OCCUPANTS OF FORMER ISTANA KAMPONG GLAM AND ADJACENT LOT 53 (Resettlement benefits)

Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad asked the Minister for Law whether the occupants of the former Istana Kampong Glam and the adjacent Lot 53 will receive resettlement benefits and what is the Government's plan with respect to the Sultan Hussain Ordinance.

The Minister for Law (Prof. S. Jayakumar): Mr Speaker, Sir, the first part of the Member's question concerns resettlement benefits of the occupants. In the case of the former Istana Kampong Glam, those occupants living there at the cut-off date of 13th March 1999 will be considered for resettlement benefits under prevailing resettlement policy.

As for Lot 53 which was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act, the normal process is for Land Office to make a compensation award based on vacant possession, in which case the issue of resettlement will not arise. However, if the landowner does not deliver vacant possession, an award on an encumbered basis will be made instead, in which case the occupiers of the property will be cleared under existing resettlement policy.

The second part of the Member's question asks about the Government's plan with respect to the Sultan Hussain Ordinance.

There are some 79 beneficiaries who are receiving payments under that Ordinance. Many of them are not even in Singapore. Of those in Singapore, only a few of them, about 14, actually live in the former Istana Kampong Glam.

The position of the Sultan Hussain Ordinance has been clarified by Government in the past. In particular, the former Minister for National Development, Mr S Dhanabalan, set out the position clearly in this House on 12th March 1991, and I quote an extract:

'In 1896, towards the end of the last century, there was a dispute among the family of Sultan Hussain as to who was the successor to the Sultanate and to the estate, ie, the Kampong Glam Estate. This matter went to court and in December 1897, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no one who could claim to be the successor. The estate, therefore reverted to the Crown. It became State land and it was no longer subject to the treaties which previously affected it.'

Therefore, the Kampong Glam Estate including the former Istana has been State Land since 1897.

The British Government then enacted the Sultan Hussain Ordinance in 1904. The intention of the Ordinance was to take care of the financial needs of the family at that time of the late Sultan Hussain who were described by the then British Governor as "very improvident people". The Ordinance provided for annual payment of monies to the family of the late Sultan Hussain pegged to the income derived from the Kampong Glam Estate. These payments were not intended to be in perpetuity but were intended to be made only to "the family of the late Sultan Hussain" at the time the Ordinance was enacted. Nevertheless, for historical reasons, annual payments were continued to be made by subsequent Governments all these 100-odd years. This has led to a very unsatisfactory situation. Firstly, while the number of beneficiaries has steadily increased, the payments are getting smaller as the income from which the payments are made has diminished. Secondly, in future the payments would become even smaller over time as the number of beneficiaries increases. In view of these factors and with the recently announced new conservation projects for Istana Kampong Glam and the adjacent building as a Malay Heritage Centre, Government has decided that it is timely to review the scheme of payments under the Ordinance.

The Government has therefore decided on a new scheme of payments. Firstly, we will increase the actual payments to $350,000 per annum. Secondly, this new sum of $350,000 per annum will be maintained for a fixed period of 30 years starting from this year to be distributed among the existing number of beneficiaries in the same proportion to the total annual payment that they are receiving at present. This revised fixed income will be a substantial increase of more than 10 times the actual annual payment to the beneficiaries at present which amounts to about $29,231. In addition, if any beneficiary wishes, the Government will allow him the option of receiving a lump sum payment up-front which would be equivalent to the present value of the future stream of payments under the new scheme.

This new scheme will apply to all existing beneficiaries regardless of where they presently live. Those beneficiaries who are now occupants at the former Istana Kampong Glam will benefit from this new scheme of payments in addition to whatever resettlement benefits they may get as described earlier.

This new scheme is an equitable way of meeting the interests of the existing beneficiaries. The alternative of maintaining the status quo will mean progressively diminishing amounts of payments.

The Land Office will contact the beneficiaries individually to explain the new scheme to them.

Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad (Pasir Ris): I would like to thank the Minister for the very comprehensive answer. I would just like to know whether this would include the beneficiaries who are resident overseas.

Prof. Jayakumar: Indeed, because under the present scheme, all the 79 beneficiaries are entitled to the payments, so the revised scheme would also apply to them.

Encik Ibrahim Bin Othman (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Sir, what about those present beneficiaries who do not want to take the lump sum? Will they draw that sum after 30 years?

Prof. Jayakumar: This new scheme, as I said, is for a period of 30 years, which we think is more than reasonable. It should take care of most of their adult life. It cannot obviously be in perpetuity because the intention was never to be in perpetuity.