PRESIDENT'S SPEECH Debate on the Address

Debate resumed.

Question again proposed.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Mr Speaker, Sir, I was speaking on the public transport system and the need to improve further the Singapore Bus Service when this debate was adjourned for a break. Sir, there should be co-ordination between the SBS and the Housing and Development Board to provide services to the various estates noting the fact that some 1 50.000 housing units will be completed by 1980. This service must be available to them. I would like to believe that the commuters should not have to wait longer than necessary to catch a bus from one point to another or to their place of work. I say this because complaints of lack of bus services in the new HDB estates have been made. The residents in these new estates rightly deserve such service. Therefore, I hope my observation on this point will not fall on deaf ears. After all, an efficient public transport system is not only a natural expectation of the residents in the HDB estates but also the public as well.

Talking about public transport. I cannot but refer to the Addenda on the Ministries of Home Affairs and National Development.

I fully agree with the statement of the Ministry of Home Affairs that roads must be made safer for all road users. But I cannot subscribe to the two proposals of the Ministry of Home Affairs. First, in any collision between two vehicles of different size and weight the driver of the larger vehicle will have to prove that he is not in the wrong, i.e, rebut the presumption that he was at fault. Second, in any fatal accident the driver, who is to be charged in court for dangerous driving, will immediately have his driving licence suspended until his trial is completed,

I share the sentiments expressed by the hon, Member for Kallang when he made reference to these two proposals. But commonsense tells me that it is against the principles of established law, Let us assume that a lorry, travelling in front of a motor car, stops at a traffic light and then the motor car travelling behind it hits the rear of the lorry; surely to presume that the lorry driver is at fault and therefore should be penalised is too far-fetched, Is this not so? I can bring in other examples but I think have made my point clear enough.

Similarly, Sir, let us assume that a motorist is driving along a road where there is an overhead bridge for pedestrians. A pedestrian instead of using the bridge suddenly dashes across the road, The motorist applies his brakes but alas, unfortunately, the pedestrian is knocked down, and subsequently dies, Is it therefore fair to suspend the driving licence of the motorist if he is charged in court for dangerous driving? I would like to believe that the legislative proposals be carefully reconsidered in the light of my observations because both drivers are being unfairly discriminated against. Would not such action be against natural justice?

The Public Works Department builds roads and maintains them. Some years ago roads that were in a bad state have been repaired. But a couple of years ago, road taxes and other forms of fees (ARF) were imposed with a view to restricting the growth of the car population. According to the Ministry of Finance, this was not a revenue-raising exercise but was meant to alleviate traffic jams. I believe that millions of dollars have been collected by way of such taxes as a result, but would it not be fair to the motorists that there should be a massive campaign to further improve the conditions of the roads thereby alleviating traffic jams and reducing transport problems?

Talking about transport problems, I would like to refer to the numerous so-called farmways in my constituency, They are the Lorong Buang Kok Farmways and Lorong Cheng Lim Farmways, These so-called roads have been built in Punggol because of the pig farms that have come in to the areas. I must say that these farmways are narrow, pot-holed and of laterite. The pig farmers as hon. Members will know, have been re-located from the Kranji area for environmental reasons, Good road conditions are essential to these farmers, Therefore, these farmways should have been metalled before the farmers moved in. But this is not so, and they are now asked to make requests to the Urban and Rural Services Committee for its consideration. I hope the Ministry concerned will enlighten this House as to the reasons for passing the buck to the URSC. Surely it is not too much to ask for in this respect that services like good roads and brighter street lighting be installed before the farmers move in. One cannot deny the fact that the pig farmers have cooperated and made sacrifices in the national interest to move their farms to a non-catchment area in Punggol and Jalan Kayu and to start life anew. This is not the first time that they have been moved. I have come across, in the course of my visits, some who have been moved four times. They have become bitter, Do we not treat them as pioneers in opening up new frontiers? Only minimum facilities like water and electricity supplies, inadequate drainage are provided for, whereas I was told that many facilities and services would be available to them when they move in.

