SINGAPORE FAMILY PLANNING AND POPULATION BOARD (REPEAL) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.16 pm

The Minister of State for Health (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, Sir, I will move on behalf of my Minister.

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

In the mid-1960s, Singapore was facing extremely difficult conditions. We had double-digit unemployment, the population was increasing at over 2.5% per year, and the crude birth rate was over 32 per thousand population. The deep concern of the Government over the high population growth was clearly expressed by the then Minister for Health, Mr Yong Nyuk Lin, when he moved the Second Reading of the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board Bill on 31st December 1965. He said:

'Action on a national basis is required to cope with the present problem of uncontrolled increase of population which, if left unchecked, may well hinder and even nullify present great and strenuous efforts at economic expansion by the Government and its people.'

The Singapore Family Planning and Population Board (SFPPB) was therefore established in January 1966 to act as the agency for the promotion and dissemination of information pertaining to family planning, and to initiate and undertake family planning programmes. The Board mounted extensive and intensive publicity programmes to educate Singaporeans about family planning and to encourage them to have small families. Contraceptive services were made easily and cheaply available to all married couples through the Ministry's Maternal and Child Health Clinics.

In 1972, family planning educational and publicity activities were intensified, and married couples were encouraged to have no more than two children. Various population-related social policies were announced in an effort to further reduce the then total fertility rate of 3.1 per woman.

The Board's efforts led to a steady decline in fertility, and in 1976, Replacement Fertility was achieved. Since then, fertility has remained below replacement level. The population growth rate in recent years has been maintained at about 1.1% per year.

Surveys conducted periodically over the past 10 years have shown that all married women in the reproductive group are aware of family planning and know about contraception. The concept of a small family appears to be generally accepted as a social norm.

In recent years, because of the expanding scale and complexity of its activities, the main functions of the Board have been increasingly integrated with the work of various departments of the Ministry of Health.

Family planning services are now provided mainly through the Ministry's 29 Maternal and Child Health Clinics, while family life and family planning education are provided by the Ministry's Training and Health Education Department. This integration of activities was also noted by the Management Services Department (MSD) of the Ministry of Finance. The MSD, as part of the continuing review of Government departments and statutory boards, completed a review of the SFPPB in late 1984. It noted that the Board depended upon the staff of the Ministry of Health to provide the expertise and leadership in several specialized areas, and that the promotional and family planning activities of the Board were largely either carried out or assisted by the Ministry's staff.

The MSD recommended that to streamline various activities and to optimize the utilization of staff, the Board be closed down and its functions and staff be transferred to the Ministry of Health.

I would like to assure hon. Members that the closing down of the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board will not mean that family planning is no longer necessary in Singapore. The concept of a small family and family planning must inevitably remain important because of our land and water limitations. The Ministry will continue the extensive education programmes and family planning activities.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Mr S. Vasoo (Bo Wen): Mr Speaker, Sir, may I make some observations as regards the repeal of the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board Act. As I see it, there is no pressing reason why we should repeal the Act. The forms have changed, population dimensions have changed, and population activities have taken different directions. All we need to do is perhaps to reshape and redesign the activities of the Family Planning Board. However, if the Act is to be repealed, I think that there are a number of implications that the Ministry of Health will have to be aware of. These implications are important in the context of Singapore because we depend on a very small population. The population itself is reducing and there is no new growth in terms of population. As such, I feel that one should look at this whole question of population issue more critically. I wonder whether the Ministry has the expertise and the capabilities to monitor population matters and to direct activities which will in a way prevent unintended consequences to the context of our future population trend.

The implication that I am concerned with is that the activities on population and family planning matters will become rather defused. There will be lack of thrust and coordination on matters related to population. Secondly, changes in the demographic trends need closer analysis and monitoring. And I am wondering whether the Ministry itself will have the expertise and the people to look at these trends closely and to interpret these trends in terms of its implications for future manpower needs.

Thirdly, we need to have better coordinated strategies and plans to deal with the various issues of concern about our future population itself. I am wondering with the closure of the Board whether strategies and plans to deal with population matters would be effectively carried out.

Finally, we have new concerns, such as falling birth rate, singlehood, lopsided procreation and various other related matters. We need to take a fresh look at these new issues which are before us. And I feel that there should be a unit in one of the Ministries, not necessarily with the Ministry of Health, which would be able to look at this whole question critically because it has to do with issues that we will be concerned about, the future survival of our own society; and in terms of the kind of people that we will have for our community.

With that note, I thank you, Sir.

Dr Aline K. Wong (Changkat): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to say a few words also. Like the Member for Bo Wen, I do not see any pressing reason why the Board should be abolished. However, I accept the reason given by the Ministry of Health, ie, the need for streamlining. I think this is in line with the Government's policy of streamlining the civil service also.

My main concern is that at the moment the Board has representatives from various civic organizations, apart from Ministry officials. These include people from the unions, from the University, from schools and also from the voluntary family planning association. With the abolition of the Board, ie, following the repeal of the Act, would there still be an avenue for the members of the public to give the Government feedback on important population policies?

