Hansard, 1960-07-20

Order, order. I have to inform Honourable Members that His Excellency the Yang di-Pertuan Negara is due to be present in this Assembly, this morning, at ten minutes past 10 o'clock to deliver his Opening Speech for the Second Session of this the First Legislative Assembly of the State of Singapore. The Serjeant at Arms left the Chamber.

The House will now await the announcement by the Serjeant at Arms of His Excellency's approach. After His Excellency has delivered his speech, the Assembly will stand adjourned to a day to be fixed by the Leader of the House in accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order No. 13. 10.03 a.m. The Serjeant at Arms announced the approach of His Excellency the Yang di-Pertuan Negara. Mr Speaker, preceded by the Serjeant at Arms (with Mace), and followed by the Clerk, the Clerk-Assistant, and the Second Clerk-Assistant, left the Chamber to receive His Excellency. 10.10 a.m. His Excellency the Yang di-Pertuan Negara entered the Chamber, accompanied by Mr Speaker who was preceded by the Serjeant at Arms (without Mace), the Second Clerk-Assistant, the Clerk-Assistant and the Clerk. On the Clerk announcing "His Excellency the Yang di-Pertuan Negara", the Yang di-Pertuan Negara delivered his Opening Speech.

(In Malay): Members of the Singapore Legislative Assembly - Introduction In assessing the work of the P.A.P. Government during its first year of office, due regard must be paid to the limitations under which it had to work. These limitations were clearly and frankly stated, before the elections, in the P.A.P.'s Five-Year Plan. The people were aware what they could and could not expect of a P.A.P. Government. It was that the Government would operate under a constitution which did not give it complete freedom and independence of political action. It was emphasised that Singapore was a small island, with no natural resources and dependent upon a sensitive entrepot trade for its livelihood. "Existing conditions", the plan stressed, "are not favourable to the immediate attainment of a socialist society and a fully developed socialist society, and a fully developed socialist economy cannot be achieved as long as Singapore is separated from the Federation." It would no doubt have been advantageous, before an election, to have-come forward with lavish promises of independence and socialism. But P.A.P. had no intention of deceiving the people into voting for it with promises it could not fulfill. It asked the people to vote for it on the basis of what it described as a "not over-ambitious" but "realistic" Plan, to quote the words of the Five-Year Plan. The overwhelming vote given by the people to the P.A.P. is proof that its analysis and strategy were acceptable to the mass of the people. If the Government was not prepared before the elections to deceive the people with promises to deliver the sun moon and stars, it has even less reason now to hold out false hopes. Democracy has collapsed in some countries in Asia because governments, in their eagerness to cling to power, embraced demagogy at the expense of integrity and courage. The Government has no intention of recklessly abandoning the aims and policies arrived at after long and patient deliberation. A responsible Government cannot permit itself the luxury of changing with every puff of wind. The correctness of the policy laid down in the Five-Year Plan has been shown by the fact that under the new Government, Singapore has enjoyed greater political and economic stability than it has known during the last 15 years. For the first time in the Island's history the interests of the masses have been more closely linked with the purposes of Government. The sense of oppression, humiliation and resentment which people experienced under colonial rule has slowly given way to feelings of national pride and self-confidence. The first year of office was one of reorganisation, consolidation and preparation. It was taken up largely with clearing the ground and setting the course for the year of construction ahead. The Government does not wish to give the impression that there have not been mistakes and shortcomings during the past year. It is aware that some of its measures should have been more carefully planned and expertly executed. In some instances, it moved too fast and without preparing public opinion adequately for the changes. Some of the legislation resulted in inconveniences or misunderstandings which could have been avoided by a little more foresight, a little more consultation, discussion and a little more explanation. But these are errors arising from zeal and impatience to get things done. In the coming year the Government will temper zeal with understanding and its impatience by explaining more to the people the need for certain courses of action.

