SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT UNIT (Particulars)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Finance, Minister for Education and Minister for Health if he will state how much of the tax-payers' monies has been spent by the Social Development Unit as of the 15th February 1985 and with what results.

The Minister for Finance, Minister for Education and Minister for Health (Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam): Mr Speaker, Sir, the total amount that has been spent by the Social Development Unit on its activities as at 15th February, 1985, was $294,411.72.

The Unit's objectives are long-term:

(i) To create an awareness of the problem of the high incidence of singlehood among our graduate women; and

(ii) To bring about a change of attitude towards marriage in our younger single officers.

Some progress has been made towards these objectives. More single officers are participating in the activities organized by the Unit. These officers are prepared to pay the cost of participation which varies from 15% to 100% of full costs depending on whether the activity is a training programme or an organized tour.

The single officers are also more open in discussing marriage and their choice of partners. Through attending the activities organized by the Social Development Unit, these single officers have come to terms with what they want from life and more are deciding that marriage should be part of their lives.

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam (Anson): Mr Speaker, Sir, my first supplementary question for the Minister is: was parliamentary approval obtained for this expenditure of $294,411.72? I have tried to look through the Budget for last year, and if the Minister says parliamentary approval was obtained, would he direct me to where this expenditure is contained in the Budget?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I see no necessity to obtain specific parliamentary approval for this expenditure.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Does the Minister not accept that every expenditure should be laid before Parliament?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, the expenditure of the Government is spelt out in the Government's Budget which I shall be presenting on Friday. On that occasion, the Member for Anson, as with all other Members of Parliament, will be free to question the Government on any item of expenditure which they care to ask.

Mr Jeyaretnam: My question to the Hon. Minister was: does he not accept that every expenditure of the Government must be laid before Parliament? My question, I repeat, is: does this appear in the Budget for 1984-85?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have already explained that the Government does not indulge in expenditure which is not within its authorized limits and which has not been approved by Parliament. This expenditure has, as with all other Government expenditure, been authorized by Parliament as part of Government's overall programme.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, another supplementary question. I see that the Minister is not going to answer my earlier question. Notwithstanding that, I have another question. Would the Minister say what functions and activities have been organized for these graduates, particularly whether they have been sent on cruises or on holidays and, if so, where?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, the activities which have been organized for the participants of the Social Development Unit are of many types. They include, for example, personal effectiveness workshops, to help the participants to become more confident socially as well as in their work. They include also courses to make them more aware of computers, the potentialities of how computers can help in their working lives. They also include cruises which have been organized by the Social Development Unit through the agency of various travel agencies but for which the costs have been borne entirely by the participants.

Mr Jeyaretnam: I understood the Minister to say that the costs borne by these participants vary from 15% to 100%. Is he now saying that all those who go on cruises or on holidays organized by this Unit bear the full cost of these cruises and holidays?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: All those who go on cruises bear the full cost. All those who go on courses organized by the Social Development Unit bear a substantial part of the cost, but where there is a training element in the courses, I think it is entirely right of the Unit to defray part of the expenditure for these courses.

Mr Jeyaretnam: I asked for results. Would the Hon. Minister say how many graduates have married from the time the Social Development Unit began its functions?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Sir, the Unit has only been in operation since the beginning of last year. I know that in Singapore we are an impatient society but love must take time to bloom. I have already said that the objectives of the Unit are long-term. I have no doubt that through the activities organized by the Social Development Unit appropriate results will be forthcoming in due course. Please be patient.

Mr Jeyaretnam: I see that the Hon. Minister is reporting a nil result although the Unit has been functioning, as I understand, from January 1984.

May I ask the Hon. Minister whether the then First Deputy Prime Minister was speaking for the Government when he said at a car park on Nomination Day that if the graduates did not respond, the Government had to do something drastic. I would like the Minister to tell us whether it is the Government's intention that something drastic has to be done and, if that is so, what measures is the Government planning in its task of getting graduates to marry one another.

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence (Mr Goh Chok Tong): On a point of clarification, Mr Speaker, Sir. Could the Member please let me know the exact quotation and where was the statement made?

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, this was certainly reported in the Straits Times on the day after Nomination Day, and it was headlined "Dr Goh Keng Swee's press conference in the car park."

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, there seems to be a confusion between the two Gohs in Parliament - one past and one present. Notwithstanding that, you cannot force people to marry. It is not possible. But you can create conditions, the environment, the opportunities for single young men and women to get together and hopefully through their meetings, create interpersonal relationships, whether these are on courses or cruises, they will find that life is not complete without marriage which is an honourable institution and deserves the support of this House. If through that means, the Government can bring some happiness into the lives of our graduate officers, either men or women, then I do not see why we should not do so.