The second question I want to raise with the Minister of State is that, with the repeal of the Act and therefore the abolition of the Board, and with the kind of new population concerns that we have now, does the abolition of the Board signify that the Government is going to adopt in future some very different population policies? Could he please clarify?

Mr Jeyaretnam: Mr Speaker, Sir, I really rise to seek clarification from the Minister of State. As has been pointed out, there were voluntary organizations which were involved in promoting family planning in Singapore and, if my memory serves me right, I think it was first started by the Singapore Family Planning Association. I think the international organization was also involved. This brings me to the point about the premises that are at present occupied by the Board in Dunearn Road. Again, I stand corrected - was the premises not built or put up by these voluntary organizations and which was eventually transferred to the Board for its functions which were taken over from the voluntary organizations? Now it is proposed to dissolve this Board itself and transfer all the functions to the Ministry of Health. But what is to come of the land and the premises in Dunearn Road? Or will the Ministry of Health be conducting its activities in the field of family planning from that building?

The other question is this. If the property was donated by voluntary organizations and the Government is taking it over, will any compensation be paid to the people who gave that building for this particular purpose?

Dr Dixie Tan (Ulu Pandan): Mr Speaker, Sir, can I add a few comments? I would support the Members for Bo Wen and Changkat in their remarks that the Act for the Board does not need to be repealed because family control and population control activities are now no longer needed on a big scale since the original objectives of the Board have been met. However, population control and family control does not merely mean family reduction and population reduction. It can mean other things. It can mean the mode of family control and contraception. For instance, the Board promoted oral contraceptives in a big way. At the same time, the Abortion Act was introduced. The Abortion Act has now run for about 14 years. The number of abortions has shown very sharp increases and many thinking people are very anxious about this problem. I think we need people, who have a long standing interest in the pattern of population and the way it is controlled, to monitor the numbers of abortions, the reasons for abortions and the implications on our nation - the social implications, for instance, how it will affect our thinking of life and death, and the implications of young people going for abortions rather than women in their 40s who were the original target for more abortions. These are matters of some national importance. Somebody need to look at them and who better than the Family Planning and Population Board.

Then again, there are constantly new products in the market for contraception. We hear about injections, we hear about new hormones for both men and women. Here again, it will be good that we have a Board that can evaluate the efficacy, the dangers, the desirability to promote the uses of various oral contraceptives and other types of contraceptives for our population. Then in the years to come, if our birth rate continues to fall, we may well need a Family Planning and Population Board to promote births in our population, to encourage people by various means to have more children instead of less children.

For all these reasons I would ask the Minister to consider retention of this Board. It could be that the present infrastructure is not required and therefore it can be scaled down to whatever is necessary. The Board may be very small. It does not need, maybe, permanent staff or secretaries and so forth. Whatever is necessary can be retained and whatever is not necessary can be scrapped. But I would make a plea for this Board to be retained and for its functions to be varied according to the needs of our country.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Mr Speaker, Sir, one common question which has been asked by the various Members who have spoken is why the need to repeal, especially in view of the fact that the population procreation pattern has been changing; we are seeing a decline in the growth rate. So why not continue with the Board and let the Board address these problems. I think the key statement which I have made just now was that over the years because of the increasing complexity and the scale of the operations, much of the actual day-to-day running of the Board has been integrated with the work of the Ministry. Let me give Members some examples.

The Chairman of the Board is the Deputy Director of Medical Services in charge of Public Health. The Executive Secretary of the Board is the Director of the Maternal and Child Health Clinic. The various specialists who undertake projects for the Board are specialists from the Ministry. So, in actual fact, the day-to-day operations of the Board form part of the operations of the Ministry. The same staff who are now providing the leadership and the specialized expertise will therefore be able, despite the fact that the Board will be dissolved, to continue with their work of first monitoring the trends in population growth, analysing those trends and com- ing out with the solutions, which is exactly what they have been doing over the past years.

The Government has also formed an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Population comprising Permanent Secretaries of various Ministries. This will allow the Government to monitor on a much broader basis the population trends and to implement programs which should be better coordinated between the various Ministries, thereby making them more effective for the future. The Inter-Ministerial Committee would also be responsible for formulating policies which the Government will then review, and those policies which are accepted will then be implemented through the various Ministries.

The Member for Changkat has asked whether the Government is going to adopt very different population policies. The policies that we have at the present moment will be continued, and that is, we will still stress on the need for small families. However, in line with the concern about the lop-sided procreation patterns in which it has been analysed that women in the higher socio-economic group tend to have a smaller family, for example, one or two children, it is therefore necessary for such women to be encouraged to bear their share of procreation requirements of the country. The policies will be continually reviewed and they will be modified as and when necessary. But I think we all realize that population trends are long-term trends. So we do not expect policies to change rapidly.

The Member for Anson has asked about the building and the land presently occupied by the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board at Dunearn Road. The land was leased from the Government. The building was paid for by a grant from IPPF. This building was subsequently handed over to the Government when the SFPPB was formed. Therefore, under this Repeal Bill, all the assets and liabilities of the Board will be handed over to the Government.

The Member for Ulu Pandan has asked about the need to review new contra- ception products and whatever other services are required. Such review will be continued, as is already being done by the Ministry's staff.

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 Yeo Cheow Tong].

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