out the many mistakes in it. As a result, this textbook was not released for use. If textbooks written by our second language specialists contain a lot of mistakes, we can well imagine the quality of textbooks written by non-specialists.

Mr Speaker, Sir, from the incidents I have cited, in order to improve the teaching of the second language, first of all, the quality of administration in the Ministry, the curriculum committee and that of the second language specialists should be raised in addition to improving the quality of pedagogy and curriculum. Otherwise, there will be repetition of the incidents cited and our second language teaching will always be in a confusing and disappointing state. We are now going all out to implement our policy of bi-lingual education in order that our next generation will be effectively bi-lingual and that the society we are going to have in future will be more unified and cohesive. However, such a policy should not be exploited by publishers who are out to make money. Otherwise students, parents, and the public will waste their money in buying textbooks which are dubious.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the task ahead is to mobilise our human and financial resources in order to achieve in qualitative terms. Towards this end, all Ministries and departments will largely be using computers. This is inevitable. At present the two universities are equipped with only small computers and their capacities are limited. I would advocate that a National Computer Service Centre be set up so that all the various Ministries and departments can make use of this computer service, and thus increase their efficiency. This will also prevent Government departments from scrambling for expensive computers which only have limited uses. I hope that such a National Computer Service Centre will be set up very soon. In this respect, we should not be wasteful in our use of resources, but instead try to aim at raising the quality in every field.

3.33 p.m.

Mr N. Govindasamy (Telok Blangah): Mr Speaker, Sir, in the President's speech outlining the Government's policies for the next five years, I note with pleasure the acceptance of the necessity for the level of wages to rise in so far as such wage increases take place in an orderly fashion. I note with further pleasure, and they do not assume the proportions of a galloping inflation, the assurance that tax increases are to be kept down to the barest minimum possible.

It has always been the legitimate complaint of workers that whatever wage increases they receive are more likely than not swallowed up by tax increases and price increases. While I appreciate very much the particular concern of the Government not to kill the individual incentive for hard work- on which Singapore's prosperity is built - by raising direct taxation upwards to the level of diminishing returns, I am somewhat disappointed at the Government's recourse to indirect taxation, even though it be on the so-called "luxury" goods. For one thing, I have my doubts as to whether there is any general acceptance of what constitutes "luxury" goods. For another, Government may give more serious consideration to the distinction between earned income and unearned income for the purposes of taxation.

I am quite aware that as a Backbencher it is easy for me to criticise and that the Government, being much better informed and having to consider factors such as the development of Singapore into a financial centre for the region, may have considered and dismissed some of my points. Nevertheless, I feel it incumbent upon me to voice what I consider to be the rather disappointing features of the Government's recent tax measures. It is hard to believe, for instance, that tax increases on such luxuries as beer, stout and cigarettes affect the privileged class of persons more than the wage-earners. Similarly, in the matter of motor car taxes, no attempt is made to discriminate between a family of wage-earners, pooling their resources together to buy for the first time in their lives a medium-sized car, and a tycoon who thinks nothing of buying several limousines perhaps for each of his concubines. The justification advanced by the Minister for Finance for such taxation - to discourage private ownership of cars - seems rather cynical, if I had not known that he was sincere about it.

The point I wish to make is that taxation measures form part of the fiscal policy of the Government and that such measures are not eminently suitable for the attainment of socially desirable objectives. The Government may have to contemplate more direct and drastic methods of keeping cars off the streets, especially during peak hours. One method may be the staggering of office hours beyond the prevailing limits of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. It would be in line with the rationale underlying the PUB's restructuring of tariff charges. But if the actual purpose of increased taxation is to raise more revenue, I have nothing more to comment upon except, of course, how this estimated increase in revenue of $38.25 million is going to be used.