Members will recall that a year ago the State of Singapore faced many financial and economic difficulties. There was a deficit looming on the horizon. There was considerable uncertainty as to the stability of the political foundation of the State and this led to hesitation on the part of potential investors. Our two great neighbours, the Federation of Malaya and Indonesia, then looked upon the events in Singapore with some reservation. The far-sighted policies of the Government announced last year were firmly carried out and in 12 short months we have seen a complete reversal of position. The State ended the year's budget with a small surplus of $9 million. Relations with Indonesia entered a stage of cordiality. This was principally due to a more realistic appraisal of relations between the two States. With regard to the Federation of Malaya, the danger then was that the Federation might pursue policies which did not take into account the legitimate interests of Singapore. This danger was happily averted. On major matters of financial and economic policy, the two Governments have taken pains to carry out mutual consultations. Examples of these are the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, the new Currency Agreement, fiscal proposals over a broad field and, last but not least, the current talks on the Common Commodity Market. In the field of trade and private investment, the economic policies of the Government have borne substantial fruit. The last 12 months saw considerable improvement in the volume of trade both for domestic market and for the entrepot. The atmosphere of uncertainty and hesitation in the field of private investment was replaced by a climate of confidence. Proof of this was the substantial volume of private investment now seeking permission to operate in Singapore. Applications for exemption under the Pioneer Industries Ordinance alone give a total paid-up capital of more than $101 million from 13 major concerns. These new industries range over fields as wide apart as oil refining, rolling of aluminium products, flour milling, sugar refining, production of foodstuffs such as chocolate, condensed milk, etc. It will be necessary to ensure that the momentum which has been achieved at the cost of much hard work and planning should be sustained and increased. The most important single objective of the economic policy of the Government is to increase the rate of gross capital formation in the State. In the past years, gross investment in this island hardly exceeded 11 per cent of its national income. This proportion is quite inadequate, not only to provide work for our expanding population but even to maintain our present level of per capita national income. It will be necessary to increase the rate of gross investment to something like 20 per cent of the gross national income. This will be the prime objective of the Five-Year Development Plan, the first draft of which has been prepared and which will form the basis of financial discussions with the United Kingdom Government. In terms of money value, it will be necessary to plough back something like $400 million a year in investment. About half of this investment will take place in the public sector. This will include the expansion of economic services such as power, water and gas supplies, the construction of roads and bridges, improvement to the sea port and Airport and the Singapore River, enlargement of telecommunications facilities, provision of industrial sites and so forth, as well as investment in the social services the main item of which will be housing, schools and medical facilities. The proportions in which the demands for economic services and social services are to be satisfied have been provisionally estimated in the Development Plan. An assessment must be made of what overseas finance is available. It is expected that the answers to this will be known before long and the final copy of the Development Plan will then be tabled in this House. The greater part of the money for public investment, however, must be found from our own domestic resources. This will mean the exercise of strictest economy in annually recurrent expenditure which provides for the normal economic and social services which we now have. The aim is to provide as large a surplus as possible in the annual budgets of both the Government and public authorities to finance development projects. Industrial Expansion Several factors which have generated confidence and stimulated industrial expansion are worth noting. They must be strengthened to consolidate the advances we have made. The first of these must be a firm and stable Government whose policy and actions are consistent and predictable. These would allow long-term forecasts to be made by private investors with a degree of assurance that their calculations would be right. Next there must be stability in the basic elements of the economy. Foremost among these is that the value of the currency must be stable beyond any possible doubt. Then the basic economic services, such as the port services, transportation, power supplies, must maintain the highest degree of efficiency. A further important factor is stability in labour-employer relationships, for nothing is more harmful to economic expansion than the unpredictable outbursts of industrial strife. The labour policy of the Government which will be elaborated later is designed to secure this balance of competing interests between industrial peace and industrial action for higher benefits. Trade While it would be the principal objective of the Government to bring about accelerated industrial growth in Singapore, this does not mean that we are unaware of the importance of trade. For many years to come Singapore's trade will be the principal support of the economy and, as such, it will be Government's policy to avoid taking any action that will damage our trade. Indeed the Government will do what it can to promote and expand the volume of trade, although in the free port economy such as we are, the prime responsibility for trade promotion must rest with the traders themselves.

