NEW RADIO STATION AND BROADCASTING CHANNELS

Mr Cheo Chai Chen asked the Minister for Information and the Arts whether he will allow (i) political parties to establish a radio station; and (ii) provide a new channel on television and radio respectively for the live broadcast of Parliamentary debates.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: MITA does not issue licences to political or religious organisations to run radio or TV stations. Radio and TV frequencies are scarce and when available should be put to the best use to benefit the public. It is hard to justify allowing special interest groups like political parties to run stations to promote their own causes.

In a pilot project in March 1992, the old SBC carried the Budget Debate "live" on TV. The response from the public was poor, with average daily viewership averaging only 4,000. Because of such poor response, we would consider telecasting parliamentary proceedings "live" only when major Bills and issues are being discussed. The opening of Parliament and the Budget Speech by the Minister for Finance were two events telecast "live" by the old SBC. Normal parliamentary debates are broadcast by RCS and TV12 in their news bulletins and by TCS in the "Highlights from Parliament", which is a 15-minute summary of the day's proceedings.