The President in his address made reference to, and I quote him:

`a better life for everyone willing to work will become more pronounced, and in more gracious surroundings.' May I suggest that we pay a little more attention to those who are willing to work but who, because of mental or physical handicap or for some other cogent reasons, are unable to work. The President also mentioned that "we can achieve higher standards in everything, with the emphasis on quality, whether in jobs, schools, hospitals, social and recreational amenities or homes." He went on to say that there must be heavy subsidies for good health and good education. I certainly subscribe to this principle. The trouble is that not all citizens, through no conscious or deliberate fault of their own, have equal opportunities to avail themselves of the subsidised services of the Government in the field of health or education.

I am of the view that one category of our citizens deserves much more attention from the Government than they have enjoyed so far. I make a plea on behalf of the old-age destitutes, the deaf and dumb, the blind, the mentally retarded and the chronically ill. Most of these persons are looked after, within the limits of their personal ability and scant financial resources, by socially-conscious individuals and well-meaning private organisations. Have these underprivileged people benefited or received any improvements as a result of our recent mini-boom? I should think their participation in Singapore's present prosperity is, at the most, minimal. With our continuing economic progress and the increased $38.25 million that the Minister for Finance hopes to collect from increased taxes, we should also be in a position to improve the lot of the under-privileged. I entirely agree with the President when he said that "everyone must work to earn and pay for what he wants in life." Not everyone, however, can earn through his own efforts to pay for even the bare essentials for his own survival, and such a person ought to be assisted by the State in finding work or other means of living. I am not advocating free services for all, as such a policy may lead to abuse to the detriment of all. What I am saying is that the State should pay more attention and provide more assistance in looking after the old destitutes, the chronically ill, the mentally retarded, the blind, the deaf and dumb, by providing State-sponsored facilities which would offer them training, education, recreation and a better life.

Finally, Mr Speaker, Sir, may I thank the Hon. Minister for Finance for announcing that the 13th month payment for the current year will be made in December.

An hon. Member: 14th month!

Mr N. Govindasamy: 14th month? I heard the Minister say "the 13th month." A 14th month payment will be most welcome!

The employees of Government and Statutory Boards would certainly appreciate the gesture to make this payment just before the festive season. However, Sir, the last 13th month payment was made only to those who were in the service during the time of payment. May I make a strong plea on behalf of the employees of the Government and the statutory boards? If we follow the same system, some of them would not be eligible for the 13th month payment if the month of their retirement is earlier than the month in which the payment is made. In other words, if he retires in November, he would not get his December pay. Sir, this 13th wage is paid for services rendered to the Government whether they worked for 12 months or less. If they are compulsorily retired, then they should be paid. In the course of one year, many would retire, and as such I strongly feel that in the case of those who leave the service through no fault of their own, a proportionate payment should be made.

3.42 p.m.

Mr Ang Nam Piau (Thomson): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the President's address at the official opening of the Third Parliament.

The President's speech has laid great emphasis on the necessity to sustain the momentum of economic growth achieved in the last five years after the Republic has achieved independence and become an autonomous state. In pursuing the same policy during the next five years, it is vital in the interest of our country that the policy adopted does not lose sight of the aspirations and hopes of our people. The two main objectives in inducing more and more industries into Singapore are, namely:-

(1) To achieve greater viability for the Republic.

(2) To make the Republic the centre of export-oriented and more sophisticated industries with scientific and high technology.

Foreign firms will come to Singapore and will invest in our Republic if political stability continues, our trade unions remain responsible, level headed, reasonable, adaptable and conscious of the part they have to play in producing quality products at competitive international pricing, our currency continues to be hard and strong and our Government governs and administrates with clockwork efficiency, fairness and free from corruption.

But when these industries are attracted to and established in the Republic and those in which Government has substantial equity participation, it should he the conscious duty of our Government in power to see that:-

(a) Our people at all levels of work in these industries are genuinely given opportunities to upgrade their skills, both practical and managerial, and to acquire the know-how of these industries brought in by foreign interests, and

(b) after a period of time, by systematic phasing, some of the more important posts at the upper echelon should be "localised" by appointing local incumbents to be groomed for these key posts. It has been found in practice that in some of the existing industries, foreign expatriates have tenaciously clung on to their posts by making all sorts of excuses and ruses to remain as long as possible.

