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

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

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.

2.31 p.m.

Mr Tay Boon Too (Paya Lebar): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, when we rose yesterday, I was dealing with a matter concerning the equality between duties and rights. In other words, people working in the same place should be governed by the same rules and regulations. When duties and rights are not properly equated, especially under an enlightened Government like ours, they can be said to be an oversight on the Government's part. For example, on the question of the retirement age for Chinese school teachers, there are two different kinds of ruling. According to the regulations, those who were employed before 1st July, 1956, have to retire at 55 years, while those employed after this date can retire at 60. We feel that this regulation is unreasonable. I wonder why such a regulation should be adopted and why it is still being implemented by the Ministry of Education. I said yesterday that the Singapore Chinese School Teachers' Association had submitted memorandum after memorandum to the Ministry of Education, all of which had been shelved and forgotten. There was no reply to the memoranda submitted so far. Sir, we have made repeated submissions, but they have been simply ignored. This is a matter for regret. It is not my intention to take up so much time of this House in dealing with this small matter. However, I strongly feel that the implementation of the regulations which I have described is causing discontent and dissatisfaction among the teachers in Chinese schools.

Mr Speaker, Sir, we have always said that teachers in our Republic should inculcate in our children a sense of national consciousness and patriotism. But the Ministry of Education has not looked after the interests of our patriotic teachers. On the contrary, it is giving special treatment to those who are not patriotic and whose loyalty is, in fact, in doubt. You will recall that in 1959 when the present Government first took office with a mandate from the people, it was decided that in order to save our national coffers and our economic resources, there should be a pay cut in the public service. As a result of the pay cut, the teachers suffered. In addition, they had to carry a greater work load. They had to teach in the adult education classes. Teachers in Government-aided schools also suffered the pay cut. When the pay cut order was made, some of the teachers who had no backbone and who were not loyal and patriotic took to their heels and went across the Causeway to offer their services there. In other words, they left the Singapore education service to work elsewhere. Three or four years later, when our national economy took a turn for the better, these people came back to Singapore because the pay cut was restored. However, these people, who left and returned, were classified as teachers employed after 1st July, 1956, and are therefore allowed to carry on teaching happily until they reach the age of 60. Those who did not leave the service then have to retire at 55 under the same regulations. Are we to encourage patriotic feeling by looking after the interests of the determined lot of the teachers who did not take to their heels? Or are we to give better treatment to those who left the service in the face of difficult times? Mr Speaker, Sir, this is a question we have to consider very seriously. We should not allow opportunists to get a better deal.

I have taken up the question of the retirement age in order to draw the attention of the Minister for Education to this anomaly so that it can be rectified. I hope to hear from the new Minister for Education, the Minister of State, or the Parliamentary Secretary, declaring that the retiring age for teachers in Singapore would be unified. I am still far away from the age of retirement. Therefore, I am not speaking for my own personal interest, but on behalf of the other teachers. I come under the regulation for retirement at 60. Let us forget these asides which are unnecessary. When I took up this matter I did so in the hope that the memoranda submitted by the Singapore Chinese School Teachers' Association would receive due consideration from the Ministry.

The last point I wish to raise concerns educative travel. In the President's address, it was stated that grants from the Education Fund would be given for educative travel to enable teachers and students to see the neighbouring countries. This, of course, is a matter for rejoice because it will be of benefit to our teachers and students. It will be an encouragement to our teachers and students to learn by actual experience instead of by rote. What I fail to under-stand, however, is this. Recently the Singapore Chinese School Teachers' Association sent a team of teachers to' attend the Fifth Asian Conference of the Congress of the World Teaching Profession in Tokyo. The Singapore Chinese School Teachers' Association had to' raise its own funds to pay for the passage. They did not receive a single cent from the Government. At the end of the conference they were invited to tour the neighbouring countries. They therefore spent six extra days overseas. What was most exasperating was that for some reason, the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Finance cut six days of their pay. Instead of receiving, a grant, the teachers suffered a pay cut. Perhaps the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance should get together to find out whether educative travel should be encouraged by allowing full-pay leave [Interruption]. If teachers are sent to Taiwan to learn the Chinese language, it is not a bad idea because they are not allowed to go to mainland China.

Mr Speaker: Mr Tay, please continue with what you want to say, instead of arguing with Members.

Mr Tay Boon Too: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I was speaking on educative travel. The point I want to stress here is that since it has become a matter of policy to encourage educative travel, teachers should be given every opportunity to make use of their annual leave for this purpose. Why should teachers suffer a pay cut while they are on educative travel? Mr Speaker, Sir, it is my hope that since educative travel is being encouraged, as mentioned in the President's address, the officials in the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Finance will take note of this policy and implement it accordingly, instead of treating this as propaganda material. Sir, we are certainly grateful to the President for making it a Government policy to encourage educative travel among the teachers and students. This will certainly widen their horizon. I fully endorse this policy. As to the details of its implementation, we can discuss them at the proper time.

2.45 p.m.

The Minister for Social Affairs (Encik Othman bin Wok): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to associate myself with the sentiments already expressed by my honourable colleagues in thanking the President for his many timely and thought-provoking statements contained in his Address.

I have said "timely" because the President has very ably outlined in his Address the change of circumstances that prevail in our Republic today, circumstances which not only differ from those of five years ago but also necessitate a change of planning and action to enable us to face the tasks ahead. The President's Address provides us with many guidelines for the future development of Singapore and which very correctly underline the social principle governing our society, i.e, the principle of sustained collective endeavour and quality participation.

Today, more than ever, we must evolve social policies which will ensure the full utilisation of our manpower resources, particularly to resolve the shortage of labour in the present employment situation. There is no doubt that, in the years ahead, we must consciously strive to create conditions in which social dislocations will be minimised and the widest opportunity for community participation and individual fulfilment in work or in recreation, is afforded to all our citizens.

As emphasised in the President's speech, Singaporeans must avoid the pattern of thinking, the welfare state syndrome, where everyone expects others, not himself, to work harder to carry the burden of providing services and amenities which everyone wants. It must be recognised that there is a limit to what the State can provide. In social services, clearly it is not possible nor is it desirable for the Government to do everything. Much could be said about the danger that lurks within the apparently innocent philosophy of "something for nothing", and it is true that in the context of our circumstances in Singapore today this selfish and seemingly harmless philosophy of "something for nothing" could turn out to be disastrous, if not fatal.

In the field of social affairs, I would be the first to endorse the statement of the President that "no one should get away with enjoying services subsidised through the hard work of others, without making his own contribution, to the best of his ability and capacity." That is why, of late, my Ministry has been reviewing its policies, and is considering new schemes whereby those who can work, though with limitations, should be encouraged, trained and helped along to work. For example, in our Public Assistance Scheme, my officers have been scanning and sieving the lists of public assistance recipients who, on account of their age, physical abilities or circumstances, are believed to be able to do at least some work; and the main guideline in our new policy will be that such public assistance recipients who can work will be offered suitable employment or, if they are untrained, will be put on training schemes to help them take up gainful employment eventually. We have now reached the stage where, unless valid reasons are given by recipients as to why they cannot accept the job or the training offered, their public assistance allowance will be discontinued if they should turn down offers of employment.

In the same vein, we are also looking into the intensive and extensive training of the handicapped adults of Singapore. While training of the handicapped by the various voluntary welfare organisations in Singapore has so far been concentrated on the children and teenage groups, not much has been done for the training of the handicapped adults who, for one reason or another, are not able to obtain employment due to their being untrained and handicapped. The Social Welfare Department is at the moment considering all possible measures to provide useful and suitable training for the handicapped adults of Singapore in order to enable them to be well-equipped for employment and to obtain suitable employment. This is a significant step in the rehabilitation of the handicapped people of Singapore, closely following the policy that even the handicapped today are expected to make their own contribution towards society to the best of their ability and capacity.

In this connection, I wish to make it clear that there is no intention whatsoever on the part of the Government to reduce or cease welfare aid to those who are really incapable and who, on account .of their old age or severe handicap, are unable to make any contribution to the society. We will continue to provide assistance to such unfortunate and genuinely needy citizens, but certainly this "something for nothing" business will not be applied to the able-bodied and the unemployed who due to their sheer laziness or inertia have not been trying to work and who have sought the easiest way out by merely relying on welfare aid. To these people, gone are the days when they could get something for nothing.

We have over the years evolved a pattern of social services based on the participation of both the Government and the voluntary sectors. It is intended to restructure and strengthen community participation in welfare services by reorganising the various services which have been developed rather haphazardly, depending more on individual initiative and effort, into systematic and planned operations.

The Government has already taken steps to strengthen the Research and Training Section of the Social Welfare Department, and one of the functions of this Section, apart from its research and training roles, is to engage in systematic planning for the improvement of welfare services in the Republic.

More sophisticated techniques will be used in the rehabilitation process not only for the residents of welfare homes but also for juvenile offenders placed on probation. A psychologist has already been recruited to launch a Psychological Service and to provide consultancy and referral services in the adjustment programme which in the near future will involve greater participation by voluntary welfare workers.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the concern shown by the Member for Kuo Chuan regarding the working of the Women's Charter. I would like to assure the Member that from time to time my Ministry makes a study of the problems and the issues posed in the implementation of the Women's Charter. I would like to point out that the Women's Charter is only a legislative measure to prevent abuse, and it has already proven its usefulness by enhancing the status and promoting the welfare of women and families.

However, I would like to correct the impression created by the Member when he said that the divorce rates had soared to unmanageable heights. In fact, the number of divorce petitions over the last five years has been within the region of 200 to 300 per year, as compared to the number of marriages which is between 10,000 to 13,000 per year. The Member may also wish to know that from 1960 to 1971 there were only 2,036 applications made to the High Court for divorces, and only 1,411 of these were approved, giving an average of only 128 actual divorce cases per year. Although this figure is higher than that for 1960, i.e., before the introduction of the Women's Charter, where approximately 80 divorces per year were recorded, it must be recognised that in those days most marriages, including polygamous marriages, were not registered and, hence divorce was by mutual consent, the figures for which were not included in statistics given by the High Court. I would like to dispel the impression that divorce can easily be obtained. The provisions for divorce in the Women's Charter are fairly restrictive. It is also interesting to note that the social stigma attached to divorces has now diminished.

I agree with the Member that due to rapid urbanisation and modernisation, the stabilising forces in our Asian culture, which have kept families together, have been weakened to some extent. There are also many other factors in our social situation that have brought about conflicts and tensions affecting family life. To counteract these trends and tendencies, social education, either in the home or within the school setting, is most important.

I welcome the Member's suggestion for a review of the Women's Charter. But for such a review to be fruitful, considerable sociological research into the factors affecting family life is necessary. It is for this reason that a Research and Training Section has been set up in the Social Welfare Department, and it is hoped that through the various projects, which have already been planned, it may be possible to know more about the various social phenomena which the Member has pointed out.

