CRECHE ESTABLISHMENTS BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.11 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Affairs (Mr Chan Chee Seng) (for the Minister for Social Affairs): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Creche Establishments Bill was introduced in Parliament on 16th February, 1973. This Bill, now before the House, seeks to provide for the licensing, control and supervision of creches so as to ensure that the education, health, safety and welfare of young children who are sent to such creches are adequately taken care of.

Recent enquiries made by the Social Welfare Department revealed that a number of private creches are operating in residential areas. A few of these creches offer day-care service for preschool children, and in addition some of them offer residential care for infants and young children. Some of these private creches are operated by untrained or unqualified staff. Most of these creches charge considerably high fees for their service.

The demand for day-care facilities for children is expected to increase in view of:

(a) greater job opportunities for women, arising from rapid industrialisation and economic expansion, and

(b) the shortage of "baby amahs". With the trend towards smaller family units living in compact high-rise flats where other members of their extended family are not so readily available to render them any assistance, those families in which both the husband and wife have to be away from their homes to work elsewhere in the day will have to rely more and more on child-care services from outside the home. It is therefore likely that there will be a proliferation of private creches being established, particularly in private housing estates, to meet the needs and convenience of working couples.

Although there are concrete plans to establish more Government creches, the policy is to encourage and help the private sector, especially the industrial organisations, to set up creches in their premises so as to reduce the high turnover in their female labour force and to induce more married women to take up employment in their factories. In fact, one leading industrial firm has already approached the Social Welfare Department for advice and assistance to set up a creche in its premises for children of its female employees.

In view of the expected increase in the number of private creches, there should be some means of controlling and supervising these creches. At present, there is no Government authority responsible for the licensing, control and supervision of private creches, nor is there any legislation on the matter. It is therefore essential that appropriate legislation be introduced as soon as possible, setting out appropriate standards for the establishment and operation of creches, to ensure that the interests of the children attending these creches are adequately safeguarded. It is also necessary to ensure that the public is not exploited by creche operators through the inadequacies or neglect on the part of the operators or through the collection of excessively high fees. On the other hand, laying down the standards and rules for establishment and operation of a creche will facilitate and help the private sector or any individual to plan and operate any proposed creche establishment.

In view of these reasons, my Ministry has proposed the enactment of this legislation. The views of concerned Government Departments, including the Ministries of Health, Education and Labour, the Public Works Department and the Singapore Fire Brigade, have been sought and incorporated in the Bill. All the authorities concerned have supported the proposal to introduce this Creche Establishments Bill and have agreed to liaise on matters pertaining to their respective areas of work. Their suggestions and requirements have been given careful consideration and, as far as possible, included in the Bill.

It is intended that the Department of Social Welfare be the administrative authority for this legislation and its rules and regulations. Members will note that under the Bill a "creche" is defined as:

"any premises where children under the age of six years are received, whether for reward or not, to be looked after during the whole or part of the day or night but does not include nursing homes and maternity homes as defined in the Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Act and preschool institutions registered with the Ministry of Education".

A main provision in the Bill is to make it an offence for any person to operate a creche without a licence, thus disallowing any sub-standard and improper creches to be established. The Bill provides, inter alia, for the appointment of a Licensing Officer and Assistant Licensing Officers, the manner of the application for the licence, the duration of the licence and the inspection of creche premises. In addition, it empowers the Minister to make regulations to carry out the purposes and provisions of the Act.

In view of the increasing number of creches being established or to he established and to protect the interests of the young children who will be sent to such creches, there is a pressing need to enact this legislation in order to license, control and supervise establishment of creches on the one hand, and to provide some guidelines for creche operators to follow by, on the other.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.19 p.m.

Mr Ong Teng Cheong (Kim Keat): Mr Speaker, Sir, I have listened with interest to the commendable objectives of this Bill, now being read a Second time by the Parliamentary Secretary. I would like to ask him if he can inform the House as to how many Government creches are being planned in the immediate or foreseeable future, especially in the densely populated housing estates, like Toa Payoh or Queenstown and even in the rural areas?

Mr Teong Eng Siong (Sembawang): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the introduction of this Bill is very timely. Basically, this is another example of our Government's good measures in looking after our young citizens.