There is one particular country in this respect in which their nationals are very adept in this kind of practice. Their main motive is not to assist Singapore towards greater viability but to exploit our Republic as a base for future operations in countries in Southeast Asia. Our Government should study their modus operandi carefully and in depth and their methods of canny economic penetration, because unfortunately for us their nationals work harder than most of us, as work to them is God and is a means to mammon and building a huge trade balance for their own country without consideration for others.

Mr Speaker, Sir, before I conclude my support of the President's speech, I wish to warn the House that the economic and industrial penetration of Singapore by this particular country should be studied with extreme caution, and any agreement reached with them should have safeguards to protect the interests and to meet the aspirations of our people in the long term. We do not want to be economic slaves of another country when we have achieved freedom with so much sweat and toil.

3.46 p.m.

Mr Ho Kah Leong (Jurong): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the President's speech delivered on the 12th of this month in this House portrays a new profile of our country in the next five years. The President has also stated that in our lively and prosperous society, nothing can be obtained for free. Everybody should get his reward from his own effort in proportion to his ability and effort. Sir, the amplification of this concept is very important. It should specially be inculcated in our student population. The reason is that the younger generation since birth have been enjoying free medical care, comfortable homes, free education, and other modern social amenities. We should not allow them to adopt the syndrome of enjoying the good things in life for free. We should also not allow our people to be lax in their enthusiasm and effort in nation building.

Sir, we should also remind the people that Singapore is not a paradise outside of this world. The moderate prosperity that we are enjoying is something that we can be proud of, but we should not ho complacent. Our political situation can always be affected by extraneous factors. Following the normalisation of relations between China and Japan and the assumption of diplomatic relations between China and America, there has been a series of changes taking place in the world. All these changes will have an effect on the changing scene in Southeast Asia. Our foreign policy should be formulated step by step, and it should be modified to keep up with changing times. Unless we cannot help it, I feel that we should not lightly discard our neutral and non-alignment policy in foreign affairs, which has proved to be quite successful up to now.

Sir, in social development, we know that Singapore is undergoing changes all the time. Whether it is in the towns or villages, not a few people are affected by resettlement. They have established themselves in their respective localities for quite a long time, and are therefore, inconvenienced by resettlement. However, they have to make some sacrifice so that our country may progress and our economy may also develop. Therefore, it is the duty of the Government to give special care to these people to enable them to resume their normal livelihood in the shortest possible time. It is equally important for the Government to look after them during or after their resettlement. Where the Government has not done enough for them, I hope it will do better in future.

Sir, the Government is paying equal attention to both the urban areas and the rural areas. In recent years the rural folks have been able to enjoy the taste of modern living, to have good roads and to enjoy the instant supply of electricity and water. It cannot be denied that in recent years, the Primary Production Department has been giving the farmers a lot of help. However, because of the technical aid and scientific knowledge given by the Primary Production Department to the farmers, certain people who are not in the farming business but who are well-off have come in to invest in agriculture for profit. This has caused a flux in agricultural produce. In the end the supply is greater than the demand, and prices of agricultural produce fall below cost, causing many genuine farmers to lose heavily. For instance, in March and April this year the price of pigs had fallen below average. Later with a lot of effort by many people, the price of pigs rose. However, that level of price could not last long. In recent weeks, the price of pigs has fallen steeply again. The Members for Sembawang and Jalan Kayu mentioned this in this House last week. Obviously, this is not a question of over-production, but a question of a deliberate manipulation to suppress prices. So the Government should investigate thoroughly to find some measure of control. Otherwise, if the prices of farm produce keep falling, small farmers will all be made bankrupts. Only big farmers may hope to carry on. If this is the care, the price of pigs can more easily be manipulated by a few people. This will mean that the citizen cannot hope to buy pork cheaply.