Sir, more often than not, these farmers are left to set up their farms again and even have to comply with all sorts of rules and regulations of the Building Control Division and the Primary Production Department, not forgetting that the majority of the farming families are very large. Let me just give an illustration on the question of compliance with the requirements of the Planning Department or the Building Control Division. Any minor alteration to their houses, say, to have the kitchen sited outside the house requires amendment plans and which very often take time to be approved. These plans for alteration and amendment are subject to the close scrutiny of the departments I mentioned just now.. What is more peculiar and difficult to understand is the fact that the Resettlement Department wants these farmers to move in quickly to these areas and these farmers cannot put up their buildings unless they comply with all the rules and regulations laid down by the departments concerned. It is also the same with the repairs and extensions to the farm structures. Sir, it may be my duty to assist them whenever they wish; but I do not think that it is fair to these people that they should be made to see the MP just because they want to site their kitchen outside their house or make repairs to their farm structures. Already they are busy with their farming activities. May I be enlightened as to the duties of the field officers in the PPD or BCD with regard to the fact that they are supposed to assist the farmers in this respect, and in what way are they rendering assistance and advice.

I would like to urge that henceforth a more humane and sympathetic approach be made when relocation of pig farmers to Jalan Kayu and Punggol is carried out in subsequent exercises. Sir, I make these remarks because I have met the farmers and discussed with them their problems. I believe that as a result of my meeting, some of the Government officials might have been over-enthusiastic in the course of carrying out their duties and thus getting very poor impression, if not dislike, from the farmers.

This is also true in the case of resettlement and re-housing. This point has already been made by the Member for Changi and I do not wish to elaborate on this except to say that I too have received many complaints of a similar nature. But in the case of Punggol, I have resettlement both ways. Clearance and resettlement from Punggol to Punggol and other housing estates as well as farmers relocated to Punggol. Suffice it to say that those affected are extremely bitter and dissatisfied with the manner and approach in which such policies are carried out.

I am gratified to note that for the improvement of the rural areas some $20 million has been set aside for the next five years. The rural folks' needs are simple, that is, metalled kampong roads, brighter street lightings, public utilities, better drainage, bridges and jetties. These needs are basic. I am sure my good friends who represent the rural areas share my view. There is still much to be done to these areas; these folks are willing to wait and as a result have overwhelmingly demonstrated their strong support to the PAP in the last elections. For this we are all grateful. We can assure them that we shall continue to strive to do as much as possible for them even though it takes time. However, they should not be made to wait for too long. Otherwise the ground will turn from sour to bitter.

I was elated when the hon. Member for Nee Soon (I am afraid he is not here) lamented in this House last week over the plight of his constituency which constitutes about 80% of rural folks. I fully share his plea that more funds should be apportioned to meet the urgent needs of the rural constituencies. He has suggested that each rural constituency should have $100,000. I think his suggestion should be taken and be favourably considered by the Government. But as far as Punggol is concerned, let me not be too generous myself, we will go along with the norm. My question is, if the Government can spend millions of dollars to provide more recreational facilities for the public, I do not think the MPs for the rural areas are not being fair when they make requests that there should be further improvements in their rural constituencies. On this note, Sir, I give my support to the Motion so moved.

5.20 p.m.

Mr P. Selvadurai (Kuo Chuan): Let me, Mr Speaker, Sir, say a few words in support of the Motion standing in the name of the Member for Ulu Pandan.

The President's Address has dealt both with the nature and scope of the security problem we faced and the premises underlying Government policies in the context of the changing social and economic condition of Singapore. It also dealt, in passing, with the question of the social values that we should preserve and inculcate and asserted that more attention would be paid to "the cardinal precepts of our long proven culture systems".

The inculcation of these cardinal precepts; the formulation and implementation of Government policies relating to our economic requirements and the isolation of the political aspects of the security problem are inter-related. In an important sense they all involve the question of the values that are to govern our existence in society.

The reference in the Address to "the cardinal precepts" has disturbed some hon. Members as this implied a fundamental difference between Asian and European values on the social plane and, as life in Singapore was already an amalgam in various degrees of Asian and British values, the problem now became one of identification and selection. What were the cardinal precepts of the Asian culture systems that should be preserved so that social and political life remained refined and certain and what were the European values that ought to be accepted by us in the interests of our economic progress. Hon. Members would agree that, whether we like it or not, economic progress and change, there must be in Singapore if we were to solve our continuing employment and security problems on a relatively permanent basis.