In sports, we have a two-fold objective. Firstly, we must make sport the way of life for our people. Sports can build body and mind, and it is vital to social peace. The Government has already laid the foundations and indicated the direction for mass participation in sports and games. Inter-constituency sports is promising, and every effort must be made by one and all to sustain it, and the necessary organisation and funds must be obtained to provide a more varied programme and comprehensive range of facilities.

Equally important, we must aim at excellence in sports. This can only be achieved with the necessary organisation, funds and support in the way of staff, expertise, availability of training time and adequate facilities. There is no doubt that we can succeed, considering that within the short space of one and a half years of the establishment of the National Sports Promotion Board, we have not only paved the way for mass participation in sports but also established the framework for the development of sports talents for both national and international competitions.

Sometime next year the National Stadium will be the venue for the Seventh SEAP Games, the first time a major international meet of such importance is being organised here. We have already successfully bidden for the next Asian Games to be held in Singapore in 1978. The task of developing the necessary organisation and infrastructure to make Singapore an important centre for sports is a challenging one, but judging from the present leadership, enthusiasm and dedication shown by so many people involved in the organization of sports, I have every confidence that what we have set out to do in sports will soon be realised.

3.05 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr Ong Soo Chuan) (in Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, this is the First Session of the Third Parliament since our independence. As our President has pointed out in his speech:

`We meet today under circumstances vastly different from those prevailing when the last Parliament was convened on 6th May, 1968.'

In fact, our past era can be reviewed in two stages. The first stage is the period after independence, which was quite a tumultuous one. During that period Singapore became a Republic and there were many problems to be resolved and tackled. The second stage is the five-year period when we were in office. During this time we had to solve many difficulties and problems which were more harsh and real, such as economy, defence, unemployment and the problem of redundancy caused by the British military withdrawal. However, under our judicious leadership with the right policies and with the co-operation and effort of our diligent people, we managed to solve all of them, each and every one.

Now we are entering into the third stage, in which we strive for quality, and on the basis of our past successful experience, I believe we can achieve results. The central theme of this message of the President is that, in addition to achieving higher standards of education, business management, and work ethic, there are two conditions to be met. One is the establishment of the small family to ensure a better quality and an improved living standard. This will enable the next generation to look after themselves better, without being a burden to the society or the nation. The other condition is the abuse of free social welfare services. We should remember that everybody has a duty to put in his share of work, either physically or mentally, in return for what he wants. In any society, there should be no such thing as getting something for free. Otherwise that country will become either weaker or poorer.

Singapore has emerged from a period of difficulties, and marching into its eighth year of independence at a steady pace. Through our past efforts in overcoming difficulties, we have gained rich and varied experience, and our people's confidence in building a better society has been strengthened. In not too short a time, we have overcome many difficult problems which, in the eyes of outsiders, were impossible to solve. All this is due to the determination and drive of our people, which have consolidated the foundation of nation building.

We managed to overcome the difficulties encountered in the past because most of our adult population had gone through the mill and lived through different social systems. They had gone through suppression by colonial rule and the persecution by the Japanese warlords during the second World War. And finally they had also gone through the relentless treatment of the corrupt government of the early days of a self-governing state. In short, they had gone through trials and tribulations and emerged from the baptism of fire. With all these experiences and efforts they have made sacrifices and struggle to build up their own country and an ideal society. After independence, the people have become masters of their own destiny. This fact has strengthened their patriotism, and because of this they have discarded the feeling of being birds of passage and the attitudes of immigrants. So on this concept they are able to build a further prosperous and progressive society.

The unique quality about the people of Singapore is that, unlike those of other countries, they have not taken to the belief that just because Singapore is independent they can sit down and enjoy life. If we look at the developing countries around us, we will see that instead of making any advancement they are on the way down. That we have been able' to progress from time to time and become more and more prosperous is all due to the good quality of our people who know that independence does not necessarily bring with it prosperity and progress. The people realise that concerted efforts and hard work on the part of the people will make possible nation building. They do not take chances but instead participate actively in the task of nation building. So long as this patriotic spirit exists among these seasoned adults of Singapore, it will be very difficult for foreign interests to buy over Singapore. But the strength of this adult population cannot last forever. With the passage of time it must gradually dissipate. Therefore, in order to preserve our hard-won achievements and to ensure that there will be further progress and prosperity for Singapore, we must take preventive measures so that our country under the leadership of the next generation will not be taken over or manipulated by foreign elements. As stated in the Presidential address, Constitutional amendments are necessary to ensure that:

`no surrender of our sovereignty, or any part thereof, by way of incorporation into, or federation with, any other country is possible, unless two-thirds of the total electorate vote positively for it in a referendum.'

All this is a preparation for a better future. It does not mean that we have no confidence in the next generation of leaders. This is because about 50 per cent of them at least do not have the actual experience of the difficulties and hardships that older leaders had undergone in the past. They lack the experience of the hardships and tribulations of the early `50s. Whatever knowledge they may gather about those difficulties comes from books or hearsay. Most of them have been enjoying modern, stable and comfortable living in Singapore. From childhood to adulthood they have not gone through the mill, as the present generation had. Therefore, we have to give some consideration to this matter. To make good the shortcomings, we must strengthen this feeling of patriotism and the indomitable spirit by laying sufficient stress on education. Education is fundamental to nation building and the running of a country. To make sure that the future leadership from the younger generation will have the same verve and capability of the present leadership, we must see to it that the content and quality of education should he such that these future leaders will not only be able to contribute towards the economic progress of the country hut also maintain political stability with patriotism.

Let us look around the industrially advanced countries in the world. Many of them have paid attention only to their industrial and economic needs, and not the cultivation of the necessary virtues and character of their people. As a result there is an imbalance of interests among their people manifesting excessive individualism over nationalism. Some of the young people study hard merely for the sake of getting highly paid jobs so that they can enjoy. Although Singapore is a developing country, in terms of economic growth, she is already a developed country. It is necessary only to enhance the quality of education and to encourage technological education. But if we only crystallise our attention on our economic needs at the expense of the cultivation of patriotic and ethical virtues, then there may come a society steeped in selfishness with a generation of people who only care for themselves without so much care for the country the young leadership will then be weakened. Therefore, for the future of our nation, we must try to arrest the trend of such development. We must actively foster the concept of patriotic virtues among our young people. We must make our young people realise that improvement in the quality of education is not meant to enhance their own selfish personal interest, but for the national interest and for a better service to the society. Hence, the Ministry of Education should positively shoulder up this responsibility.

Mr Speaker, Sir, over the past few years particularly during the last general elections, there is a clear indication of doubt over the loyalty of some opposition parties. For ideological reasons, some of them are inclined to look up to other countries, others, for their own selfish reasons, have become the Trojan horse in our country; some have become the mouthpiece of foreign interests. On the face of it, such people are very convincing in their talks, but in the final analysis we can see their hideous motives. Mr Speaker, Sir, if our way of life and our policies have not had the strong support of the people, we would not have been able to obtain this landslide victory. The crux of the problem is that there are still some people with ulterior motives who wish to make use of the mass media, both to mislead and to divide our people. They are doing this in order to satisfy the desire of their foreign masters. So the people of Singapore must always be on guard against such people. Constitutional amendments to ensure our national integrity and sovereignty are therefore very necessary. These measures are also necessary to ensure the political stability and economic prosperity of Singapore.

Mr Speaker, Sir, because of the present political stability, economic prosperity and high standard of living there are some people in our midst who have neither tasted nor realised what hardship is. They are very naive and very foolishly tried to create trouble by interfering with the good life of the people. If history should repeat itself, and if there should be a return of the turbulent days of boycott of classes, strikes, and riots of the 50s and the early 60s, then could we continue to lead this secure, happy and satisfying life? We should, therefore, heighten our vigilance, cultivate our patriotic feelings, examine ourselves and foster the virtue of putting national and public interest above personal interest, and working diligently with others. With concerted effort we must maintain our verve and drive, take up the responsibility and plan carefully for a better future, and make full use of whatever potential we have to meet the challenging roles confronting us in the future.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.

3.20 p.m.

Dr Augustine H. H. Tan (Whampoa): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the people of Singapore have voted wisely for political stability, for they know that economic and social progress depends upon a climate of stability and confidence. With such a favourable climate, we can address ourselves to the challenging task of developing our country into a great metropolis, with a cultured, well-educated and highly-skilled population.

In his distinguished address, our President stressed two essential pre-conditions for Singapore to become a centre for excellence. The first has to do with family planning. People in the low income group should take particular note of this. They should not handicap themselves further by having more children than they can feed, more children than they can educate, or more children than they can accommodate decently in their one- or two-room flats.

The second pre-condition the President mentioned, that is, the preservation of the work ethic and discipline, must be taken seriously by all Singaporeans. Parents, in particular, should not overindulge their children with liberal pocket-money or tolerate idleness and indiscipline. When I see students today driving their own cars to the Junior College, or to the University, I sometimes wonder whether parents are not making life too soft for their children. If our youth do not learn the value of money and do not acquire a measure of self-discipline, then our future as a nation is in doubt.

For the immediate future, our task is to upgrade our industries, improve our technical skills, and acquire more sophisticated managerial and marketing expertise. In the past, we were more concerned with promoting foreign investment than with development as such. In the future, investment promotion must go hand in hand with development of technical and managerial skills. To ensure this, perhaps our industrial incentives could be revised to encourage expansion of existing enterprises, especially local enterprises. Perhaps we can also devise additional criteria for granting tax incentives to industries, e.g, a target number or a proportion of technical and managerial personnel could be specified so as to ensure that proper development of Singaporeans take place.

One of the constraints to further development of industry is the availability of technical and professional personnel. I believe we should create a pool of such people from abroad by prior screening and granting of provisional permanent visas. Such visas can be exercised when an approved job is available to the applicant. This would cut down delays in recruitment. In addition, housing needs to be made available to the new immigrant for the initial six months or a year.

Rapid development requires a corresponding capacity to cope with change. In industry, we shall have to deal with firms made uncompetitive by rising rents and wages or else by urban renewal. We shall have to balance the need for equity with the long-term interests of Singapore.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to add my support for the Finance Minister's decision to increase the pay of civil servants. The dedicated efforts of our civil service have been crucial to Singapore's development over the last 14 years. We must recognise and reward the dedicated. Moreover, as the President pointed out, we need to preserve quality in our civil service. I believe we should have periodic reviews of civil service salaries, especially in the context of rapid development.

I also welcome the Government's policy of taxing luxury consumption. This would encourage saving and discourage lavish consumption which can have bad social effects.

Finally, Mr Speaker, Sir, I fully endorse the Government's intention of amending our Constitution to prevent Singapore from being bought over by foreign countries.

I fully support the motion moved by the hon. Member for Bukit Batok.