Since the authorities concerned have been registering the farms for so many years, they must be quite aware of the conditions existing in our farms. Therefore, I hope they will make use of the available data and, in keeping with our entire development plans, formulate a clear-cut agricultural policy. More important is that we should try our best to safeguard the prices of agricultural produce, to keep them steady so that the farmers may not be adversely affected by falling prices of agricultural produce.

Sir, in recent years the Government has spent much money on construction work in the rural areas. But recently it is noticed that many of the projects have not been done satisfactorily. This has caused people to suspect whether there has been any malpractices such as the short-supply of materials or short-work of labour. Even in my constituency there have been such instances. Take for example, the metalling of roads. Even before four months are up, the surface of the road is damaged. On the building of bridges, holes appear on the surface of bridges before they are several weeks old. On pedestrian walks, after repairs have been made to the surfaces they are washed away by the rain within three months and the exposed gravel and sand make the condition of the surfaces even worse than before. I have reported all these matters to the authorities concerned. They are now awaiting repair Sir, what needs our attention is the fact that all the instances of damage cited by me occurred shortly after the projects had been completed. I do not know whether this was due to malpractices, inadequate supervision or unqualified contractors. Anyway this would cause inconvenience and more expenditure on repairs. It should not be so. I do not know whether the authorities concerned could set up a "Committee of Supervision" outside the Public Works Department to strictly supervise every piece of tendered work by contractors in order to prevent any malpractices from taking places

Sir, there is another point which is relevant to rural construction which I would like to raise here. As we all know, generally the cost of projects is estimated by the Public Works Department. Members of Parliament for the constituencies concerned and the Citizens' Consultative Committee members are only informed of the estimated cost but not the tendered price and actual cost on completion of the project. They will not be given satisfactory information even upon written requests. However, there are three prices relating to such a project namely, the estimated price, the tendered price and the actual completed costs. I am sure they must be different. I do not know whether the Urban and Rural Services Committee has looked into these different figures. I think Members of Parliament for the constituencies concerned should be allowed to know early what the actual prices are for the completion of those projects and how much money is left, so that before the financial year is up, the Members concerned can carry out more construction work in their constituencies.

Sir, building construction has been very active in our country. Many satellite towns have been built one after the others. This symbolises the development and progress of a country, and this is also something which Singapore can be proud of. However, there is a major fault with all these satellite towns because the authorities concerned know only how to build dwelling accommodation for the people but have overlooked the supplementary and necessary facilities such as schools, markets, hawker centres, clinics, community centres, sports fields, etc. Because these social amenities have not been provided in the building plans, many social problems have arisen relating to hawkers, gangsterism, and worse, the problem of education which bothers the parents very much. Because of the lack of schools in the new satellite towns, parents have to send their children to faraway schools. This is both an inconvenience and a financial loss. Sir, the Addendum to the President's speech on the Ministry of Education mentioned about the intention of the Ministry to build schools in the satellite towns. However, the question is not to build schools but when to build them, and whether the number will be adequate for the need If schools are built 10 years after a satellite town is built, or the number of classrooms is not adequate, it will still not solve the problem of inconvenience to parents. For instance, in Jurong constituency there is only one primary school with a maximum enrolment. Last month, when registration for Primary I next year was opened, 500 pupils were enrolled. Luckily, the school had earlier on built six temporary classrooms so that these new pupils can be accommodated. But, following the development of Jurong Town, it is expected that more Primary I pupils will be enrolled next year. So how can we accommodate all these pupils? This is the problem that the Ministry of Education should pay attention to.