Shipping Shipping, civil aviation and telecommunications play a vital role in the economic life of Singapore. It is essential that our citizens should man all the important points in these services as soon as practicable. The P.A.P. Government has taken steps to remedy this defect by starting a one-year pre-sea training course in the Polytechnic, so that students who take this course will eventually be trained as cadets in the merchant marine service and acquire the necessary sea experience to sit for the foreign master's certificate examination. Although our port and harbour facilities are the best in the East the number of Singapore citizens who have the requisite technical qualifications to run the port in all its aspects is negligible. This is because no action was taken by past governments to encourage local personnel to be trained in the necessary skills and techniques. With the cooperation of the Japanese Government under the Colombo Plan students will be sent to Japan to study marine engineering and naval architecture. These students will eventually be placed in the Marine Survey Department and the Singapore Harbour Board. Port Authority Some progress has been made in the planning to set up a Port Authority combining the functions now carried out by the Singapore Harbour Board and some departments of Government. The problem of appointing an experienced, competent and capable Chief Executive for the Port Authority has still to be resolved before the new organisation can take shape under expert planning. The Government expects to be able to begin the organisation changes in this session. The Singapore Harbour Board is proceeding with the East Wharf Project which will give nine new berths. This is the first stage in the long-term scheme for the development of our harbour facilities. Civil Aviation By April 1961 it is expected that the new building to house the administration, control tower, air traffic control centre, aeronautical information service, meteorological station and the offices of air line operators will be ready for occupation. Co-ordination of all services for civil aviation will then be centralised and the handling of increased flight frequencies of modern jet aircraft will be made more efficient. Postal Services The postal services are being expanded by establishing new Post Offices and Postal Agencies particularly to meet the increasing needs of rural communities. A new non-delivery Post Office will be opened in Pulau Bukom at the end of this month. Parking Schemes The parking schemes for cars have been successfully operated. These schemes have proved their usefulness in relieving congestion in the heart of the city and in introducing orderliness in the car parks. Plans are in hand for the introduction of this parking scheme in other areas of the city. Telephone Services During the next 12 months, the Singapore Telephone Board will connect more than 3,000 subscribers into our present Singapore Telephone Board network from all our exchanges. By June 1961, Nee Soon, Sembawang, Changi and Upper Tampines will be connected to our general network. During the year, the Singapore Telephone Board proposes to connect telephones to kampongs and villages in the urban and rural areas. Local Government integration with Government Ministries The process of integrating the City Council with the Government Ministries is administratively completed. All departments are now administratively integrated with and directed by the respective Government Ministries. Only a Public Utilities Corporation remains to beset up. Extensive schemes for developing of electricity, gas and water supplies have been planned to meet increased demand arising from both the increase in population as well as industrial expansion. Lands and Planning On February 1st this year, the Planning Ordinance was brought into force and a Planning Department created under the Prime Minister's Ministry. The new department is now working smoothly and speedily. The Master Plan will be revised to take into account the greatly increased population and Government's Five-Year Economic Development Plan. This will take time to complete but consideration is being given in the meantime to an interim revision of the Master Plan. The industrialisation programme of Government will be set in motion when the Land Office initiates action to acquire a total of 2,438½ acres in the Jurong area. This is in addition to other areas to be acquired for drainage works, schools, clinics and community centres. Legislation to give farmers better security of tenure is under preparation and will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly during this session. Housing Between the period June 1959 and February 1960 contracts for the construction of only 821 housing units were given out. In February 1960 the Housing and Development Board was formed to take over the housing functions of the former S.I.T. For the five months that it has been in existence the Board has so far given out contracts for the construction of 4,000 units. It has also drawn up a Five-Year Building Programme providing for the construction of 52,000 units at an estimated total cost of $210 million over the period 1960 to 1964. There are now 4,720 units under construction of which 1,811 units will be completed by the end of this year. Flood Alleviation The flood problems in Singapore have become more acute year by year with the development of built-up areas. Considerable work and funds are to be concentrated on flood alleviation schemes. Work is already proceeding on flood alleviation schemes in Ulu Pandan, Queenstown, Geylang, Bukit Timah, Tampines and Jurong. Rural Amenities Work on the improvement of kampongs in the rural areas has been specially intensified and water mains laid in areas where water supply is most needed. More standpipes are being installed in remote areas where drinking water from wells is either brackish or unsuitable for drinking purposes. Programme for kampong sanitation, water main laying and erection of standpipes have been prepared and more of these services will be introduced in the future. New link roads are in the course of construction for these areas: West Coast Road/Jurong, Choa Chu Kang/Lim Chu Kang, Serangoon Garden Estates/Braddell Road. Agricultural roads to help farmers to bring their produce to the markets are being constructed in accordance to priorities. Electricity supply is now being brought to remote rural areas and the erection of more substations and the abundance of electricity from St. James Power Station will help the project to become a reality. All possible help is being given and in some cases the Rural Board subsidizes schemes for electrification of areas, e.g. Kampong Chai Chee at Changi Road, 6¼ m.s., and Bulim at Choa Chu Kang Road. Community Centres Medium and small Community Centres will continue to be built in all areas which are thickly populated. Small Community Halls will be built in attap areas. Agriculture With the increased production of sewerage sludge in Singapore it is proposed to use it as a base for different formulations of fertilisers by incorporating chemical fertilisers. These mixtures will be tried out at the Government Experimental Stations and, if found to be satisfactory, arrangements will be made to make them available to the farmers in order to assist them to cut their cost of production of vegetables. Poultry Farming An improved strain of chicks has been bred which will grow much faster than the local Canton fowl and which will lay 40 per cent more eggs. Each fowl of this strain will lay up to 150 eggs per year whereas the local Canton fowl can lay only between 90 and 100 eggs per year. Day-old chicks of this new strain will be distributed to farmers to improve their livestock. Fishing Government is considering a scheme to encourage Malay fishermen to seek new waters for fishing and to assist them with equipment. The success of this scheme depends largely on negotiations with the Indonesian Government for the Malay fishermen to fish in their territorial waters off Singapore.