3.26 p.m.

Mr Phey Yew Kok (Boon Teck): Mr. Speaker, Sir, I am happy to note that, in the addendum to the President's Speech dealing with the Ministry of Labour, there is a categorical statement to the effect that "workers are human beings and not mere cogs in the wheels of production." If we want a healthy framework of industrial relations to develop in Singapore, it is of fundamental importance that our system of industrial relations should get away from concepts which regard the worker and his skill as no more than yet another purchasable commodity on the market. Human skills certainly have a market value. But human co-operation cannot be purchased. It can only be earned through the practice of sound industrial psychology.

The atmosphere which prevails on the production sites of many enterprises in Singapore is poisoned by pernicious doctrines of industrial relations, which regard workers as wage slaves who have to be coerced and bullied, and not as partners in the production process, whose co-operation, even enthusiastic co-operation, might be obtained by the simple expedient of regarding them as responsible human beings.

It is all to the good that we in Singapore are becoming increasingly conscious of pollution. But pollution is not only physical pollution. There is also psychological pollution which exists in many of our industries and which can and does have serious harmful consequences for our industrial production. This psychological pollution is the consequence of the primitive notions of industrial relations and of personnel management, which I have referred to. And it manifests itself in an atmosphere of mutual distrust and disregard between managements and workers on our factory floors. There is no mutual consultation on what, in fact, are common problems. Instead, there is a system of arbitrary orders, the reasons for which are not given, but which the workers are expected to obey like automatons.

Recently, I had to deal with one factory where the management embarked on a major reorganisation of work schedules. They had good reasons for this reorganisation, for they had obtained new and more productive machines. But the workers were left completely in the dark about the management's plans. One fine morning, they found themselves re-allocated and transferred about. Resentment boiled over, and there was a work stoppage. The climate was not improved by a Production Superintendent who threatened dire punishment for the workers because he claimed that he was a close friend of what he termed "top PAP leaders." He is one of those persons responsible for destroying the confidence and trust which our Government so richly deserves. I shall be happy to privately identify the gentleman concerned to the Minister for Labour, so that he may consider taking appropriate action.

But coming back to my theme, none of these troubles would have occurred if the management had taken the workers into confidence about the "whys" and "wherefores" of the reorganisation of production. Indeed, a number of enlightened managements make good use of works councils to discuss and to consult with their workers on problems which arise in the process of production.

The intelligent use of works councils can give workers a rewarding sense of participation in production, and thereby help to enhance productivity and to transform the climate of industrial relations. Workers come to feel that they belong to the enterprise they work for, and identify themselves with the success of its operations. Unfortunately, the number of managements in Singapore which are prepared to give the works councils a try-out is few and far between.

If workers and management can regard themselves as two necessary parts of a production team, many of our problems in industrial relations will disappear. The Secretary-General of the NTUC proposed in a recent speech the desirability of achieving what he called "a community effort" in all our industrial enterprises. Some managements, however, fear that this proposal means that trade unions will attempt to take over management functions. This is rubbish and is far from being the intention of the NTUC. We clearly recognise that the specific economic problems in industries, touching on the division and the nature of the product, the utilisation of labour and capital, the distribution of raw materials, etc., cannot be solved by majority decisions or voting. They can only be dealt with by those who possess the technical knowledge. The workers are not specialist in this field. So there is no question of trade unions wanting to usurp management functions.

But in the actual process of production, workers can and should be made to feel that they are members of a production team and not, as the addendum to the President's Speech puts it, "mere cogs in the wheels of production."

In the near future, the NTUC hopes to hold discussions with a number of selected employers in the Republic with a view to trying out more enlightened and productive methods of industrial relations. We cannot institute these changes on our own. Management must also co-operate. Furthermore, we hope to obtain the blessings of the Government. It would be a great pity if the initiative we have shown proves to be still-born because of a lack of positive response from the employers.

The tripartite affiance between Government, trade unions and employers must not be an alliance only on paper. It must be translated into practice on our factory floors. We offer our hands in sincere co-operation to the employers. We hope that at least some of them will have the wisdom to accept the proffered hand.

3.40 p.m.

Mr Ng Kah Ting (Punggol): Mr Speaker, Sir, in his speech at the opening of the First Session of this Parliament, the President broadly outlined the Government's policies for the next five years. He laid particular stress on quality and high performance on the part of all so that our Republic "can become a centre for excellence in all fields important to our economic and cultural life." And the addenda of the various Ministries elaborated on these two aspects.

However, during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President, many of my colleagues on the backbenches have made contributions in terms of suggestions and concrete comments. So I propose, Sir, to touch on some of the topics that need to be brought up for the Government's consideration.

I have gone through the addendum and note with considerable interest the portion from the Ministry of Education. I am glad of the ambitious plans proposed. But somehow I am surprised at the brevity of some parts contained therein, in particular, that part which dwells on industrial training. It is noteworthy that an Industrial Training Board will be established and for which a Bill has been presented to this House. Referring to one particular aspect in the field of industrial training, I had an occasion in September this year at the official opening of the Ponggol Vocational Institute to comment on the building industry, which is now facing an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers.

It cannot be denied that the building industry adds much to our Gross Domestic Product. I said then that the demand for housing in both the private and public sectors had outstripped supply to a point of no return, at least for the next ten years or more. And that this unprecedented and unexpected situation had brought about an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled construction workers. As a result, building construction companies, as an immediate solution to this problem, had to import labour. I had then also stressed the need to develop a large pool of such workers of our own in order to reduce our dependence on imported labour. This could be done by organising more courses through vocational institutes, like the Ponggol Vocational Institute. And we could encourage more of our school-leavers to take up building construction as a career. This could be clone through wider publicity of the courses run by the Institute with the stress that monetary benefits from such a career were comparable to a white-collar job.

I am of the view that similar emphasis should be given to this field of Singapore's industrial activity before the problem becomes critical. In the past too much emphasis, if not an over-emphasis, had been placed on the need for technicians in the manufacturing and other fields of industrial training that there is at present a corresponding lack of building technicians. We must not forget that the numerous factories in Jurong and other areas have to be built first before the machinery and factory technicians could move in. These buildings were built by building construction workers.

I do not know whether the Ministry concerned is actively looking into this aspect of the problem that our Republic is now facing, and whether steps are being taken to overcome this, because I am not very impressed by the statement that, and I quote, "the Ministry will continue to develop vocational training in selected manual and applied arts and service trades." It is thus my hope that one of the first tasks of the Industrial Training Board, when set up, will be to look into the provision of more courses on building construction among other things.

Another aspect, Sir, I wish to touch on is the problem faced by fishermen, especially those based in my constituency at Kangkar. Although the addendum on the Ministry of Defence consists of two short paragraphs, there is much to be done. However, it is in the structure and set-up of the Maritime Command of the Singapore Armed Forces that I am particularly concerned with, i.e, what can it do to safeguard our territorial waters and what protection can it give to our fishermen who go out to fish in the territorial waters and beyond? Perhaps I can best illustrate this by familiarising hon. Members with the problem faced by the fishermen in my constituency, who have to sail to the South China Sea to make a living. It is a hazardous means of livelihood for them.

Each time a trawler leaves its base at Kangkar for the fishing grounds in the South China Sea, it has to pass through the Straits of Johore and head north-east. Sometimes even before it can reach the fishing grounds, say, near the Horsburgh Lighthouse, some fast pirate boat would come and harass them. They do this on the return trip too! These pirates either demand large sums of money or order our fishermen at gun-point to some island and hold them to ransom. When the fishermen do return, they come back empty-handed. On many occasions, when sums of money ranging from $100 to $400 are paid on the way out, another pirate boat would come along and make similar demands on the fishermen's return. The fishermen have complained to me on several occasions; I have brought up their complaints to both the Ministries of National Development and Foreign Affairs. The officials said they were looking into the matter and that was that. Even a protest note from the fishermen sent earlier this year to the Foreign Affairs Ministry has not brought about any change in the situation. I was told that the Ministry would get in touch with the Ministry of Defence to do something. I would like to know what is being done.

The fishermen tell me that the patrol boats of the Maritime Command do patrol the said areas, especially along the territorial waters, but they do not seem to be very effective for they were merely passing by. In other words, the sea lanes used by our fishermen are not adequately patrolled. I wonder whether the Ministry of Defence could look into this. Well, the Defence Minister may turn round and say, "There were only few cases reported to us. And if there are more, why do the fishermen not report?" I can only say that some reports have been made and some have not. The simple reason why some reports have not been made is that the fishermen see no point in reporting as they say that nothing can be done. Some time ago, I read a news item in a local paper which states that very few amateur fishermen would dare go out to the South China Sea these days for fear of being harassed by these pirates. This is not an exaggeration, but a fact. I do not know whether the Defence Minister is satisfied with the present set-up of the Maritime Command and the role it is now playing. In this respect, can the Minister inform this House on the steps he proposes to take to give better protection to our fishermen from being harassed by pirates within and near our territorial waters? If he can assure this House that he is looking into this, I am sure the fishermen in my area would be grateful. I feel strongly that one aspect of the Maritime Command's duties would include this.

Sir, a topic that constitutes the usual cry of Members of Parliament for the rural areas is the inadequacy of Government to provide the rural folks with amenities like roads, water and electricity supplies and street lighting. Though a sum of slightly more than $4 million was voted earlier this year to meet the requirement of 58 constituencies then (and now it is being spread over 65 constituencies) these rural constituencies usually use up most of the funds allocated. In spite of this, still much more funds are needed for more has to be done. If I were to ask the Minister for Law and Home Affairs, and National Development, for an increase in the allocation of funds to the rural areas, he will most certainly say that he is in sympathy with us, but what else can he do, for he is not holding the purse strings! Well, then, I will urge the Finance Minister to consider the plight of the residents in the rural areas when he presents the budget in March next year. I can only request him to be mindful of the words of the President that "There is a bloom which will spread from the city to the new towns, and through to the villages and kampongs in the rural areas". On our side, we, the MPs for the rural areas, earnestly hope that the bloom will take the shape of more metalled roads, electricity and water supplies, better street lighting and better drainage. If this happens, then I say the bloom is fair and realistic.

Mr Speaker, Sir, before I conclude I would also like to touch on the Ministerial statements made last week and earlier this week in this House. I choose to make comment now because only questions can be asked of Ministerial statements, and very often they are "lost" even though answered. Sir, the Finance Minister in his Ministerial statement raised taxes on motor vehicles, petrol, wines, tobacco, etc. He said that the taxes raised would not hit the low income group. I do not think this is entirely correct because the increases in tax on wines, liquor, beer and stout do bit them quite hard, if not, hard enough. Let me illustrate. I do not know whether he is aware that dinner parties are given by the low income group on occasions of marriage and anniversaries. The majority of the population are below the age of 30, and marriages take place every day. And when receptions and dinners are held, hard and soft drinks are usually provided. This is not lavishness, as it is only customary on such auspicious occasions. Even if one were to cut down on such expenditure, I just wonder by how much.