Sir, education is the foundation of nation building. In order to raise the quality of our citizens, the first thing we must do is to raise the quality of education. This burden is mainly borne by the teachers for they are the ones who actually implement educational policies. Teachers are mentors and exemplars. They are in the forefront or the vanguard of educations. They have to be cautious in carrying out their duties and should not fail in what is expected of them by the society. Teachers have a duty to impart knowledge and to exercise control over the thinking and conduct of their students. Because of this heavy responsibility they often become targets of criticism by the so-called "specialists". Through any fault of the pupils, all the blame is put on the teachers. It is not fair. We must realise that students attend school either in the morning or afternoon for five hours only, and for the remaining part of the day they are either at home or elsewhere. So, to be fair, parents should also bear part of the responsibility of looking after their children.

Sir, teachers should respect their profession, and should also be contented with their job. However, under the present circumstances, teachers can respect their profession, but they do not find it easy to be contented with their job, because, other than having to be in step with changing curricula and having to teach the normal daily lessons, many of them have to be responsible for two or three kinds of extra-curricular activities. So how can we make them happy when there is so heavy a load on them? As for the students, they are also hard pressed with lessons, and they strive very hard in order to pass the final examination so as to qualify for a certificate. As such, they do not even have time left to study books on extracurricular activities. Studying has become a hard pursuit for them. We have often heard that the Ministry of Education would lessen the burden of the teachers and the tasks of the students and would reduce the teacher-student ratio. I hope these promises will not turn out to be castles in the air. I have noted in the Addendum that the Ministry of Education is going to revise the curriculum. In actual fact, the contents of the lessons, teaching materials and teaching methods will also have to be reviewed from time to time to meet the changing times and needs. In reviewing them, the authorities concerned should consult the teaching profession.

Sir, I am glad to note that the new Minister of State for Education, namely, the Member for Bukit Batok, in his maiden speech has mentioned the effort made by the Singapore Chinese Middle School Teachers' Union to promote the learning of the second language. I may inform the House that the Union has all along been supporting this bilingual policy of the Government. We hope to make a definite contribution towards this end. We know for a fact that for the survival and development of a particular ethnic group the mother tongue embodies the cultural tradition, ethics, moral concept and cultural heritage and values of that particular group. In a prosperous Singapore, it is not enough to master one's own mother tongue. Our citizens should discard old shackles and old concepts and try to master a language commonly used in the fields of technology, science, commerce and trade, so as to make it a means of earning a living. In view of this, we fully support the policy of the Ministry of Education to encourage all our teachers to be finally bilingual In this respect I hope the Ministry of Education can compile a practical curriculum on the second language for study by those teachers who want to learn it. To start with, principals of integrated schools who are not bilingual should be the first to learn a second language.

Sir, because of industrialisation, we have created a lot of employment opportunities, but vexing problems have also cropped up as a result. One of them is air pollution. However, I am glad to note that the Government has set up a new department specially charged with environmental control. During the last session of Parliament, several bills for the control of pollution had been passed. But we have yet to see the effects of enforcement of these laws. However, I have the duty to urge the authorities concerned to pay attention to pollution in the largest industrial area in our country, namely Jurong Industrial Town. Up to now, we can still see many factories freely emitting black smoke and burning industrial wastes in open ground day and night. This has caused the residents to worry because of the high state of pollution it has reached. The subject of pollution is new in our country. The people do not have an adequate knowledge about pollution. To what degree will pollution be harmful to man is a question which I think the residents as well as the factory owners would like to know. To be fair, we can say that many factory owners are willing to abide by the law, as they do not like to be caught for polluting the air. I do not know whether the authorities concerned can set up devices to detect and to record the degree of pollution at strategic places, so that all of us will know whether pollution of the air has reached a degree as to be harmful to man. These devices can help to reduce the worry of the people affected. Moreover, factory owners and the people concerned may know the extent of pollution that is present, and that proper control can be exercised. The Member for Aljunied, at the last sitting of Parliament, has said that prevention of air pollution demands the effort of all our people. But I feel that it is important that the Government should be in the position to guide and to control. I hope the new Ministry will play its role in the industrial areas, particularly in Jurong.