Although the Social Welfare Department has already been running some creches for the care of children of working women, most of them are situated in the city areas. Children of working women living in the kampungs are therefore not being looked after.

Sir, in the process of rapid industrialisation, we need more and more creches because many factories need more female workers. Married women are therefore encouraged to come out of the kitchen to join the production team so as to take part in the industrialisation programme. This is not to encourage them to rebel against their husbands, but to enhance their social and economic position. Moreover, this will help to increase our national production and economic progress. Therefore, this is a wise measure on the part of the Government.

But most housewives are faced with the problem of caring for their children in their absence, and there is also the difficulty of getting "baby amahs". Similarly, many women who are occupied in other fields of work, including teachers, also need to put their children in creches so that they can devote more time to their work. Therefore, on the implementation of this Bill, I hope that the Minister will consider setting up more creches in more areas, particularly in industrial and private residential areas, including Jurong and Sembawang constituencies, because this will help housewives to join in the industrialisation programme, and to reduce the dependence on "baby amahs".

Mr Ho See Beng (Bras Basah): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, what the Parliamentary Secretary had said just now, relating to the establishment of more creches, is very good. I give my whole support to this Bill. But on the one hand, he has said that he wants better facilities in these creches, and on the other hand he has said that the expenditure should not be too high. We cannot have both, of course. If we can achieve one objective, it is already good enough. So I hope that when the Bill is put into effect, the Government would not interfere with those private creches whose fees are high but they are able to provide better facilities.

Mr N. Govindasamy: Mr Speaker, Sir, the need for the establishment of more creches to be run by the Government has arisen because not all industries can afford to run creches of their own. I welcome this Bill because the intention is to set up more creches.

But the complaints that are normally raised are that the creches close at a time when the mothers are still at work. Sir, even the newspapers' complaints mention that they close at 5.00 p.m. or 5.30 p.m. The solution to the problem during the course of drawing up the regulations for these creches is for the Ministry of Social Affairs to consider the possibility of extending their hours or of specifying various periods of service, so that working mothers who leave their children in the creche early may come to collect their children early. And those mothers who work in the afternoon can similarly call in the afternoon and collect their children late in the evening. If such arrangements can be made, it will certainly help a lot of working mothers. After all, the policy now is to encourage our women to work.

Dr Ong Leong Boon (Kim Seng): Mr Speaker, Sir, my question is one of clarification. Under the Bill, the definition of "creche" is "any premises where children under the age of six years are received." Question is whether this definition includes kindergartens. If it does, does it therefore mean that kindergartens run by private bodies, for example, the People's Association, or political parties, will henceforth need to be legislated?

Mr Chan Chee Seng: (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, let me answer the question asked by the Member for Kim Keat regarding the number of creches that we have. I can say that we have 11 creches now. This year we are planning to build two more creches, one at Toa Payoh and the other at Kallang Basin. In other areas, for instance, Jurong Town, Katong, Queens-town, Woodlands, if there is a need, we will of course set up more creches. So if the Member for Sembawang has any need for more creches, he can put in his proposal to me.

The Member for Bras Basah mentioned about certain private creches charging, expensive fees. We can say that we are not exercising any control over these high charges, because it is a matter of supply and demand. So if parents want to send their children to such creches, it is their own business. If the charges of these private creches are too high, while the Government's creches charge too cheaply, perhaps these private creches will have to close down.

The Member for Telok Blangah has said that the opening hours of the creches are rather short, so that certain mothers find it inconvenient because when they go back to fetch their children the creches are already closed. Perhaps we can suggest a 24-hour service in which the staff work in shifts so that working mothers can fetch their children from these creches at all times.

The Member for Kim Seng asked whether the definition of "creche" includes kindergartens. This is a matter of age. The children are under six years of age, and it is run as a creche and not a kindergarten.

Dr Ong Leong Boon: Sir, my question is relevant, because in kindergartens, the children are under the age of six. The definition in this Bill is very wide, and therefore it seems that a kindergarten falls within the definition. Sir, my question therefore again is whether, in fact, this definition includes kindergartens.

Mr Chan Chee Seng: No, Mr Speaker, Sir.

Question put, and agreed to. `Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.-[Mr Chan Chee Seng].

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