TOUTING (Measures to control)

Dr Wong Kwei Cheong asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what measures are taken by the Government to discourage touts from harassing tourists in the Orchard Road shopping belt; and (b) whether amending legislation will be introduced if existing legislation is inadequate to deal with the problem of touting.

The Minister for Home Affairs (Prof. S. Jayakumar): Mr Speaker, Sir, in 1987, there were 35 complaints against touts to the Police and the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. Of these, only 11 were complaints from tourists and the others were mainly from rival shops.

The Police have taken concerted action to control touting activities. Operations are regularly conducted to identify the touts who are then called up and warned. Court action has also been taken against touts found attempting to sell imitation goods. In 1987, two such touts were convicted and fined $800 each. Another six cases are pending in court.

In 1987, the Police conducted 69 raids on shops which engaged touts to sell imitation goods. Owners of 12 establishments were convicted in Court with fines ranging from $1,000 to $7,500. The Police will continue to watch them closely, and immediate action will be taken against them for any offence committed.

To tackle the problem, the Police have also worked closely with other agencies such as the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, Singapore Hotel Association, Consumers' Association of Singapore, as well as the Singapore Retail Merchants Association, to work out measures to discourage touting. These include the STPB's Associate Membership Scheme implemented in 1986 whereby shops employing touts will not be accepted as members.

Management councils and crime prevention committees of shopping centres affected by touting have been advised by the Police to draw up a code of good trading practices for their members to follow. For these errant shops, peer group pressure must be put on them to stop engaging touts.

The situation is being monitored closely and a review will be made to assess whether these measures are adequate or whether more deterrent measures, including amendment of the legislation, would be necessary to deal with the problem.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon (Alexandra): Sir, from the figures given by the Minister, does it not appear that Police action and the fines which have been imposed by the courts up till now have proved to be inadequate in dealing with the problem?

Prof. Jayakumar: Sir, if the court action and the fines that are imposed are the only measure for assessing the effectiveness of the response to the problem, the Member may be warranted in coming to that conclusion. But, as I pointed out in my answer, the solution involves a multi-pronged approach which requires the cooperation of others in addition to the Police, including the owners of the shop establishments, crime prevention committees, and so on. I would suggest that we have to review the totality of the measures before we conclude whether the solution lies in further deterrent fines and other penalties.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon: Have Police investigations to-date revealed any connection between touts and secret societies?

Prof. Jayakumar: None that I am aware of.