The Finance Minister also increased the import duty on cars from 30 per cent to 45 per cent, but I note that he has not imposed the excise duty on locally assembled vehicles. This gives one the impression that he is giving the 15 per `cent or more to the local assemblers who will have an edge over the importers. If the objective behind the introduction of the additional duty is to discourage people from owning cars and to use public transport instead, then I think excise duty should be introduced. Otherwise, prospective buyers will be encouraged to buy locally assembled cars, big and small as they are, for they cost so much less! For, after all, excise duty does bring in revenue. If it does, why not impose it?

On another counter-effect on the recent increases in customs duties, I would like the Finance Minister to consider that with high customs duties, smuggling can be made more profitable. Smuggling may well be on the increase instead. I think there must be some sort of balance. However, I must say that the move to increase the tax on luxury items is good.

Sir, I now come to the statement made by the Health Minister when he raised the accouchement fees in Government hospitals. I do not share his view that "For the Singapore of the 1970's the third child is a luxury. The fourth and fifth are anti-social acts." The Minister also pointed out, in answer to a question, that he was not against those who could afford the 3rd, 4th or 5th child, and he also said to the effect "by all means have more if you can afford." I am of the view that the statement is not only unfair but contradictory. Well, according to him, lowering the birth rate is the best solution to raise our standard of life and quality of the environment. And the introduction of increased accouchement charges with effect from 1st August next year is primarily aimed at the lower income group that have or are going to have large families in the 70's.

The Minister concerned has admitted in his statement that there has been a decline in the birth-rate through family planning. I say this is a good sign; but I was disappointed that he did not take up the suggestion made by the Member for Kim Seng who suggested persuasion as a means. I would like to urge him to consider this suggestion seriously and to get the Family Planning and Population Control Board to launch a relentless and intensified campaign in the rural areas, to make full use of the mass media and to conduct courses. I say, do this first, and should the birth rate not be lowered further or not at the desired rate, then only can the Government resort to measures as contained in the statement. We have said that our electorate is sophisticated enough and that we have been quite successful in mass education. I would like to urge that we postpone the implementation of increasing such charges and see the effect of such a campaign. Frankly, I do not think people are happy with the introduction of such measures for they do not like to be told what to do and what not to do. And with the growing population becoming more and more literate, especially in the 1970's and beyond, coupled with it such mass education, I am positive that the desired result can be achieved without any penalty.

Sir, I beg to support the motion.

3.59 p.m.

Mr Ch'ng Jit Koon (Tiong Bahru): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, on the 12th of this month the President delivered his Address on behalf of the Government, in which policy statements were made. In his Address, the President charted the various tasks and measures to be taken for further improvement of the country over the next five years. Undoubtedly, with the fulfilment of all these measures, Singapore will certainly become a more progressive, stronger and more gracious country, with a better and happier life for all.

Sir, I am glad to note that in the Addendum on the Ministry of Education, stress is made that the quality of trained teachers will be enhanced and the contents of textbooks improved. It is also stated in the Addendum that: "As more qualified teachers become available, the teacher-student ratio will improve, reducing the number of students per class to provide more individual attention for each student." This is a very encouraging and praiseworthy policy. As we all know education is the foundation of nation-building. If we can really ensure that students are given more individual attention, then there is no reason why we cannot produce much better students.

Sir, in the past few days, several Members of this House have expressed their views on the administration of the Ministry of Education. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect to this House on matters that I have observed. Sir, it is quite usual for the Ministry of Education to send relief teachers to schools when for some reason or other the regular teachers have left or are on leave. This is only a temporary measure, in my view. At best, it is an expedient, because relief teachers can only be temporary. But sometimes this causes dislocation, particularly to those students who are in the final year. As far as know, there was one secondary school with about 70 teachers in both sessions. Before the term was out, there was a turnover of more than 40 relief teachers in this particular school. For some subjects, the students had to wait for more than a month before they could get relief teachers. These relief teachers only stayed for a short while. Sir, I have also been informed that this also happens to some other schools in Singapore. What we fail to understand is that while, on the one hand, there are many trained teachers waiting to be recruited or appointed, on the other hand, there are many vacancies yet to be filled.

Sir, the Government should think very carefully and analytically before a decision is made or implemented. It seems to me that the Ministry of Education is one particular Ministry which has frequently changed its policies or decisions. As in the case of the secondary technical school which I have just referred to, initially this school had both technical and academic classes. In the beginning, the students and teachers were all very devoted and hardworking, and within a few years they had created a fine tradition of devotion and hard-work. But shortly after that, the Ministry of Education converted this school into a pure technical school and abolished the first and second year classes. Because of this, students' stay in the school was shortened. Thus the students had no feeling of attachment for the school and the teachers also could not understand the students well, resulting in poor performance. The fine tradition was thrown overboard. In view of this, the Ministry of Education allowed the school to recruit first year students at the beginning of this year. I understand the school is also going to have academic classes next year. All this shows that the Ministry of Education has been too rash in making decisions.

In the Addendum on the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Social Affairs, the President stated that the mass media, both Government and private, must help to inculcate the virtues of patriotism, pride in the national effort and achievement and the importance of teamwork and national endeavour as necessary for group success. The inculcation of national consciousness for the building of a rugged society is one of the pressing tasks ahead of us.

On one occasion, I met a student leader of an institution of higher learning. He told me that most of his university mates were rather depressed and downhearted, devoid of fighting spirit. He said the society was to be responsible for all this. Sir, is it not a pity that even among the future stalwarts of our society there could be such thinking? Moreover, among our young people today a great many of them are still dependent on their parents, and it is also a pity to see that they have taken deeply to a life of decadence.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to see a show provided by children of kindergarten classes run by the People's Association. The programme was very attractive and entertaining, and it was very meaningful in content. It was a very praiseworthy performance. What was regrettable was that in the souvenir magazine for this occasion. I noted the following remarks in the "What we say" column:

`I must study hard in order to become a rich father in future;

I must study hard so that when I grow up I can make more money for my father and mother to fatten them.

I must study hard now in order to be first in the class and win a prize.'

Sir, with the remarks made by these innocent children of five or six years of age, we can at once know what their thinking is. I wonder if the teachers had inculcated in them the right thinking.

Our Government does not seem to have done enough to curb yellow culture and to check the spread of inimical western fads. Many films, which have been banned in our country, have been allowed to be advertised in the local press. The campaign to curb long hair announced by the authorities and launched with all seriousness appears to he short-lived. Even today we can see posters on the walls of Government offices saying that those who sport long hair will not be welcome and will he dealt with last. Yet we often see many people sporting long hair and in odd clothes roaming about the streets, and going in and out of Government departments. Even some Government servants are sporting long hair, many of whom are office boys in uniform.

Sir, industrialisation and economic development is the life-blood of our country. In the past few years our efforts and achievements in economic development have become a fact and is open for all to see. As the President has pointed out in his speech, in order to maintain the economic momentum the policy of quantitative achievement is no longer adequate to meet our present needs. He also said that we could now afford to select those industries which would not ruin the environment. It is time now for us to take stock and to rectify and adjust any errors. Some foreign investors have made use of our industrialisation policy to benefit in the transitional period. They exploited the weaknesses in our immigration policy and monopolised high technology and managerial administration, so that our citizens are denied the opportunities arising therefrom. Some of these foreign investors even played foul to achieve their selfish interests. Not long ago, the Minister for Labour spoke at the annual dinner of the Singapore Employers Federation, appealing to our small and medium-sized enterprises to speed up modernisation to create keen competition. He also urged the Chinese educated senior personnel to take part in management training in order to make further contributions to the prosperity of the country. In its wake, I am glad to note that next month the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Faculty of Commerce of the Nanyang University will jointly hold a series of vocational training courses in management and administration for the Chinese educated personnel who serve in medium and small industries to provide them with opportunities for further education. No doubt, this is most timely. We hope it will really serve the purpose of training more managerial personnel for our country to meet our needs, and we also hope that from now on Nanyang University will take fuller initiative to establish closer links with the society in order to make greater and more positive contribution to the advancement of our nation and our society.

Sir, I support the motion moved by the Member for Bukit Batok thanking the President for his speech.

4.11 p.m.

Mr Cheong Yuen Chee (Toa Payoh): Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to support the motion of thanks moved by the Member for Bukit Batok.

The development programmes outlined in the addendum to the President's speech deserve commendation. Such programmes have also been proposed in some other developing countries. But the vital difference is that our programmes will not simply be blueprints but will be translated into reality and without fail. We in Singapore have witnessed achievements after achievements by reason of the determined efforts of an honest government and the active co-operation and support of a hardworking population.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to touch on some aspects of the policies outlined by the President, and I hope that the Government will give serious consideration to the comments made here.

In the addendum to the President's speech concerning the Ministry of Labour, the Government has proposed to regulate the rate of wage increases so as to keep pace with any rise in the cost of living and level of expectation of workers, no more and no less. Such a proposal is much to be welcomed as the desirability of orderly wage increases is beyond question. In any inflation of prices resulting from disorderly wage increases, it is always the wage-earners themselves who suffer since whatever wage increases they may receive are bound to be more than swallowed up by price increases.

But I am wondering as to the means the Government intends to use in controlling wage increases, in the absence of any proposed legislation to regulate prices and incomes. As I see it, the only two main groups of wage-earners over whose wages the Government may exercise effective control are (1) employees in the public sector, whether organised or otherwise, and (2) employees who are organised in the private sector. Unorganised workers, who include almost all managers and executives, however, constitute by far the greater majority of the workforce in the Republic. For the unorganised workers who do not come within the jurisdiction of the Industrial Arbitration Court or the consideration of the National Wages Council, there is nothing to prevent their respective employers from according them unlimited wage or salary increases.

Strange as it may seem to be, an employer may find it more profitable, for instance, to pay wage increases to retain or attract skilled workers who are in short supply, by reason of the heavy outlay in time and cost for training such workers. Then again there are employers who are prepared to pay their workers more as an incentive for their remaining unorganised. The desire to convince workers of the disadvantages of being organised also explains why some employers, after concluding a collective agreement on the lowest terms possible by sobbing their hearts out at the Ministry of Labour and before the Industrial Arbitration Court, unilaterally and voluntarily proceed to grant their employees more favourable benefits.

The point I wish to make is that so long as employers are permitted to discriminate between employees on an arbitrary basis, as opposed to differentials of pay on an objective basis, there is bound to be frustration and unrest among workers in the matter of pay. If trade unions are required to exercise restraint over wage increases in the national interest, there should be reciprocal restraint by employers in the exercise of their prerogative to accord wage increases on a voluntary basis, particularly the unorganised employees, including executives.