Sir, I support the motion to thank the President for his address,

4.10 p.m.

Mr Yeo Toon Chia (Kampong Kapor): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, 1965 was the year when Singapore created history, and the 9th of August of that year was an unforgettable day. Many of our neighbours thought and hoped that this tiny island country of ours would perish. But their thinking and schemes were too simple. They forgot to make a study of our origins and our historical background; they forgot that we are the progeny of a long and variegated history, that we are a people endowed with a strong will to struggle and a high degree of adaptability and creativeness. Today, this tiny country of ours is like a diamond shining forth in Southeast Asia.

As the President has pointed out in his speech in this House on the 12th October, when Parliament convened in 1968 we were faced with the total withdrawal of the British forces and a loss of $400 million in revenue together with the serious problem of mass unemployment. Our tasks then were to promote our economy, to create more jobs, and to maintain our efforts for a continued survival. However, today we are in a different situation. There is political stability, economic prosperity, and social progress. We have become the "haves" from "have-nots", and "developed" from "backwardness" All this has come about through the perennial probing and meticulous planning of the national leadership, together with the efforts of the whole populace. These results and achievements, we should treasure and preserve: this correct plan for the benefit of our country and people, we must follow.

Sir, as a developing country, we should note that in a rapidly developing society if there is unequal development in certain areas and in certain strata of the society, i.e., classes or groups benefiting more than others or some lower classes not benefiting at all, then such neglected classes of society will easily become the pockets of dissatisfaction or dropouts in the process of rapid advancement as they tend to be dispossessed of wealth and position, technique and power, thinking, and organisation. This will naturally make them feel insecure, lonely, tense and passive in their daily lives, Sir, between man and man, there are strong links such as the brotherhood of man and the ability to co-operate. When our economic development reaches a certain point of success, where social environment permits, we should assist, guide and care more for the unfortunate dropouts of the present society, so as to enable them to advance with the rest of us, to think and to enjoy the fruits of prosperity, to breathe the fresh air of the new society and to have a sense of security. We must enable all the people to develop as the country develops, politically, economically and culturally.

Sir, from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Under our democratic socialist system, every citizen can enjoy equal opportunity and rights, so that everything may be fully utilised for the speediest advancement of the society. This is correct. However, we must not over-emphasise or encourage everyone to go up, as this will lead to keen competition between men, and in a competitive society the victors will become the cream of the society, monopolising all the values of the society such as wealth, position, fame and power. This will dissipate the principle of joint effort and collectivism. In its place there will be competitive individualism. This will cause more people to fail and to be frustrated, leading to inferiority complex and the loss of courage and joy to live. Sir, to lose one's aim in life is to cut one loose from society, thus making one lose faith in life and in social mores. It will lead to self-abandonment, to the commission of crimes, and to the development of a peculiar mode of living, thus enhancing social burden and pollution of the society. Sir, the newly established Ministry of the Environment for the prevention of pollution brought about by industrialisation can use effective devices to prevent the direct material pollution of air, water and noise. But pollutions of the society, the spirit, and thought cannot be solved by material means or in the space of a very short time.

Sir, urban renewal for the better utilisation of land to increase national economic resources and to promote the prosperity of the urban areas are necessary forms of national development. But we should be concerned about profiteering by big groups of private developers, which has caused tremendous increases in land prices. As a result, our medium and small traders are hit by high rentals and they are either forced to close down or to be swallowed up by big enterprises. This causes more wealth and property to be controlled by the few, and pauperizing the majority. This is unfair. Sir, owing to our political stability, increasing population, rapid expansion of industries, prospering urban economy, in addition to the influx of foreign capital and oil exploration around the seas in Southeast Asia with Singapore as the base, our economy is enjoying an unprecedented booms This has also caused rapid increases in the prices of properties, houses, and land. Over the last three or four years prices have increased by 300 or 400 per cent, thus creating a boom in the building trade and giving rise to a dearth of building materials and of skilled and unskilled workers. Sir, we want to develop and progress, but we should never allow any one industry to over-develop at a pace which the other industries cannot catch up with. We should have proper control over the building industry anti a better allocation of building units after we have made a thorough study of the demand for public and private housing and the number of units to be built per year. In this way, we shall be able to co-ordinate our building workers, advanced technology and machinery, so as to speed up the building of an adequate number of public fiats. This will reduce the waiting time of applicants and relieve them of any mental torture. This will generally improve the provision of public housing and effectively implement our democratic socialists' public housing scheme.

