REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.25 p.m.

The Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Chua Sian Chin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The purpose of the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, 1979, is to remove the requirement to register joint surnames for illegitimate children. Section 10(1) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act requires an illegitimate child to have the surnames of both the father and mother if they are joint informants of the birth. This provision was introduced more than 40 years ago with the enactment of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act on 1st July, 1938. However, it was not strictly enforced until October, 1973, when the Registry of Births and Deaths began to check the marriage certificates of parents because of the marriage restriction policy for work permit holders. From October 1973 to April 1979, 1,109 children were registered with joint surnames.

Joint surnames are an unnecessary stigma to children born illegitimately. The Amendment Bill before the House will enable an illegitimate child to be registered under the father's surname if the father is an informant of the birth. Where the father is not an informant, the mother's surname will be given to the child. This is to prevent mothers from fraudulently declaring a person to be the child's father.

The Bill will also enable any parent or guardian of an illegitimate child, registered under either the joint surnames of the father and the mother or the surname of the mother, to change the child's surname to that of the father where the father was an informant of the birth of the child. When the child comes of age at 21 years, he may apply for the change himself.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and com mined to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Chua Sian Chin].

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