The proposed regulations requiring applicants for work permits to undergo a medical examination will undoubtedly impose a severe strain on our medical service. As a matter of fact, such requirements are already being practised by many well established firms. I wonder whether the Ministry of Labour will consider accepting medical certificates issued by company doctors in this respect.

The provision of creches and kindergartens in densely populated areas is indeed most welcome by housewives who wish to work to supplement their family income. But there are housewives who may not want to put their children in creches for some reason or other. The Ministry of Labour could assist such housewives by being more liberal in the granting of work permits for domestic servants.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the addendum relating to the Ministry of Communications stated that the Republic's communications system will be expanded and improved upon. Here, I would like to draw the Ministry's attention to the state of the bus services. It is true that the reorganisation of the bus services some time ago had greatly improved `on the chaotic conditions that existed in the past. However, it is not an uncommon sight to see stalled buses in every part of the town. Some of the buses are fairly new. Breakdown of buses not only causes traffic congestion but also inconvenience to the travelling public. Such a state of affairs will run counter to the Government's encouragement to people to travel by public transport rather than by cars. When a bus breaks down, the driver and conductor usually disappear from the scene, leaving the passengers stranded and the bus obstructing traffic. I would suggest that bus operators be required to maintain their buses in good running order and That heavy penalties should be imposed if they do not do so.

4.18 p.m.

Dr Ong Leong Boon (Kim Seng): Sir, I am happy and honoured to speak in support of the motion moved by the hon. Member for Bukit Batok, thanking the President for the Speech which he delivered on behalf of the Government at the opening of the First Session of this Parliament.

Having read and studied the Speech and subsequent Addenda, I am convinced that the Government had done its utmost in deeds and planning to build a Singapore which is today the pride of its citizens and the envy of its neighbours. The plans and guidelines laid out before us for the next five years are glowing testimonies of a government led by able, dedicated and far-sighted leaders, men with vision who see beyond the present into the future, men who stand fast by logic, reason and principles, and men with imagination who care for the people's welfare and Singapore's destiny.

The process of nation-building is an unending one. Much had been done in the past, but much remains to be done. Never before in the history of our country is there such material abundance with ample opportunities for jobs and the promise of a good life. Mr Speaker, Sir, we have come a long way.

The economy is buoyant with all the signs of continuing growth and sustained momentum. We have a people characterised by industry, enterprise and drive. Our defence build-up is sound; a pragmatic foreign policy of dynamic neutralism and regional co-operation and goodwill, tough internal social and labour measures; all these ensuring political stability, creating the right climate for massive foreign capital investments, and sustained economic growth.

While in the past we emphasised on national security and survival, we now stress on the quality of life and gracious living. And this is rightly so. In the next five years, we seek in the words of the President, to achieve in qualitative terms what in the last five years we have achieved in quantitative terms. Wages will go up in a steady and orderly fashion. Health and education are fundamental guarantees for all, young and old.

Living must now carry new dimensions-meaning and purpose, not toil and sweat and more toil and more sweat. The Government seeks a more gracious life for all. The city is now clean and green. It will be cleaner and greener. More recreational facilities and social amenities are promised. The performing arts are encouraged.

With increasing wealth, the problem of leisure will inevitably set in. The afflictions of advanced western societies are a constant reminder that unless we take adequate steps to avert them, we shall in the years to come succumb. With more money and free time, our youths will turn to distractions and activities that today bear headlines in the mass media in western societies. We have instituted effective measures against drug-taking. But we must remain vigilant and sustain efforts to inculcate good habits and healthy living.

The Government quite correctly has placed increasing emphasis on sports and extra-curricular activities in schools. Our educational system must gear itself towards a more comprehensive education. Bi-lingualism is stressed and multi-lingualism encouraged. Civics is part of the school curriculum. More time must be given to the teaching of the arts and subjects like history, geography and literature must have greater relevance to the Southeast Asian and Asian milieu. In short, we seek to produce educated men with all-round abilities and not just literate men with narrow interests and knowledge.

Formal recognition must be given to extra-curricular activities and sports by awarding credits that count in the final analysis and final assessment of a student's performance, entry into institutions of higher learning and employment.

In our campaign to build a people tough in mind and body and a rugged society, it is not untimely for the Government to consider establishing a Ministry of Sports. Active participation and interests in sports is so much a part of' our national character. Numerous national sports associations are in existence and much money is spent by these and other interested parties in sports promotion. Yet the standard of sports leaves much to be desired.

We have many dedicated people who have given their best in time, energy and years. The National Sports Promotion Board, in spite of its initial promise, is now bogged down by financial and organisational problems. A new Ministry of Sports will certainly he a timely and welcome move. With official recognition, Mr Speaker, a new chapter for sports will begin.

Centralised control and authority, finance, expertise, purpose and fair play will do much to elevate sports from the near-gutter state it is now in to higher plains. Next year, we shall host the SEAP Games and, in 1978, the Asian Games. The National Stadium is near completion. So much nationalism and pride are generated in competitive sports and a real boost will come if our sportsmen and athletes do well in these Games.

Mr Speaker, Sir, as a medical practitioner, I feel it incumbent upon me to comment on medical service in Singapore. I am proud of the fact that we do indeed have the best medical service in Southeast Asia. Our doctor-population ratio is the lowest. The Government's decision to build a new General Hospital to replace the existing one at Outram Road is well received by the public and the medical profession. Yet I would be failing in my duty if I do not bring to the attention of this House some aspects of existing medical service that need improvement. We are paying ample emphasis on preventive medicine. But curative medicine needs equal emphasis.

As we all know, good health is a vital pre-condition to a more active and meaningful life. As the standard of living goes up, people will demand better medical care. At present in Government institutions, there is a real shortage of doctors, ancillary staff, ward space and other facilities. There will continue the problem of attracting and retaining top calibre personnel as long as pay and service conditions compare poorly with private practice. Again, we need more specialists who can render expert treatment. Not only do we have the problem of retaining doctors in service, but we now face the added problem of attracting good students to study medicine. Each year some 120 students at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Singapore graduate as doctors. Today some 50 per cent of the 3rd year students are non-citizens and 60-70 per cent of the 1st and 2nd year students are non-citizens. Very similar trends are present in the dental and pharmacy schools. What these figures mean really is that we shall he producing fewer and fewer doctors to cope with a situation of rising expectation among the people for better health care.

Now, faced with this manpower shortage problem, may I therefore suggest to the Health Ministry that they maximise the utilisation of available staff and post doctors in optimal strength to the various departments. The surgical wards are over-burdened with work and more medical officers and housemen are needed. Again we have too few anaesthetists and insufficient operating theatres. On many occasions operations for surgical emergencies are delayed with consequent rise in morbidity and mortality risks. The Ministry must be sensitive and responsive to staff request for elective postings anti the period of posting must be such as to enable doctors to obtain the necessary requirements for specialist training. In short, we should orientate the medical service from one of pure service to one where service commitments are met optimally with job satisfaction and training for doctors and staff.

Further, it is worth considering the setting up of convalescent homes for patients who are well enough not to require constant doctor care but sick enough not to be up and about. Many patients are discharged from the hospitals too early because of bed shortage and inadequate medical care, thereafter leading to unnecessary medical and surgical complications. This causes suffering, prolonged medical leave and loss of many working clays. Often patients are retained in wards in spite of ward overcrowding because of medical, social and economic reasons. Old patients with working children, surgical and orthopaedic patients in high-rise flats, disabled celibates, just cannot be sent away. Convalescent homes are cheaper to build and maintain than hospitals, and certainly more economical in the long run. Indeed, convalescent homes have become an indispensable feature of good medical practice in most advanced western countries.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to support the motion moved by the Member for Bukit Batok.

Mr Speaker: I propose to take the suspension now. I suspend the sitting and will take the Chair again at Five minutes past 5.00 p.m.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.33 p.m. until 5.05 p.m. Sitting resumed at 5.05 p.m.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Debate resumed.

Question again proposed.

Mr Lee Yiok Seng (Bukit Panjang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion moved by the Member for Bukit Batok, thanking the President for his speech made in the House on the 12th of this month. In his speech the President indicates that in this new age and environment our people should carry out new tasks and try their best to keep in step with all round development and progress. I believe our people can redouble their efforts and strive for individual and national progress and security. In the speech of the President, mention was made about spreading the affluence of the city to the rural areas. We all welcome this policy. We hope this objective can be achieved early. The rural people are always diligent. They have struggled very hard to eke out a living from the land. Their contribution to our country has in no way burn small. However, the services they obtain from the Government are comparatively few. Now that we have developed and progressed, we should be able to improve the livelihood of our rural folks.

Sir, since independence the Government has been carrying out large scale construction work, even in the rural areas. Every year millions of dollars are allotted for development of the rural areas, such as the provision of electricity, water, roads and other social facilities, in order to improve the living conditions of the rural people. However, in spite of our efforts in the rural areas, many problems and difficulties have still to be solved. There are many places without any electricity and water supplies. To the rural folks, their immediate need is roads, water and electricity. For a country like ours, which claims to be a developed country, we should not allow this situation to exist. From the projects carried out in the past, I see that we lack a comprehensive and unified scheme of development. I hope the Ministry of National Development will formulate a comprehensive plan for the development of the rural areas so that water, electricity and roads may be supplied throughout our country. This will prevent any suspicion or discontent among the people.

Sir, in the speech mention was also made about the efforts of the Ministry of National Development to solve our housing problem. Now, the Ministry is paying attention to the provision of more recreational facilities in the residential areas. I feel that it is necessary to provide adequate social amenities in the Woodlands satellite town. There should be better facilities for recreation for the residents there, including sports. When all this is done, it can be said to be another achievement of our Government in trying to provide better services to the rural people. It will thus narrow the gap in the living standard between the rural people and that of the urban dwellers.

Sir, I have personally witnessed the progress of the projects out there, and I found that the first batch of flats in the housing estate is expected to be completed early next year for allocation. However, the development of housing estates in Woodlands seems to have no connection with the Ministry of Education, because there seems to be no sign of any provision for a school. So we can well imagine the situation in the years to come when people move into this new satellite town only to find that their children will not be able to enrol in any of the existing schools. I hope the Ministry of Education will pay attention `to these problems arising from the building of this new satellite town.

Sir, as we all know, whenever a new satellite town is built certain people must be affected and they have to be resettled. However, there is a difference in the psychological effect between the removal of rural people and the urban dwellers. When urban dwellers move out, they move only to a better environment or to better houses. But when the rural folks are resettled, they are moved to a new environment of which they have no knowledge. They will be worried about the facilities available, for example, schools, playgrounds and other problems like transport for their children to go to new schools. All these difficulties increase their psychological tension and pressure, and will cause more social problems, thereby increasing discontent against the Government.

