INCREASE OF ACCOUCHEMENT CHARGES FOR HIGHER ORDER OF DELIVERY (Further Statement by the Minister for Health)

Mr Chua Sian Chin: Mr Speaker, Sir, hon. Members may be pleased to note that as a result of the views expressed in this House yesterday that the proposed increase in accouchement charges for A class should be very much higher than those for C class, I have, after consultation with some of my Cabinet colleagues, decided to increase further the proposed charges for A class. The new rates for A class will be as follows:- A Class $ Delivery for 1st child 250 Delivery for 2nd child 300 Delivery for 3rd child 350 Delivery for 4th child 400 Delivery for 5th and higher order child 400

May I also take this opportunity to answer a question posed yesterday by an hon. Member as to how we were going to prevent parents from having more children after allocating Housing and Development Board flats to them. The answer to the question is that priorities for the allocation of HDB flats will not only be for the application for the first flat but also for application for transfers to a bigger and better flat. In other words, if those who after having been allocated flats continue after 1st August, 1973, to have more children, then their application for transfers to bigger flats in the future will drop very low in priority. They should then not blame anyone other than themselves if' they and their bigger families had to remain in their smaller flats for a very long time.