The reason why the SDU's activities have been, for the time being, limited to graduates is because that is where the problem is. Non-graduates seem to get along very well. They find their own partners and well to the good. Graduate women, particularly, in our society, because of our cultural mores whereby they find they are reluctant to marry men who are not their educational superiors or at least at their own level, may require some assistance. I think that we should help them. Whether they marry graduates, whether they marry non-graduates, that is their own personal choice. But I do hope that whatever it is, they do marry.

Dr Augustine H.H. Tan (Whampoa): A supplementary question, Mr Speaker, Sir. Since our graduate men seem to be much in demand both by graduate ladies and non-graduates, should not the Government think in terms of importing single graduate men from abroad?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I shall convey that excellent suggestion from the Member for Whampoa to the Social Development Unit's Director.

Mr Jek Yeun Thong (Queenstown): A supplementary question, Sir. I know it is a misfortune for the Minister to have to answer this question. But since he is paid to answer it, and I am paid to ask it, may I have the privilege of asking this supplementary question? Has the Minister ever heard of this Chinese proverb, or rather a Cantonese one, which says that if a cow does not want to drink water, it is not possible to press its head down? In this instance, where the cow refuses to mate, which I suppose is a much more complicated act than just drinking water, is the Minister not just wasting his time and our money in doing the impossible?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I would first inform the Member for Queenstown that it is not a hardship but a pleasure to answer his question. By all means, feel free to ask questions. This is what we are here for. And it is right that through questions from Backbenchers, the public should be informed of what the Government is doing and why the Government is undertaking these activities?

He has quoted a Chinese proverb. The equivalent of that is the English proverb, "You can bring a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink", if he does not want to. But I am not so pessimistic. I believe that here in Singapore we are still culturally an Asian society and that, by and large, men and women, whether they are graduates or whether they are non-graduates, are not inherently predisposed to singlehood. By circumstances of their education, their work environment, they may not have been presented with the opportunities to find the right partners, and I see nothing wrong in this case for the Government, or even for private sector companies, to extend a helping hand where this is needed. After all, this is what Government is for. If they do not want to get married, then there is nothing we can do. If the officer is a confirmed bachelor, as the Member for Alexandra at one time was, but he has seen the error of his ways, or a confirmed spinster, then there is nothing we can do. I fully agree with the Member for Queenstown. But we are a persevering society, we should not give up so easily.

From time to time I see on television various attempts in China and in America to try and get pandas to mate. They put a male panda and a female panda together, provide them with a nice attractive surrounding, bamboo leaves or whatever it is that turns pandas on, and hope that something will happen. Our officers are not pandas. The activities of the SDU have been conducted discreetly, and I think that is good. But I will inform hon. Members that those officers who have taken part in the SDU's activities have expressed their appreciation for these courses. Some of them are perhaps too shy, some of them are inhibited from making the first approach, particularly in a society like Singapore where it is not considered right for a woman to approach a man. If that is the case, and that is the problem, Government must see what it can do to resolve this problem. So I ask all hon. Members: be of good heart, we will get results eventually.

Dr Augustine Tan: Supplementary question, Mr Speaker, Sir. I know that the Government has got honourable intentions in this matter but what precautions have been taken by the Social Development Unit to ensure that its activities do not degenerate into what I would call "subsidized sin"?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Sir, I strongly resent the allegation from the Member for Whampoa. The Director of the SDU is a most upright Christian, with extremely high moral values. Such an allegation from the Member is totally unworthy of him.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon (Alexandra): Supplementary question, Sir. After listening to the Minister, I wish I had waited a bit longer! Now that the Government has entered the marriage broking business, would it not consider extending this service to graduates in the private sector?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, Members of Parliament should be very careful before they say anything. I think the Member would have a difficult time when he goes home tonight. [Laughter]

But to be more serious, if private companies would take on some of the activities of the SDU, if they would do so, then I can see that nothing but good can come from it.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Would the Minister please answer my question? I have been very patient with the Minister. My question was, if I may repeat it: was the then First Deputy Prime Minister speaking for the Government when he said that "more drastic measures had to be taken"? If that is the intention of the present Government, may I know whether that is the intention of the Government, and if so, what other measures do you propose to take?

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: Mr Speaker, Sir, the answer is very simple: I do not propose to take any further measures.