Sir, in the Woodlands area, which is in my constituency, there will be many resettlement cases in the future. We should note that even at the present juncture resettling the rural people causes them difficulty. I therefore hope the authorities concerned will in consultation with the rural people set up a Resettlement Committee in order to co-ordinate and assist in the resettlement of the rural folks affected.

5.15 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Affairs (Mr Chan Chee Seng) (in Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to join the hon. Members of the House, who have spoken just now, in their expression of thanks and gratitude to our President for his enlightening Address made at the opening of Parliament on 12th October, 1972.

It is with pride that I endorse my strong support to the challenge posed by the President to make Singapore a centre for excellence in all fields important to our economic, cultural and social life. Our main concern now is to find ways and means to sustain and further develop the pace of growth that exists with the thriving economy of our Republic. Let it be our priority task for the next five years to endeavour in every way possible to achieve higher standards in everything, with the emphasis on quality whether in jobs, in social or recreational amenities, or homes.

Our social policy must of necessity reflect our deep concern for the welfare of the less fortunate in our society. But it must at the same time be a policy in keeping with our tradition of enterprise and industry and our desire for excellence and achievement. In a society like ours, there is no place for the indolent. If we are to make progress and to prosper, everyone must work and make his personal contribution. No one should expect to get something for nothing.

In the field of social welfare, I fully endorse the President's statement that in view of the extenuating circumstances in Singapore, we can ill-afford to adopt the characteristic of the welfare state syndrome in supplying everything free to everybody who wants it from cradle to grave. We would like to see a Singapore where everybody who can work shall work unless he or she is beset with sickness, severe disability or old age. We do not believe in merely doling out free gifts which will lead to much abuse. The Government's intention is to assist everyone to achieve the fullest degree of social and economic adjustments and usefulness of which he is capable. It is for this reason that an all-out effort has been made by the Social Welfare Department to assist the handicapped, the destitutes and other needy persons, to obtain gainful employment so that they need not continue to depend on public assistance. In this respect, the Social Welfare Department under our Ministry is going all out to establish more creches in the immediate future in order to enable more married mothers to leave their homes to work and to play their role in increasing the family income as well as the productivity of the nation. For example, a new creche will be added on to our long list of existing creches in Singapore, with the opening of the huge Toa Payoh Creche in the Toa Payoh Estate before the end of the year. More creches will he built in housing estates and areas with a high density of population, so that mothers can leave their babies and children safely in the creche and concentrate in their effort of increasing their own income and the national income.

Within the welfare homes run by the Social Welfare Department, every effort is made to ensure that the inmates, who rely on public funds for their subsistence, will be able to contribute even though in a small way to society, so that they are not getting something for nothing. The workable among the aged, and the employable among the destitute persons, who are now looked after by the Social Welfare Department, will have to work or be trained to work in a manner that is commensurable and suitable to their physical and mental ability. It is only those who are positively unable to work, on account of their very old age, sickness or their unfortunate circumstances, who may be excused from carrying out any serious job. But even then, in their own small way, they will be encouraged to do some handicraft work or some light labour within their means and ability to help them play their part in society. In this way, they will be able to subscribe productively to the nation that whilst we are subsidising them for their livelihood, they will at least be able to pay a small percentage of the actual cost.

In the coming years, the emphasis in the expansion of social services will be on quality and participation. Plans have already been made to strengthen the existing system of social welfare services through the restructuring of existing welfare institutions and the provision of new facilities and services consonant with modern concepts of social planning. The Government will strengthen its programme of promoting the well-being of families, children and youths as well as protective measures for the aged, and for the physically, mentally and socially handicapped. Apart from the humanitarian objectives of such a programme, it is intended to organise social services in such a way as to ensure the conservation and development of human resources which are vital for economic expansion.

I am grateful to the President for pointing out in his Address the existence of fortunately only a handful of our citizens who still believe that the State owes them a living, a good living. These are usually the youngsters who ape the bad habits of western culture, who don long hair, who lend themselves to drug abuse and who eke the easiest way out for a living by terrorising other people. Such misfits in our society should be brought to task, and the quicker they realise that nothing in life is for free, the better it will be for the future of Singapore.

We must be more conscious of the pressures which push some of our young people into consumption and other thought-habits, which are often not only inappropriate to our work ethics and life-style for nation building, but also antagonistic to sustained social and economic growth and which give birth to tensions which may undermine and destroy the fruits of hard endeavour. True, no society can completely insulate itself against adverse influences like hippism and the drug sub-culture, but it will be a grave dereliction of duty if we do not take firm measures at an early stage to counteract such influences.

There is no doubt that our crucial task is to provide community programmes which can catch the imagination of our young people to ensure that they will not fritter their time away but are given the opportunity to participate in meaningful activities of benefit to the society and to themselves.

Our youth must be encouraged to participate in healthy and fruitful past-times, As Members must be aware, our intention is to develop sports as a way of life in Singapore. Already, the foundation for mass participation in sports has been laid. The Government is committed to develop through mass-based and competitive programmes of sports activity for the purposeful occupation of leisure for pleasure by our people. Intra and inter constituency sports programmes will more and more be encouraged and provide the escape-valve for modern pressures and needs. In our increasingly urban society and youthful population, we believe that sports, as a regular habit and as a means of entertainment and enjoyment, should enthuse more and more as players and spectators and in this way not only contribute to a larger measure of fitness but also productivity and happiness.

Urgent consideration is now being given to the drawing up of a Master Plan for Sports in Singapore for the next one or two decades, which, among other things, will provide for the requirements of the primary, secondary and tertiary levels in facilities and activities of sports for leisure as well as competition.

We can look forward to the increasing realisation of a more rugged and productive society and a better life and a centre of excellence in Singapore through sports and recreation with the seeds that are being sown firmly and increasingly bearing fruit in the years to come. This task will be made much more successful and satisfying if it is realised that it is in the national interest that the public and private sectors, institutionally and individually, take to sports consciousness and performances in every way possible, since sports can do only a world of good. For the foreseeable future, sports in Singapore will essentially he amateur. In this connection I wish to exhort employers to encourage recognition and incentives for sportsmen, including the provision of adequate time for the requirements of training of their sportsmen for competitive and national sports. The Government will on its own do all that s possible to provide the base and the facilities and finances to realise through sports further progress in and glories for Singapore and to increasingly engage the leisure-time of people in the pleasures of sports.

5.30 p.m.

Mr Sim Boon Woo (Changi): Mr Speaker, Sir, hon. Members of the House will agree with me that in very few countries in the world which practise parliamentary democracy for a party to have won all the seats in Parliament for two successive terms. Why is the PAP so overwhelmingly accepted by the people? Why are the majority of the people of Singapore subscribing to the ideals of the PAP? Sir, for a person who is unconcerned with the political life and pulse of Singapore, this might appear to be a complex exercise attempting to analyse the cause and result. But the reason behind it is really very simple: the PAP which was formed 18 years ago as a democratic, non-Communist, socialist, and multi-racial party, has adhered to two fundamental beliefs. They are written into the party constitution.

(1) To abolish the unjust inequalities of wealth and opportunities existing in the present system; to establish an economic order which will give all citizens the right to work and full economic returns for their labour and skill; to ensure a decent living and social security to all those who, through sickness, infirmity or old age can no longer work.

(2) To infuse into the people a spirit of national unity, self-respect and self-reliance, and to inspire them with a sense of endeavour in the creation of a prosperous, stable and just society.

Sir, it is with these two fundamental beliefs and convictions that many of my colleagues have struggled fearlessly in order to achieve our ideals. We fought the colonialists, the right-wing reactionaries and their lackeys and the Communists. If we did not have the guts, the stamina, the courage, the energy and determination to defeat the Communists and the reactionary forces, many of us will not be here in this Chamber and the situation in Singapore would be entirely different. In the process we have overcome a multitude of problems. Sir, when the PAP took over the administration in 1959, as a self-government, we knew that without honesty, determined and incorruptible leadership, proper planning, hard-work and above all loyalty to the country and its people we could not survive. We have never run away from any threat or any difficulty; we stood by our principles and fought for our objectives or we would never be able to survive the trials and tribulations befalling us through the years.

Sir, when we were kicked out of Malaysia and became an independent Republic, we were faced with the hard facts - lack of natural resources, unemployment, economic uncertainty and, most important, national security which became even more intangible with the announcement of the British military rundown. This multitude of problems would have deterred those with less fortified minds. But not those who were in the PAP.

Sir, the economic prosperity and political stability that we enjoy today does not fall from heaven, but paid at a very high price. These are the results of sheer hard work of our population and the honest, incorruptible, realistic and able leadership who are prepared to sacrifice even their lives for the country and the people. Sir, although the PAP had about 70 per cent of the total votes in the recent general elections, there are about 30 per cent of the votes cast against us. There are many reasons for these protest votes, for example, personal disappointment in not getting hawker licences or other permits, demolition of illegal structures, resettlement, and a good portion of the hard-core Communist supporters and the racialists. Sir, in the next five years, the Communists will change its line and tactics in their struggle. I must warn the House that the challenge will not come from the U.N.F. led by Vetrivelu, the Workers Party led by Jeyaretaam or the fly-by-night political parties, but the Communists. Sir, those of my colleagues who were with me in the 50s and early 60s will agree with me that the Communists will make rapid recovery of the ground they have lost if we are not careful and take things easy or becoming complacent in that event, we would lose not by the credits of others but by our default. Therefore, we must prepare our battle now, before it is too late.

Sir, it was not easy for Singapore to become independent. We are living at the crossroads of the East and West, and it is because of our strategic position that the concept of an independent Singapore would be challenged from within and without for as long as we live. It is unavoidable that we Singaporeans have to face this in our lifetime - the Communists are out to destroy the independence of Singapore and the extreme reactionaries would wish to hand over independent Singapore to others either on a gold platter or by violence. We, therefore, must be vigilant and must be prepared to meet any contingency.

Sir, the President's address, which was delivered in this House on the 12th of October, is a highly socialistic guideline for our people for the next five years. The Constitutional amendments to protect the sovereignty of our Republic is of paramount importance, and timely too.

In building a robust and rugged society and to free our young people from evil influences of the West, of drug addiction and hippism, more emphasis and effort will be carried out by the Ministry of Social Affairs in the field of Sports. Many coaches in different games were engaged to promote the standards of our Sports. Sir, I am sure a lot of public funds will be spent on coaches and other facilities. I hope the aim is not only to produce gold medallists but to inculcate into our young people the sense of loyalty, discipline and good sportsmanship.

Sir, owing to the fast growth of our industries, there is an unprecedented shortage of skilled workers. The Ministry of Labour, I presume, will issue work permits more liberally to non-citizens with at least a primary education and who must pass a medical examination. Sir, more and more work permit holders will be staying in Singapore to help our industrial production. This is, of course, good for our economy. But on the other hand I wonder whether the Ministry of Labour has made thorough investigations into their background so that they will not pose a security problem to our Republic in the years to come. Already we are faced with increased crime rates. Sir, almost everyday we read in the newspapers that shops are robbed, payrolls grabbed, and people kidnapped or murdered by gangsters or hired assassins. It is hoped that with the reorganisation of the Police Force, crimes will be reduced so that the life and property of the people will be protected.

