MR HO JUAN THAI (Non-issue of passport)

Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Home Affairs what are the reasons for the reluctance of the Immigration authorities to issue Mr Ho Juan Thai a passport.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Jeyaretnam is fully aware of the reasons why Singapore Immigration and Registration (SIR) has not issued Mr Ho Juan Thai a passport. Mr Jeyaretnam had been closely associated with Mr Ho, a member of the Workers' Party, and had acted as Mr Ho's counsel previously.

SIR has not issued Mr Ho a Singapore passport for the following reasons:

a) Mr Ho is required to respond to SIR's queries over the renewal endorsement in his expired Singapore passport. Mr Ho had publicly declared that he amended the expiry date of his passport, which expired in December 1976, to enter the UK in July 1977. If this is true, this may constitute an offence of forgery.

b) Mr Ho has been an Exit Permit defaulter since August 1986. He is therefore required to answer for his Exit Permit offence upon his return to Singapore.

c) Although no warrant of arrest has been issued against Mr Ho, the authorities would like to interview him over his racially inflammatory speeches at election rallies during the December 1976 General Election in which he ran as the Workers' Party election candidate in Bukit Panjang.

Mr Jeyaretnam, acting as counsel for Mr Ho, was informed in 1986 why Mr Ho could not be issued a passport. Mr Ho himself was informed of the reasons in writing by the Singapore High Commissioner in London and MINDEF in 1992, when he applied for a new Singapore passport. The High Commissioner has also told Mr Ho that SIR is ready to issue him with a one-way Document of Identity to facilitate his return to Singapore if he so wishes.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Would the Minister identify the provision of law under which a citizen of Singapore can be denied a passport?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, I think Mr Jeyaretnam very well knows the answer. It is found in the Passports Act, read with the Passport Regulations (Regulation 5).

Mr Jeyaretnam: If Mr Ho has committed any offence, the answer is to prosecute him and ask for extradition of him from the United Kingdom to Singapore. I take it there is an extradition treaty. Why deny him a passport?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: That is exactly what we want to find out and have asked him to return. We are prepared to issue him a Document of Identity for him to return to Singapore, after which the authorities would question him to ascertain whether or not he has committed any offence and, if so, what offences he has committed. So, Mr Ho should come back and we can get to the bottom of it.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): The Minister of State also says that the agency would like to interview or question him. I would like to know whether or not the Government still considers Mr Ho Juan Thai a threat to the internal security of Singapore.

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: That is the very reason why we want to interview him. He has to come back, he would be interviewed, and then we would decide.

Mr Jeyaretnam: May I ask the Minister, following the Member's question, what is the threat that Mr Ho poses? Is it the same threat that the Worker's Party poses to the People's Action Party?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: I have outlined the circumstances why the authorities want to question Mr Ho. There are three instances and they are all in the answer.

Mr Jeyaretnam: May I ask the Minister whether he really thinks that he has answered the question?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: The answer is obvious.

Mr Speaker: Mr Jeyaretnam, if you have no more questions, could you proceed with your next question?

Mr Jeyaretnam: Yes, all right, because we are not getting the answers, Sir, Question No. 6.