STATUTES (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS AND REPEAL) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

The Minister of State for Law (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Sir, this Bill is to effect a number of minor or technical amendments to several Acts.

Repeal of the Coin Act

First, the Coin Act. Clause 5 repeals the Coin Act. The Coin Act regulates the import and export of coins. It was enacted way back in 1903 during the Straits Settlement days to prevent large inflows of coins that threatened to displace the circulation of Straits Settlement coins. That objective obviously is no longer valid today. Currency now flows via electronic and other means. It is highly unlikely for there to be a need to impose regulatory controls on the flow of coins. Even if such a need arises, this can be done under other legislation, such as the Currency Act.

Amendment to the Interpretation Act

Second, clause 2 seeks to amend the Interpretation Act by replacing the Greenwich Mean Time with Coordinated Universal Time as the basis for defining Singapore Standard Time. The Greenwich Mean Time is based on astronomical observations and is no longer used for scientific purposes. The Coordinated Universal Time is the only practical time scale maintained and disseminated under the Metre Convention and is recommended for use by international bodies such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and International Telecommunication Union. Many countries have converted to the Coordinated Universal Time as it is more reliable, stable and accessible.

Sir, Singapore, as a Member State of the Metre Convention, should officially adopt the Coordinated Universal Time. The time difference between the two is a small fraction of a second which is insignificant to most users.

Amendment to the Charities Act

Sir, third, the Charities Act requires the trustee of an organisation which wishes to be conferred charitable status to register it with the Commissioner of Charities with supporting documents. In addition, a registered charity which is amending its trust deeds or any other registered particulars, or is no longer in operation is also required to inform the Commissioner of the change. Failure to comply constitutes an offence. However, as the Act is silent on the time frame for compliance, the Commissioner faces difficulties in enforcing these requirements.

Clause 3 seeks to amend the Charities Act by formalising the operational procedures adopted by the Commissioner of Charities since 1997. Unless an extension is given, registration and provision of all relevant information and documents will have to be completed within three months from the establishment or incorporation of the charity. A charity that has ceased to be a charity or has amended its trust deed or any other registered particulars should notify the Commissioner within seven days of the change.

Amendment to the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act

Next, under the Chemical Weapons Convention, Singapore is required to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over our citizens who engage in activities contravening the Convention. Clause 4 amends the Act to make it clear that the Singapore Courts has jurisdiction to try such acts done or omitted to be done outside Singapore by any citizen of Singapore.

Amendment to the Singapore Academy of Law Act

Clause 17 seeks to amend the Singapore Academy of Law Act to allow the Academy to circulate summary financial statements to its members. On request of any member, the full financial statements will be available for inspection.

Clause 17 also provides for rules to be made so that the Academy need not circulate the summary financial statements to certain specified classes of members, for example, those whose membership has been suspended. This has not been finalised yet, but will be finalised in the rules. The clause also provides for rules to prescribe the conditions under which these statements may be circulated as well as the information to be contained in the statement.

Amendment to the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Act

Next, Sir, clause 11 amends the Third Schedule of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore Act by deleting "65" in item 3 from the Schedule. The Third Schedule lists down offences in the Registered Designs Act, Trade Marks Act and Patents Act, the proceedings of which may be conducted by an officer duly authorised in writing by the Chief Executive of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. The reference to section 65 of the Registered Designs Act should be removed as the section deals with falsification of the Register, which is a serious offence involving fraud and dishonesty. The equivalent provisions in the Trade Marks Act and Patents Act were not included in the Schedule.

Amendment to the NUS Act and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Act

Clause 13 amends the National University of Singapore Act by replacing the words "Vice-Chancellor", "Deputy Vice-Chancellor" and "Bursar" with "President of the University", "Deputy President of the University" and "the chief financial officer of the University" respectively. Consequent to this amendment, clause 10 seeks to amend the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Act by replacing the word "Vice-Chancellor" with "President".

Sir, let me now briefly outline the rest of the amendments which are in the nature of tidying up. Other Miscellaneous Amendments

With the restructuring and privatisation of Government hospitals, the references in a number of Acts to "Government hospitals" and "health officers" in the service of the Government are obsolete. Hence, consequential amendments are proposed to the Infectious Diseases Act, the Motor-Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act, the Prisons Act, the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act, the Termination of Pregnancy Act and the Voluntary Sterilisation Act to omit such references.

Clause 6 amends section 106D of the Companies Act to include a reference to "units" of shares and debentures in the definition of "sophisticated investor". This is a consequential amendment to those made in the Companies (Amendment) Act 2000 which came into effect on 22nd January 2001.

Clause 7 seeks to reinstate the definition of the term "construction works" in the Employment of Foreign Workers Act. Presently, this term is explained as having the same meaning as the same term used in the Construction Industry Development Board ("CIDB") Act. As the CIDB Act was repealed in 1999, this amendment seeks to define "construction works" as used in its entirety in the CIDB Act.

Clause 8 amends section 2 of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act by deleting the words "section 4 of" from the definition of "housing developer" as a banking licence is no longer issued under section 4.

And lastly, clause 16 amends section 18(d) of the Registered Designs Act by replacing the word "Gazette" with the words "prescribed manner". This will enable the notice of registration and representation of a design to be published in the manner prescribed by rules.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen: Mr Speaker, Sir, just a very short clarification. It is regrettable that, in NUS, we are changing the title of "Vice-Chancellor" to "President". I accept it as part of moving with the time. My question is whether the title "Chancellor" was defined in NUS as well because my understanding is that, if I recall correctly, the President of the Republic is the Chancellor of the NUS. So if we change "Vice-Chancellor" to "President", "Deputy Vice-Chancellor" to "Deputy President", are we retaining the title of "Chancellor"? And if we do, the new order list in the university with Chancellor and President, then it seems that we have got a mixture of two cultures.

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Sir, this is for the parent Ministry, Ministry of Education, and the university to decide. As the amendment only relates to Vice-Chancellor, I would take it that the word "Chancellor" remains. The amendment is for operational purposes. I think most universities in the world are moving towards the term "President". So in terms of easy recognition and easy facilitation of dialogue and other operational matters, the university deems it better to change.

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. - [Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee].

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

[Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]

5.00 pm