Sir, since the PAP took office, much effort has been done to develop the urban areas. The progress is tremendous and we deserve to be proud. However, I would like to urge the Government to consider very seriously and to implement immediately the building of rural town centres. Although the rural residents, farmers and fishermen, enjoy good roads, electricity, water, and street lights, but when these rural folks come down to the city they will compare the improvement and development of the city with that of the rural areas. They cannot help feeling that the rural areas have been left out or ignored. Therefore, these simple people will be an easy prey to Communist influence. Sir, although the Government has plans to build new towns in Woodlands and Telok Blangah, it is not enough. The Government should immediately draw up plans to build and improve the rural constituencies.

Sir, a new mandate has just been given to us by the people in the recent general elections. For the next five years the Government's aim is to raise standards of skill and technological competence and to improve professional management and technological expertise. We are entrusted with this heavy task and we ensure that we will carry out this responsibility to the best of our ability; but the most important ingredient for its success is the full co-operation of our people.

Sir, may I join hon. Members in this House in expressing our thanks to the President for his address.

5.44 p.m.

Mr J. F. Conceicao (Katong): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the motion of thanks to the President for his speech to Parliament, moved by the Member for Bukit Batok.

The principal burden of the President's Speech and the elaborations contained in the various Addenda is the promotion of excellence and quality in our country, and that such excellence and quality can be achieved only through tough exercise of our will to succeed - in other words, through continuous diligent attention to our work. I am sure that the same "sheer determination, hard work and realistic planning" which enabled Singapore to make the grade before will also see it through in the coming years. May I add to what other Members have said, my own expression of views regarding government policy? Inasmuch as others have been affected by their own preoccupations, I need not deprecate my own, which is adult education.

Where the Ministry of Finance is concerned, the objectives stated in the relevant Addendum can only be achieved by our civil service being geared to top productivity and efficiency. The Minister for Finance himself has, in a speech at the official opening of the Staff Training Institute, mentioned that the civil service' has to be attuned to new developments that are taking place in its environment. New ministries and statutory bodies have been set up and the Government has itself become involved in business and industrial enterprises. The Staff Training Institute has since its inception organised a large number and variety of training activities for various grades of civil servants. But for the Institute to perform its role at maximum efficiency- the role of enabling the civil service to become an instrument responsive to the changes that are taking place then some reorganisation of the Institute is called for. For one, more staff will have to be given to the Institute. For another, the principal of the Institute will have to be not merely a civil servant of excellence but also someone who has the capabilities to be the head of an educational institution. The status of principal, to make it commensurate with the ability of such a person, has to be at least equivalent to a University dean of' faculty. If the combination of civil service and educational experience is not available in any single person who can be spared currently for the job of head of this Institute, I propose that we set about training such a person so that the Institute may be run effectively as a training institution for civil servants. Such a person would, of course, have functions only in relation to the running of this Institute as a full-time job and not be assigned other civil service administrative jobs.

Where the Ministry of Defence is concerned, now that we have ensured to an extent our defence capability, it is hoped that we may be able to set about providing our officers with continuing education to add polish to their demeanour as well as skill and competence, and also to their additional skill and competence where their professional soldiering is concerned.

In Foreign Affairs, although this is not directly within the province of the Ministry, it is about time we thought of educating our people, the ordinary Singapore citizen, to a greater awareness of the larger world beyond Singapore so that they may be all the more able to understand foreign policy, especially the great changes that are taking place in the alignment of nations. Although education is not a direct business of the Foreign Ministry, encouragement of understanding of foreign relations would certainly be part of the Ministry's portfolio. In respect of our close neighbours, we must give whatever support we can to ASEAN and seek to extend real and active co-operation in as many fields as possible under the umbrella of ASEAN. We should note that it is not only the Minister for Foreign Affairs or those working in his Ministry who can contribute a greater understanding between ourselves and our neighbours. For example, the recent visit of our Defence Minister to Indonesia has, I am sure, cemented further the relationship between ourselves and that nation. Regional co-operation in respect of subjects under the jurisdiction of other Ministries is also a policy we should actively encourage.

Where the Addendum relating to the Ministry of Home Affairs is concerned, there are two points which I would like to make. First, I think we should pay special attention to the need for training an efficient specialist staff in the Commercial Crimes section. Although Singapore is an international commercial centre in which transactions of some sophistication are being carried out, yet we have been shown to be in some respects woefully naive. With regard to the necessary co-operation that has to be maintained between the Police and the Law sector, this effective co-operation where commercial crimes are concerned can only be implemented if our Commercial Crimes officers are equipped with the necessary knowledge and expertise. I propose that we should, if necessary, send our officers abroad to relevant institutions to be further trained in investigative skills related to commercial crimes. As I have mentioned before on some other occasion, and I doubt whether the situation has improved since then, the principal training instrument used by the Commercial Crimes Department seems to be the Department of Extra-mural Studies.

Another matter which I would like to bring up, and which is a responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as that of the Ministry of Communications, is the problem of traffic in Singapore. I am surprised that no reference has been made to this matter in the Addendum on the Ministry of Home Affairs. Annually we have thousands of accidents and hundreds of deaths besides innumerable maimings and scarrings resulting from carelessness and aggression on the roads. It is about time that the traffic police took the matter firmly in their hands and proceeded in a systematic way to educate drivers for courtesy and caution on our streets. If we are to bring about a sense of excellence, a sense of quality in our people, we certainly should try to eradicate the rashness and defiance of the Jaw that often prevails among the users of the roads. Is there any difference in kind between the defiance of a criminal, a, gangster, a person who commits assault and other depredations on the one hand, and the defiance of the violent user of the road on the other? Is there any difference between the loss of income, loss of life, loss of man-hours suffered by those involved in accidents on the road on the one hand, and those involved in industrial accidents on the other? Inasmuch as we want to instil a sense of one person identifying with his neighbour in our community centres, in our housing estates, in our clubs, in our recreational grounds, we have still to instil this regard of a person for his fellowman also on the roads where thousands of people are moving daily, where Singaporeans come in contact with Singaporeans but frequently in a manner of aggressive competition in which feelings of community are almost completely forgotten.

I suggest that we should congratulate the Minister for Science and Technology for his foresight in setting up the Science Centre, and I hope that this institution will relate its activities closely to the interests and needs especially of our young people, as well as represent itself as an outstanding institution of its kind in Southeast Asia.

We may look forward, in the not too distant future, to seeing the effective implementation of a mass rapid transit scheme to relieve our domestic transportation problems. More immediately, however, our present bus service has to be further improved. The disciplining of a few hard-core recalcitrant bus drivers, who have shown scant regard for the comfort and convenience of bus users, must be complemented by improvement in present conditions of work of bus drivers which result from their having to race around trying to keep to unrealistic schedules. Bus owners should co-operate by improving the mechanical as well as accommodation quality of their buses. It is only by making a bus trip a relatively pleasant and comfortable experience that we can induce our citizens to use public transport more frequently. Their education is through enjoying a bus ride. Being rattled along to their destination, willy-nilly, is a deterrent educational experience.

We should be happy to note the reference in the Ministry of Labour Addendum to encouragement being given to workers to constantly improve their knowledge and skills (incidentally, why not attitudes also?) in adult and workers' education courses. But this is not only to enable a worker to further increase his capacity in more productive labour, as has been stated in the Addendum (although we should stress the importance of this), hut also that he should use education to improve his cultural and spiritual condition. I hope that the Minister for Labour will support any move to persuade Government to grant paid leave to workers who may like to attend relevant full-time continuing education courses such as may indeed increase the worker's capacity for more productive labour.

The Primary Production Department intends to set up factory farms and flatted farms. I hope that all required educational measures will be taken to enable farmers to adjust to this aspect of urbanisation. Further, it is perhaps important for farmers to be educated to the importance of co-operatives, and be given aid to set up such co-operatives as will prevent them from being exploited as they have been in the past.

Where our health environment is concerned the "Keep Singapore Clean" campaigns have been models of co-ordinated public education activity. My reference to this, in discussions of our informal adult education procedures, has evoked on many occasions extreme interest and admiration among people overseas. I hope that such public education activity will continue to feature prominently in the life of our city. Perhaps a campaign of this kind could he conducted to improve traffic conditions in Singapore.

The Ministry of Culture has jurisdiction over the mass media. I hope that greater use of the mass media, especially radio and television, will be directed towards continuing education, especially of the worker. There are many subjects that can lend themselves to interesting and educational presentation through radio and television, if only more programme organisers could have more time to use more imagination. It would be a good idea to have additional personnel trained in adult education to organise such programmes for workers' education. Subjects like labour economics, labour law, trade union organisation, the new developing role of the trade unionist, relations between the worker, employer and government as well as cultural features for the worker, may be presented. We have media experts and adult education experts in Singapore. Somehow these expertises have not harmonised in a single individual. Perhaps we could train an adult educator in media techniques or a media man in adult education principles so that we may have greater success in the use of the media for adult education. But the media alone has not an adequate educative capability. Experiments have shown that the mixed media approach would have the optimum educational results. This implies that there must not only be listening or viewing but also discussion in an inter-personal situation and even the use of correspondence.

In this connection, the People's Association community centres could be used as venues for the organisation of listening or viewing and discussion groups. This would be one way of adding a new dimension to the function of community centres. In any case, the activities in community centres have to be diversified so as to attract participation from a broader spectrum of the population. Inasmuch as a multi-disciplinary approach has been necessary in academic progress for the successful progress of the People's Association, perhaps a multi-ministerial approach may be necessary. The co-ordination is required of People's Association activities with resources from other Ministries like Defence, Education. Social Affairs, even Finance (perhaps especially Finance).

The Education Ministry has, throughout the years of PAP Government, striven successfully to relate its objectives more and more harmoniously with the objectives of the rest of the Government sector. Our educational objectives therefore comply with overall national objectives. And now there is the emphasis on quality of teachers, of methods, of curriculum. The quality of the teacher depends on his personal ethic. But the standard of his professional ability depends on the quality of his methods. I think the main manageable emphasis should be on the quality of educational methods.

A thorough grounding in good methodology should reinforce the teacher's understanding of the environment in which he teaches as well as the aims of the educational sector. Teachers in Singapore should find in their environment a stirring challenge. I think it was Plutarch who said that the City is the best teacher. Within the size of our city we can keep the relationship of one citizen to another within human proportions. Our administration is able to reach out to the grass-roots of our city's population. Our social structures give a tremendous educational potential to the city. The teacher should see his role against this potential. He is teaching children to develop and take full advantage of this potential. He is not merely teaching subjects. He is teaching a continually learning person, who will hopefully continue to learn long after the classroom and childhood has been left behind.