Sir, from the voting by the electorate at the recent general elections, we can see that our public housing programme is successful. Generally, the scheme of "Home for the Dwellers" has been well received by people in the middle and lower strata. As the population in the urban areas is too concentrated, there should be better land utilisation of some empty State land and of land occupied by old and low-level Government servants' quarters, which take up much space. In their place we should build more high-rise public flats to improve the residential environment of the workers and people of the middle and lower strata in those areas.

Attention should be paid not only to the building of so-called high-class shopping centres in the city area, but we should also understand the background of and the actual needs of our people When the cost of living is rising day by day, will most families with more than four children to bring up (unlike in the West where a family seldom has more than four children), have any surplus money to buy the so-called high-class articles? Sir, I am not against the building of high-class shopping centres under the urban renewal scheme, but 1 would like to stress that we should not build too many modern shopping centres in close proximity in too short a time. As they do not serve the actual needs of our people, they have no business. In the end, many of our local merchants who have moved into these new shopping centres have to close down because of poor business and because of rising prices of properties owing to impending urban renewal. Sir, the Government departments concerned should make a study of the income and living conditions of the people in the locality concerned, before setting up plans for commercial centres to meet the daily needs and the practical demands of the people in order to promote prosperity.

Sir, as the saying goes: "to start an enterprise is difficult, to maintain an enterprise is even more difficult." Through our Constitution, we will preserve the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Singapore. No foreign forces or ambitious elements will be allowed to "sell" our people through local proxies. We should be united in our effort to jointly preserve the hard-won fruit of our economic progress earned through our years of hard struggle. Nobody must be allowed to tamper with our achievement, as it would put all our labour to waste.

Sir, on behalf of the people of Kampong Kapor constituency, I would like to express our high esteem of the President for his Speech delivered at the opening of this Parliament.

4.19 p.m.

Mr P. Selvadurai (Kuo Chuan): Mr Speaker, Sir, bold and tough policies firmly implemented since 1965, and the intelligent response of the people in terms of collective disciplined work, have enabled us to overcome the stark question of survival as an independent nation, so much so that we should now be able to have a closer look at the fundamentals of the social doctrine that is shaping the nation. The President's Speech has very properly raised the question of these fundamentals in terms principally of the work-ethic and remuneration for such work that should be instilled into the people. While the Speech has suggested the broad generalisations of the emergent doctrine, it will be for this House over the ensuing years to help in analysing the more difficult and recondite elements of the new doctrine in terms, in particular, of the social consequences that it generates.

It has been our supreme virtue in the past not to be dogmatic and doctrinaire in social and political matters. This has enabled us, in holding fast to the central objectives of building a rational and just social order, to experiment with different methods designed both to create wealth and to generate a credible defence capability within the short time-span available to us. So, while other countries have moved backwards into the future by playing around with emotive and immaterial questions relating to language, neo-colonialism and the like, we have taken small but steady steps forward into the same future. In a fast changing turbulent area, we would, for the next five years at least, constitute a stable anchor.

Having wiped out unemployment, we now move on to the next phase of our development in which the provision of a higher standard and quality of life for all would assume increasing importance. The phenomenon of rising expectations is an unruly horse in any system of democratic politics. There would be measured wage increases and vexed questions relating to the criteria to be employed in establishing wage differentials. The procedure of achieving mathematical parities in wages for different types of work in industry need not detain us if it is recognised that "in some small degree the standard of life of the great mass of the nation depends not merely on the remuneration which they are paid for their labour, but on the social income which they receive as citizens". In this context the prospect of massive investment in the education and health of the nation is welcome indeed.