Steps are being taken to implement the Industrial Relations Ordinance and to appoint the President and panels of members of the Court and the recruitment of the necessary staff. The Court will be housed in the Supreme Court Building. The Trade Unions Bill which did not receive my assent before the prorogation will be re-introduced with some amendments to enable the unification policy to be implemented. A Labour Advisory Council will be set up on which there will be representatives of industry, the trade unions and Government. The work of the Council will be:-

Police The Government will consolidate its efforts to preserve peace, good order and security in the State. The process of transforming the Police Force into a popular and friendly force to safeguard the interests of the people has made further progress and will continue. Efforts in bringing greater cooperation between police and the people through the media of holding Police! people meetings, visits of Assemblymen to police establishments, and the periodical joint discussion between Assemblymen and people's representatives and the divisional police have proved to be a step in the right direction. The people are now looking upon the Force as fellow citizens protecting them against evil doers. The Government is trying out new methods of organising the people to protect themselves in co-operation with the Police in kampong areas. The success of this experiment will bring the Police another step closer to the people. The amendments made last session to the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Ordinance, 1958, have enabled the Police to carry on a more effective campaign against secret society gangsters. This must continue relentlessly until their evil influence is destroyed. At the same time the Government is conscious of the fact that mere detention of secret society members without any attempt to re-educate and rehabilitate them with the aim of returning them as less embittered, and better and more useful members of society is a negative and wasteful approach to the problem. Therefore, the Government has launched the Pulau Senang Settlement Scheme for the re-education and rehabilitation of secret society detainees. To date 82 detainees have been transferred to Pulau Senang from Changi Prison. The Scheme has got off to a good start and the Government will give it special attention. The Government also intends to carry out Prison Reform and to that end is awaiting the Report of the Prisons Inquiry Commission set up last year with a view to making recommendations in that direction. Anti-corruption and anti-yellow culture The Government is aware that bribery and corruption have yet to be completely eliminated. The shortage of officers and the inadequacy of the previous laws have made the task of fighting corruption more difficult than it should be. Now that the new Prevention of Corruption Ordinance has been brought into operation, steps have been taken to recruit more staff for the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. General Orders dealing with disciplinary procedures in respect of Government employees will be revised and adapted with a view to giving more effective assistance to the anti-corruption campaign, which will be intensified. In keeping with its policy to promote the healthy growth of a new national consciousness and culture, the Government will continue to suppress and eliminate yellow culture. Citizenship and Immigration Parallel to its citizenship policy, the Government's immigration policy will be to protect the economic interests of its citizens and safeguard their employment opportunities. Close alignment and liaison with the Federation's immigration laws and policy is being maintained. Preventive action against the entry of illegal immigrants will be intensified.