Sir, the task of formulating our educational and social policies on such selection is, I am afraid, not going to be a simple one. We would have some anxious moments and, if we are to preserve our rational balance and prevent violence in the process, we should learn from the "teachers by negative example" - an attractive phrase. For non-communists in Southeast Asia, the latest of such teachers is Indo-China, in particular Cambodia.

Marxist-Leninist dogma which is disrupting much of Asia is a crude and savage European theory. It emerged Out of certain specific conditions that obtained in European society more than a hundred years ago. It is diametrically opposed to the time-tested values of the Asian culture-systems. The horrible happenings in Cambodia demonstrated once again the fate that inevitably befell people who allowed a communist take-over of their society. Non-communists in Southeast Asia must now address themselves to the task of preventing such take-overs.

Recent revelations in Singapore have once again high-lighted the nature and enormity of the problem we faced. It involved anti-national activities and deceit. It also involved a pernicious form of intellectual dishonesty perpetrated within the Socialist International by foreign Marxist groups acting in concert with a pro-communist group in Singapore. We have collared this group; but the security problem as typified by it should be grasped in all its aspects.

I am, of course, referring to the recent G. Raman revelations that resulted in the arrest and detention of his group of pro-communist collaborators. These gentlemen were associated, in their clandestine schemes and activities with foreign communists and pro-communists like Malcolm CaIdwell, who is a lecturer in economic history in the School of Oriental and African Studies. London; Amir Dastan, a Malaysian communist now living in the salubrious environment of Ireland and A. Balakrishnan who runs the Maoist Workers' Institute in London. There are also other minor individuals teaching in universities in other countries. It is significant that all these gentlemen, including the Raman group, live and prosper in countries where parliamentary democracy is an active principle of political life. Not for them the paradise of countries where communist parties have imposed their dictatorships.

Sir, post-1917 history has given the world vivid illustrations of how all-powerful general secretaries of communist parties in power have dealt with intellectuals of the stripe of these gentlemen after they have outlived their usefulness. They are liquidated or banished to concentration camps to undergo corrective thinking through hard labour or put away in lunatic asylums. Marxists in opposition in democratic countries talk volumes about democracy and the lack of it in parliamentary democracies; about equality and the lack of it in such democracies and about exploitation and the fullness of it in these democracies. Marxists in power, however, after liquidating non-marxist parties and intellectuals, have ended up by killing off their erstwhile comrades who had doctrinal differences with the clique in power. It should not be difficult for a political analyst to abstract from post 1917 communist history, a universal law that governed the development of communist dictatorships. We already see in Cambodia, the incarnation of the ultimate barbarity that Marx had predicted for capitalist societies.

What is of immediate relevance to us is that our educational system appears to have produced in the Raman group, men who were feeble enough in mind and character to succumb to Marxist mythology despite the phenomenal progress registered in Singapore in all the major fields of endeavour. In fact, there is a school of thought which affirms that the rate of social and economic change registered in Singapore during the last decade was too rapid to enable our people to make necessary adjustments. This indeed is the Singapore that Raman had thought fit to characterize in a letter that he wrote to Malcolm 10th September, 1974 freak created by British Imperialism. He went on to assert that British Imperialism was culpable for the sins that its lap-dog was perpetrating. The sin that Raman was concerned about was, of course, the Government's consistent policy of detaining communists and pro-communists for so long as they did not denounce and disavow the violence and terror employed by the CPM to achieve its political ends. The Singapore Government was said to be repressive because it repressed the pro-communists in the interests of the people of Singapore. But the present regimes in Indo-China were said to be democratic because the communists repressed and liquidated everybody else. This, in essence, is the intellectual dishonesty that we should expect from Marxist groups. It is reflected in 21st May, 1975 by Raman to Malcolm CaIdwell in which he stated:

`the Vietnamese people have given the world a gift which should inspire us to greater endeavour. Our salutes go to all those who are fighting the oppressors. It was a fitting honour to see the portrait of Uncle Ho being carried throughout the capitals of the world'.