At the same time, as children are learning in school, adults too are exposed to a variety of educational challenges in our learning society. The very housing projects, the satellite towns that the Government puts up, forces learning oil our people. They have to adjust to the pace of urbanisation. We could make our city the Athens of Southeast Asia. En Athens, education was not something perpetrated in the schools. There was no fixed time, no rigid curricula. Education was not confined to a certain period of childhood in a person's life. The Athenian was educated by his environment, by his culture, by his way of life. Of course, all this was possible because of the existence of slavery. But we have machines. Let these machines be our slaves, not the other way about, as has happened elsewhere.

What I plead for is that education in various institutions and in all periods of the person's development be an integrated life-time process. The education of the child and the adolescent in schools, industrial training procedures, adult education, or other educational institutions, these are not separable experiences but facets belonging to the whole of one's educational life.

This integration has been faintly recognised in the Addendum on the Education Ministry, in which it is stated that "adult education will he more closely linked with the school system on the one hand, and with industrial training on the other". But adult education is not a continuation of school education merely for as long as our workers wish to improve themselves, as stated in the Addendum. Every opportunity should be taken to demonstrate the importance of continuing education to the worker in a changing environment. And provisions should be in a variety of forms through a variety of agencies, so that our workers, whatever their age or whatever their preoccupations, whatever the style of education to which they have been accustomed, or whatever style they may want, will find something about which they may want to continue their education and, in this way, find their city giving them not only a material sustenance but also a quality of cultural and spiritual living.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to support the motion.

6.07 p.m.

Mr Seah Mui Kok (Bukit Ho Swee): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to join my colleagues in this House in supporting the motion moved by the Member for Bukit Batok to thank the President for his speech delivered on behalf of the Government at the opening Session of this Parliament on 12th October, 1972.

The President's speech, together with the addenda from the various Ministries, clearly spells out the policies of the Government and what it would do for the people of Singapore during the next five years, so as to achieve higher standards in everything, with the emphasis on quality.

Sir, in the last general elections held on 2nd September, 1972, 760,472 voters, or 93.55 per cent, in the 57 contested constituencies cast their votes, of which more than 525,000, or 69.02 per cent, voted for the People's Action Party. All opposition party candidates, including two independent candidates, were defeated. All 65 PAP candidates were elected to Parliament.

Sir, the PAP's victory in the last general elections means the victory of the people of Singapore. The result of the general elections clearly shows that the opposition parties are not wanted by the voters and they only want the PAP. The voters of Singapore, young and old, male and female, are very intelligent in casting their votes wisely and opposition parties cannot fool them with empty promises or obsolete slogan-shouting.

I observe that leaders of opposition parties still do not realise that if they want to win in any general elections, they must have the following good qualities: -`

(a) They must have intelligent, honest, capable and incorrupt leaders who are respected by the voters of Singapore and who are especially of good character.

(b) They must prove to the people of Singapore that they are dedicated and loyal to the Republic of Singapore.

(c) They must convince the electorate that their leaders have the ability and capacity to do what the PAP leadership has obtained, i.e, peace and prosperity for the people of Singapore. Unless the opposition parties have these good qualities which I have just mentioned, I can predict they will be totally defeated again and that all the PAP candidates will win again.

Sir, the National Wages Council had recommended for the workers a wage increase of 8 per cent for this year with effect from 1st July, 1972, 4 per cent of which will go to the Central Provident Fund. I regret to say that the net balance of 4 per cent is hardly enough to meet the present high cost of living and the gradual increase of prices of things from 5 per cent to 15 per cent. The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) can testify to the truth of it.

The Ministerial statements given by the Minister for Finance, the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Health during this Session of Parliament will increase the charges on the following items:-

(a) New rates of duties and taxes on liquors, cigarettes and tobacco, petrol, cars, additional registration fees and road tax on private cars;

(b) New electrical tariffs from December 1972;

(c) New accouchement fees from August 1973.

Sir, the abovementioned increases in the new rates of duties and taxes, the new electrical tariffs, and accouchement fees mean that more money have to be spent by the workers. The net balance of 4 per cent wage increase given to the workers will be taken away by the new taxes, new electrical tariffs, new accouchement fees, and the increase in prices of commodities. With one hand, the employers give us the wage increase of 8 per cent but 4 per cent go to CPF, and with the other hand, the employers take the 8 per cent back through increases in the prices of commodities. Government has to increase the taxes so that the additional revenues will be used to pay the wages of civil servants, to build HDB flats, schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, etc. But when the Government increases the taxes, the employers increase their prices of products. In the end, the workers will suffer. The Government requested the workers to exercise wage restraint and to make sacrifices for the national survival, which they have fully co-operated. But unfortunately it is not possible for the Government to impose price control on anything. Again, the workers have to suffer. Where is the justice?

I hope that next year when the National Wages Council makes any recommendations for wage increases, it would take note of the increases of Government taxes, the increases in prices of commodities and the high cost of living. Otherwise, whatever wage increase is given to the workers will be taken back by the employers through general price increases.

Sir, it was reported by a local paper recently that there is exploitation of the workers by unscrupulous employers. These bad employers pay low wages to the temporary and daily-rated workers and demand high productivity. They also dismiss these workers' without good reason and replace them as often as possible so that they can keep on paying low wages and free from paying CPF contributions. I would strongly urge the Minister for Labour to investigate this matter. I appeal to workers who have not joined any trade union to do so immediately. The Pioneer Industries Employees Union, the Singapore Industrial Labour Organisation and the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Workers' Union will be too pleased to recruit them and to get for them better wages and conditions of service and job security.

Sir, I appreciate the necessity of getting additional workers to meet the present labour shortage. It was also suggested to get as many women workers as possible to meet this shortage, especially the housewives, by doing part-time or piece-rate work. It is perfectly all right for housewives to do part-time or piece-rate work if they have the spare time, or else they would neglect their home duties and their children would not get the usual attention or love from them. I think it is not wise for housewives to earn $2 or $3 a day to do part-time or piece-rate work and to neglect their home duties or their children. Children who do not get the attention and love from their parents and are neglected will eventually become school dropouts or juvenile delinquents and a danger to society. I would prefer more mechanisation of work, a little more liberal in granting work permits and better pay for the workers. Also, the workers must accept family planning and the need to have a small family of two or three children only. With better wages for the workers, more mechanisation of work, further relaxation in granting of work permits, and with workers practising family planning, we can spare the good housewives from doing part-time or piece-rate work, so that their attention and love given to their children will bring up good, loyal, healthy and strong citizens of Singapore in the spirit of gracious living.

Sir, I beg to support the motion.

6.14 p.m.

Mr Chai Chong Yii (Bukit Batok): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir I would like to thank Members of this House for supporting my motion. I wish also to thank them for their valuable suggestions, many of which are constructive and are worthy of consideration by the various departments; although 1 must say that I do not know what will be the reactions of the departments concerned.

However, in accordance with the usual tradition of the Singapore Government, I believe that all constructive suggestions will certainly receive due consideration by the departments concerned, and will be speedily processed and implemented. We all know that some suggestions may not seem to be practicable, and therefore there is need for further study. Besides, it is easy to make suggestions which may sound practical but they may not be implemented without prior study of the consequences which may arise. Some suggestions seem to be too ambitious, while others sound rather good. However, I cannot accept or reject the suggestions on behalf of the Government. The various suggestions put up by Members involve every Government department and ministry, touching on medicine, politics, finance, agriculture, industry, labour and other fields, As regards education, some Members have criticised certain aspects of the administration and have expressed their dissatisfaction. However, I do not know exactly where the faults lie. I hope I will be able to find out where the fault is, if any, in future. On culture, to sum up the opinion of Members, it seems that we all agree that we should preserve our traditional eastern culture and we should prevent our youths from being infected by any decadent trends of Western culture. We all hope that our economy can continue to progress and keep abreast with the times. We all agree too that in Singapore we do not hope to see any pillion-sitters, instead everybody should contribute his share of work in order to get his commensurable reward.

Talking about politics, we all agree that Singapore is strategically situated in this part of the world, and is also an important metropolis in Southeast Asia. This has created envy in some people and they plan designs against us. When people come to us, it may not be just a visit or to do business with us or because they want to do something for our good; it is normally for their own selfish interests, or they may desire to gain some control over us, if possible. So we must always be on the alert.

On medical services, several Members have made good suggestions relating to such topics as family planning, which is interesting and constructive, and environmental control, which is a fairly new subject. In many constituencies, including mine, many residents have expressed their concern or dissatisfaction about environmental control. One of the reasons is that, it being a fairly new subject, many people are not very conversant with the degree of human tolerance against pollution before it becomes unbearable. I think this topic will stimulate more debate, but we hope that the Government Department concerned will first carry out a campaign to inform the people of the need for anti-pollution measures before actually implementing them.

As regards agriculture, many Members representing the rural constituencies have spoken on behalf of the rural folks, and they have commented on the price of pigs. They have also spoken about the problems of our fishermen among other matters.

To sum up, it seems to me that two points have not been touched on sufficiently. One is patriotism, and the other is the implementation of our Income Tax policy. In a city state, you will find that it is a basic trend of the people to be drawn naturally towards material enjoyment and individualism. This is in direct conflict with the sense of patriotism. We must therefore promote patriotism, especially among the younger generation so as to make each and every one of them more patriotic and more loyal to the country so that the future of Singapore will be assured.

As regards income tax, this is the basic problem in every democratic country. What we are propounding here in Singapore is democratic socialism. This imposes on us the need to pay more attention to the inequality between the rich and the poor and the problems arising therefrom. We have progressed quite rapidly in respect of our economy. The equal distribution of wealth should receive more attention by us, otherwise the rich will become richer and the poor become poorer. This will not be good for the future of Singapore. We know that under our present income tax laws, company tax is levied on a company's net profits only up to 40 per cent. Holders of shares, when declaring their personal incomes, are not required to pay further taxes because tax deduction on share dividends can be regarded as a tax credit. Here are the faults because personal income tax is, at its highest scale, more than the 40 per cent which is the maximum leviable on company's profits. Many people take advantage of this loophole by organising private limited companies, so that all their incomes can be declared within the accounts of the company and their expenses paid by the company. No dividends are declared. If the personal incomes of such people are very high, then the Government will incur a loss in revenue, as there is a difference of some 15 per cent in revenue between personal income tax and company tax. Perhaps in future some tighter tax measures, like those of Australia or elsewhere, may be introduced in Singapore, because, as the President has mentioned in his speech, our present taxation policy is in certain respects rather outdated. So they have to be rectified. This, of course, is only my personal view.

Finally. I would like to thank Members for lending support to my motion of thanks to the President for his speech.

Resolved,

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."