During the past year the emphasis on the preventive aspects of medicine was begun with the drafting of legislation for the compulsory immunisation of the young members of our population against the twin scourges of Tuberculosis and Diphtheria. The legislation will be presented to the Legislative Assembly shortly. Tuberculosis continues to be the major health problem of the community. Legislation, now in final form, will provide for the immunisation of children at secondary school entrance level. Such a measure, consistently applied, is expected to decrease sharply the incidence of Tuberculosis in the younger population. Towards the end of the year an X-Ray campaign is planned to ascertain the incidence of Tuberculosis in the adult population. Plans for a mass Family Planning campaign to stimulate an awareness of intelligent planned parenthood among the adult population have been completed and should be launched by the end of the year. Hospitals The Thomson Road Hospital, opened in late 1959, now accepts acute general medical cases. Plans are in hand to develop it into a full District Hospital for acute surgical, obstetric and gynaecological cases. Woodbridge Hospital is being re-designed to house certain categories of the chronic sick so as to make available the accommodation and facilities at the General Hospital for medical cases requiring better attention. Among the improvements to hospitals planned for the coming year, is the expansion of the Government Medical Store to increase the capacity for manufacture of tablets, sterile preparations and drugs, the establishment of a Third Medical Unit, General Hospital, to increase the number of general medical beds by 120, and improvement and expansion of the Orthopaedic Services to include new Theatres, X-Ray unit and Laboratory units and to increase the number of Orthopaedic beds by 150. Out-patient clinics Two Out-patient clinics will be opened at Jalan Kayu and Lim Ah Pin Road. More Maternity and Child Health Centres will be built next year, particularly in the rural areas. Recruitment The first batch of 35 nurses from Chinese and Malay schools were recruited into the Nurses Training School in September 1959, in accordance with Government policy. Two months later 17 Chinese and Malay educated pupil midwives were recruited. The policy of encouraging non-English educated girls to join the Nursing Service will be pursued.

The past year has seen the foundations firmly laid of the three main principles on which the Government has based its policy on education as enunciated in the Address to the Assembly at the opening of the First Session last year. These three principles are, firstly, the provision of equal treatment for the 4 streams of education; secondly, the acceptance of Malay as the National Language; and thirdly, intensification of the teaching of Science and Mathematics subjects. Along with equality of treatment steps have been taken to effect uniformity in the structure of the education system in all media. The period of primary education is now uniform, i.e. 6 years, at the end of which time primary school pupils will take, for the first time this year, the Singapore Primary School Leaving Examination. The period of Secondary School education will also be uniform, i.e. 4 years, the Malay and Tamil schools having secondary school classes for the first time this year. The Government's aim is to have eventually a common secondary school leaving examination for all media. A Singapore Examination Syndicate is to be established to control and supervise examinations for both primary and secondary schools. It is intended that our Syndicate will work in close cooperation with its sister Syndicate in the Federation of Malaya, especially in respect of the examinations now conducted by the Cambridge Syndicate. Uniformity of treatment is also being observed in the school syllabuses. In this respect the Educational Advisory Council has devoted much specialist knowledge, effort and energy in the compilation of syllabuses which will be used in all schools. The syllabuses are entirely Malayan in content and will ensure that the textbook, which will be compiled are also Malayan. Integration A start has been made with integration. The Bukit Panjang and Serangoon Garden Government High Schools combine English medium schools with Chinese medium schools with timetables so arranged that language teachers of the two streams are interchangeable. Next year it is proposed to extend integration to primary schools. The experience acquired in these schools is being closely studied in the hope that they will provide the experience for further development along these lines. On a wider plane, integration is being fostered in sports and recreation by the formation of two Joint Athletic Sports Councils covering the four media and responsible for arranging sports meetings which will cut across communal barriers. Special position of Malays Although maintaining parity of treatment in education, the Government is mindful of the special position of the Malays, and has therefore accepted the policy of providing free education to all Malays who are either born in Singapore or children of Singapore citizens, in schools, the Singapore Polytechnic and the University of Malaya. National Language In implementing the policy of Malay as the National Language, the task of the Ministry of Education has been to provide training facilities for the teaching of the language in non-Malay schools. For this, classes were organised in the Teachers' Training College, and to date, about 1,400 teachers have passed the Standard I Malay Examination. About 1,800 teachers are at present receiving instruction in the language up to Standard II level, and those who have been successful in Standard I are already teaching the language in primary classes. In the year ahead the programme of teacher training will gather momentum. In implementing the policy emphasising Science and Mathematics, the Government has had to contend with limited equipment and staff shortage. To overcome the first difficulty, the Government plans to have a new standard type of Secondary School building which will have 4 Science laboratories instead of the present three. Where science facilities in the older secondary