Hon. Members would see how the question of values, ethical values, are bound up with our security problem. Raman and some of his colleagues had all the benefits of education and progress that Singapore society could give, but they repaid their debt by turning against that same society and calling it the lap-dog of imperialism,

The rehabilitation of such benighted individuals to normal life is going to be a long process. They appear to have abdicated their rational faculties and we would need the help of psychiatrists to restore their mental balance.

The economic and social categories that we have used in planning the industrialisation and economic development of Singapore are Western. Whilst we have achieved full employment by using these categories, it is also true that their impact on our traditional Asian values has resulted in the progressive break-up of our time-tested family system which has been the foundation for our social ethics. We need only examine some of the assumptions behind our Income Tax Act and the family law provisions of the Women's Charter to appreciate how they are helping to dissolve our family system.

Sir, one of the implications of modernisation is that our traditional values have had to give way to the new essentially materialist values of an industrial society and we have ourselves told our people that the only measurable criterion that could be employed in ascertaining the worth of a human being in society is his economic worth, If we accept the inexorable logic of this doctrine, I hasten to say that we would find it extremely difficult to preserve our desirable Asian values in the context of our democratic system. We may have to evolve a more authoritarian and patriarchal form of society to achieve the desired end.

Whatever the ultimate dispensation, the time has come for us to begin laying stress on non-material values so that human life can become whole once again. I can see no other solvent that could dissolve our acute drug-trafficking and other criminal problems.

We shall, I am sure, have time enough during the life of this Parliament to discuss the impact of Government's policies on the social fabric of Singapore. If the basic unit of our society is to be the family and not the individual the Government must rethink its policies on the basis of the family and not the individual. A beginning could be made at once in the practice of the Housing and Development Board, which is unable under current policy to transfer the tenancies of flats from a tenant who dies to another member of the family - say from a dead husband to a surviving wife or in the event of divorce from an erring husband to a deserted wife. The consequence is a dispossessed family. Sir, I shall have more to say of this and related social problems during the forthcoming Budget Sessions.

5.35 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for National Development (Mr Ho Cheng Choon): (In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, since 1973 when there was a 400% rise in the price of petroleum, the world economy has run into a state of difficulties. Many economists have long predicted that as a result of the uncontrolled deficit budgetting adopted by western countries to maintain employment and stimulate economic growth, cyclical economic recession is inevitable and will take place sooner or later. Coupled with the substantial increase in the price of oil, economic recession has been precipitated much earlier, enhancing the slowness and difficulty in economic recovery, This is somewhat unexpected.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I have noticed that over the past two centuries there have been two breakthroughs in world civilisation and economy. Each time there was a breakthrough, it was closely related to the discovery of a source of energy. The first breakthrough came when the use of coal led to the discovery of the steam engine. This in turn led to ,the first industrial revolution, The second breakthrough came when oil was first utilised as a source of energy. This led to the rapid development in world civilisation and its economy over the last 100 years. This development has come to its complete stage in 1973 when oil ceased to be a cheap source of energy,

According to experts the rate at which oil is being consumed shows that the available sources of oil will be exhausted in the next 25 years. At the moment world energy scientists are endeavouring in the following fields. First, to explore new sources of oil. Second, to improve nuclear generators and the safe disposal of nuclear wastes. Third, to study and obtain from sea water the heavy hydrogen as fuel to drive the nuclear energy generator. Fourth, to research on converting solar energy into electric energy.

Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore is a country lacking in natural resources. Unlike other countries, we do not have hydro-power, coal mines, oil and other energy resources. But what is important is that as a result of technological and scientific advancement there are some important natural resources which can possibly be made use of for man's continued existence, Obvious examples are the ocean's resources and the solar energy resources. Solar energy can be better used instead of going to waste. In my view I would suggest that the Ministry of Science and Technology should perhaps undertake research on the conversion of solar energy into electric energy, thereby inventing some kind of small scale solar energy electric generator. I lay stress on solar energy, because it is an infinite source of energy. Singapore is so geographically situated near the Equator that out of 365 days per year it has over 300 days of sunshine, Compared with other countries in the West which are not so favourably located, we are much better off in our geographical location to make good use of solar energy, The small scale solar energy electric generator I have in mind is in terms of its energy capacity, Such a generator can be employed on the basis of one generator to one block of HDB or urban flats, or you may have a few such generators to serve a whole housing estate,