If then it is also assumed that a clear principle of demarcation should divide the needs which may properly be supplied by collective action from those which humans should be required to meet by their personal exertions, the aim of policy should be to create the pre-conditions and the environment that would provide the incentives for the citizen to maximise his personal exertions in providing for his needs.

What is really implied in this, Mr Speaker, Sir, is a social system where work and remuneration is based not on status but on contract, with the state stepping in from time to time to correct injustices that fail to be solved by the two sides of industry - management and labour. In this way the work-ethic, so necessary for the regeneration of a developing nation, would remain unimpaired. The call has already been made recently outside this Chamber for the inspired creation of a profound ethic in industry that would obliterate the differences and distinctions between management and labour and provide the solvent for wasteful periodic industrial strife and discord. While legislation in the shape of the Industrial Relations Act has provided the essential machinery for conciliation and arbitration o industrial disputes, it has failed, as it must, to provide the self-adjusting social mechanism that would minimise, if not, eradicate differences.

What is needed is the evolution in industrial practice in Singapore of a new value of, if need be, non-political mutualism that would enable management and labour to work as partners, as opposed to antagonistic factors in industry. Different experiments to achieve this end are being conducted, with varying degrees of success and failure, the world over. But it may be useful for us in Singapore to have a closer look at the principles and values that govern the organisation and functioning of industry in Japan. If paternalistic, Japanese industry appears to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of that paternalism by securing the welfare of its employees over and above the monetary income earned by them. It has in this way taken over some of the functions performed in other countries by the state. If I may say so, we may have reached the right stage in our political and economic development to work some of the rudimentary values of the Japanese system into our industrial organisation.

If the social unit of modern Western society is the individual, the social unit of Eastern society has always been the family. These two basic premises produce entirely different types of social systems and duties. The astonishing phenomenon that emerges in any study of the history of Eastern societies is the vast stretches of time over which these societies have endured and developed without final dissolution and disappearance; and I believe that one of the reasons for this is the strength and integrity of the family system. We must quickly decide now if the social unit in Singapore is to remain the family, or if we are to go the way of the West with everything that that implies; for any perusal of the daily newspapers would indicate that our families are breaking-up and terms like the generation gap, fashionable in some exotic societies of the West, seem to be the current coin in discussions in Singapore as well. The causes and reasons for the break-up of our families should be properly studied before we start borrowing descriptive and quasi-scientific terms from foreign theorists wholely inapplicable to our situation; and in this context it may be useful to review the working of the Women's Charter to see if it has been an unmitigated success; if it has secured the woman, discipline the man and save the home. I am sure that any such investigation would reveal some interesting and unsuspected phenomena.

Mr Speaker, Sir, over the past ten years we have moved and gently swung Singapore from stage to stage in her political, economic and social development, and the area and distance that we have traversed as a people in this decade has been little short of revolutionary. This passage has been achieved not through the barrel of the gun to the chagrin of one school of our opponents, but through the ballot-box to the chagrin again of a few other schools of our opponents; and we had the opportunity recently to test their relative strengths among the people. That they have failed miserably is not surprising, for the people were able to see through the simple scheme of fallacies projected by the opposition parties, and we now know that the people have advanced in their consciousness far beyond the understanding of these opposition groups.

The next decade will see us securing ourselves in the emergent Southeast Asian state system and, in the course of it, it may be necessary for us from time to time to swing Singapore gently from one course to the other depending upon the tide of the times.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the Motion.

Mr Speaker: Order. It is now half-past Four. Debate to be resumed on what day?

Mr Barker: Tomorrow, Sir.

Mr Speaker: So be it.