Mr Speaker, Sir, if such research is carried out successfully it will bring about the following advantages. First, the electricity consumption will be reduced year after year. Secondly, our main form of transport, that is, the motor car, may resort to the use of solar energy battery, Electric cars have one disadvantage, and that is, they cannot run over long distances or at high speed. But such a disadvantage is not felt in Singapore because of the limited road space and the smallness of our island. There is no need for our motorists to go over long distances from one city to another or from one state to another. Therefore, electric cars in Singapore are useful. They can be used without the disadvantage that may be found in the larger countries, Thirdly, with solar energy, electricity bill for lighting and' air conditioning in offices and hotels will be greatly reduced. Fourthly, this will also reduce our consumption of oil. Some people may think that I am making a fantastic proposal on the ground that since Western scientists have not been successful in this field, how can we ever hope to succeed? To them, I will say that this is a manifestation of defeatism and that they possess the mentality of a WOG.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I feel that the Ministry of Science and Technology can collect data and mobilise the physicists and electrical engineers in our universities, and in our Government and quasi-Government bodies for this kind of research. Mr Speaker, Sir, I am only making this suggestion for the reference of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Mr Speaker, Sir, as I have already pointed out, the fantastic rise in oil prices has caused not only economic recession in the West but slowed down its recovery. Future trends will depend on the recovery of the economy in the United States. Japan and the nine countries in the EEC, As is generally known, the rate of economic recovery in the United States is rather slow, Coupled with the recent increase in the price of oil, the slow economic development has already got a shadow cast over it. These are factors which will have great repercussions on our economic growth. Mr Speaker, Sir, henceforth we have to make better use of available economic structure to seek development on a broad basis, As the President has stated in the Addendum on the Ministry of Finance, the policy is to give special help to manufacturing industries and, through the Economic Development Board to assist investors who set up new industries or expand existing factories or industries, The Government is also arranging with the Development Bank of Singapore to assist our ship-building and ship-repairing and labour intensive industries in their development with better facilities.

Mr Speaker, Sir, to be competitive we must achieve better quality and lower costs in our manufactured products, in order to secure a foothold on foreign markets. So on a long-term basis, the Ministry of Labour has to seriously study the success factors of the work system in Japan and South Korea, to find out how the workers there have contributed to the development of their countries. We must learn from their experience and fit into our context the best points and good factors so that we will be able to formulate a suitable work system with the various schemes of reward and incentive so as to increase productivity.

Mr Speaker, Sir, because of economic pressure, economic protectionism has more and more been adopted in many Western countries. This is becoming increasingly clear. Such a trend is unfavourable to developing countries. Therefore, closer economic cooperation in developing countries, particularly among ASEAN countries, is most important and necessary. Recently, our country has come into an agreement with the Philippines on an across-the-board 10% tariff cut and a partial 10% tariff cut with Thailand, This is a step forward in the economic cooperation among ASEAN countries, It is our hope that in the near future similar agreements can be extended to other ASEAN partners, Mr Speaker, Sir, it is also our hope that there will be more multilateral and bilateral trade agreements among ASEAN countries in order to bring about a break-through in the tariff barriers, thereby extending and expanding trade on a mutual benefit basis, In this way, the greater the prosperity of ASEAN, the greater the improvement on the livelihood of the people and thereby the greater the ability of ASEAN countries to combat the threat of communism.

Sir, I would like to deal with the question of personal relief and earned income relief in our tax system, Several Members have raised this question earlier and I do not want to repeat their arguments here, I have noted that the present rates of $2000 for personal relief and $1000 for earned income relief were fixed as far back as 1948. It is therefore my hope that the Minister for Finance would ask his officers to calculate on this basis, that is, using 1948 as the base year, what should be the cost of living index for 1977. Once this cost of living index has been worked out, then you will know how unrealistic the present system of tax reliefs can be.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the PAP Government is noted for its hard work, efficiency, farsightedness and fairness. The so-called fairness means the fairness with which the Government accords to the people. When inflation brought about an increase in the cost of production, the Government raised various taxes and rates. The people accepted this. Similarly, since inflation has brought about an increase in the cost of living, the Government should correspondingly raise the personal relief and earned income relief. Otherwise, it will not be fair, It will be "heads I win, tails you lose."

Sir, on the question of taxation again, we have the past experience of the right hand giving out the money only to be taken away by the left hand, We have noted, Sir, that in the past when the NWC recommended wage increases, they were immediately followed by tax increases of one kind or another. I am not against taxation as such. But I am earnestly suggesting that when tax increases are being considered the interests of the middle and lower income groups should be taken care of so that we will not give the people the impression that we are giving away money with the right hand and taking it back with the left hand,

Finally. Sir, I would like to deal with the problem of assisting old people. As a result of scientific research, there have been discoveries and inventions in the fields of medicine in the form of new drugs and clinical instruments. Besides there was the unprecedented economic development accompanied by an improvement in the livelihood of our people, and the life span of our people in general has also increased, According to statistics, Sir, there are at present thousands of old people in Singapore. This figure will increase from year to year. Those who are fortunate may be taken care of by their children, But those who are not so fortunate, being forsaken by their children or senile or widowed, will have to depend on public assistance provided by the Social Welfare Department.

Last year, the Ministry of Health set up a Home Nursing Fund to look after the poor and needy old people, but this scheme is still in its infancy. Apart from this, every year we have this exercise of giving out ang pows or gifts to old people in the various constituencies. This is all that we have done and are doing for the old people or senior citizens who have given their best lives to the country and the society.

Recently, Sir, the question of old people has aroused the attention of the knowledgeables of our society and discussions of their problems have become more and more frequent. But the problems of old people cannot be solved by mere academic discussions. I feel that there are two aspects to the problems of the aged. First, apart from food, there is the need for medical care and healthy recreation. Second, I think we should also give them some meaning in their lives so that they may feel they are still capable of contributing to our nation and not be a burden to it. The Ministry of Social Affairs, besides giving assistance, should look into the question of what the old people can do to contribute to society. No doubt, old people may not be capable of high productivity but some productivity is definitely better than no productivity. So we should not allow old people to sit down idling and doing nothing. We can find some kind of work to keep them occupied and to let them prove that they can do something useful for the society and the country.

Sir, I support the Motion moved by the Member for Ulu Pandan to thank the President for his speech.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Ahmad Mattar): Sir, on a point of clarification. In response to the appeal by the hon. Member for Geylang East to the Ministry of Science and Technology to use university staff in solar energy research, I would like to take this opportunity to inform him that the Faculty of Engineering is already actively engaged in solar energy research.

5.54 p.m.

The Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office (Haji Ya'acob Bin Mohamed): (In Malay): Mr Speaker, Sir, permit me to associate myself with my colleagues in support of the Motion to thank the President for his Speech in Parliament.

The electorate in the last elections has returned all of us to this Parliament. This proves the maturity of thinking and the political sophistication of the people of Singapore. This victory is not a personal victory of the candidates nor is it the result of the promises we gave to the people during electioneering. They have given their mandate to us on the basis of our achievements from the time we took over control of the Government. However, we should not be complacent with what we have achieved if we are to preserve our record in this House. We should work hard to achieve further success or at least to preserve the record that we have achieved, Although we are all from one party, this Parliament is not a one-party system. This is the choice of the people through the democratic process.

Parliamentary democracy will not be available if the communists were to take power, It is clear that the communists and its allies are the principal enemy of parliamentary democracy. We should recapitulate what happened in our country in the past. The communists had tried to take over the trade unions, the student unions and also political parties, they failed in the end, We must not forget that the communists, pro-communists and their allies are people who never give up. They will continue to struggle until their aims are achieved. What is more, with what had happened in Indo-China they will be further strengthened in their effort to work harder. We have seen how they tried to influence our intellectuals, professionals, and students at present. The irony is that during the last elections, a number of political parties which were known to us before as anti-communist parties, unfortunately - consciously or unconsciously, they used issues which were once used by the pro-communist elements during the colonial days or during our self-government days or even after our independence. This is something which we regret because if the result of the last elections by way of percentage --

Mr Speaker: Order. It is 6.00 p.m. now.