school buildings are lacking on inadequate, increased accommodation is being planned. Science teaching begins during the last year of primary school and more simple equipment is being provided for these classes than hitherto. Because of staffing difficulties the schools are allowed to use graduates from the Universities without their waiting for a further year at the Universities for the Diploma in Education. School building programme The other problems are the expansion of the school building programme and the teacher training programme to meet the annual increases in enrolment in schools. A careful survey of the increase in the school-going population over the next 5 years has been carried out and it is estimated that, to provide for this increase, the Government's school building programme must be geared to construct a minimum of 5 secondary schools and 14 primary schools each year. In its plans Government will provide that two out of every five secondary schools will be devoted to technical education. Teacher Training Programme To staff the new schools each year it will be necessary to increase the capacity of the Teachers' Training College. Hence the system of teacher training in the Teachers' Training College has been re-organised. The previous part-time and full-time training courses have given way to a new part-time in-service system which, in content and practice, combines-the best features of the two previous courses. There is also a new course at the Teachers' Training College to provide in-service training in education on a part-time basis for graduates of the University of Malaya and Nanyang University. Universities The Government is concerned to see that the Singapore Polytechnic and the two Universities, Nanyang University and the Singapore Division of the University of Malaya, are geared to serve the needs of the State. Nanyang University has been promised equal treatment with the University of Malaya in the matter of annual grants, subject to its re-organisation and the maintenance of adequate academic standards. Discussions are now going on with the Nanyang University authorities. By 1962 the Singapore Division of the University of Malaya will become the autonomous University of Singapore. The Government will strive to ensure that the University of Singapore will be a national institution conscious of the part it has to play in the development of the community and able to meet the educational needs of Singapore, the scientists and technologists, the administrators and professional talent which the State needs in increasing numbers. Legislation will be introduced to enable graduates in law of the University of Malaya to be admitted to the local Bar after a short period of pupilage and a professional examination. Polytechnic Steps have been taken to ensure that the qualifications obtained from the Singapore Polytechnic will be recognised, not only in Singapore, but in adjoining territories. A Commission of Inquiry will be appointed to investigate and make recommendations on the proper co-ordination of vocational and technical education in all institutions, governmental or non-governmental in Singapore. A systematisation of vocational and technical education will provide the sinews to man future industries to be established in Singapore. More than 5,000 are now attending Post-Primary Classes in the English stream. In the past those who failed at the Secondary School Entrance Examination were thrown out of schools whilst too young to gain employment, and others entered private schools. Until the Commission of Inquiry into vocational and technical education mentioned above produces a plan of vocational training for these Post-Primary Classes, it is proposed to continue providing them with a two-year course o education based on strengthening their knowledge of languages and learning the more practical aspects of normal school subjects. Adult Education The Lembaga Gerakan Pelajaran Dewasa, which was established in April this year, will henceforth be responsible for the direction and control of adult education and the eradication of illiteracy.

The inculcation of a Malayan loyalty and the development of a Malayan consciousness in our people is a task that the P.A.P. Government has shown is possible, by imaginative and constructive use of modern mass media to develop a Malayan loyalty and a Malayan consciousness in our people. The highly complex concept of Malayan culture was given concrete expression through the open-air concerts - Aneka Ragam Ra'ayat. These concerts not only made thousands of ordinary people aware of the richness and variety of the cultural wealth at their disposal but they have also stimulated cultural activity. The enthusiastic response to the National Theatre Fund is an encouraging sign of the conscious search of the people for a Malayan culture. Work on this National Theatre will begin this year. When completed, it should contribute to the further flourishing and ultimate fusion of our diverse cultures. The Government plans to establish a National Cultural Brigade in order to give positive and creative impulse to Malayan art, music, drama and so on. Members of the Brigade will consist of artists, painters, musicians, dramatists and all those involved in the arts and they will perform as well as teach and organise dramatic, musical and dance groups in community centres and cultural associations. This year will also see the establishment of the Institute for National Language and Culture. The aims and objects of the Institute have already been explained to Members of the Assembly. The Institute, in addition to publishing translations of outstanding works of literature and promoting the growth and spread of the national language, will also encourage original works, literary and scientific, by local writers. Another medium through which the Government keeps the public informed and entertained is through the 193 Community Radio Listening sets in rural areas. It is proposed to acquire another 200 sets in order to keep isolated rural communities in touch with what is going on in their country. This year will also see the start of Commercial Broadcasting. We are being assisted by two experts from New Zealand under the Colombo Plan. The Government has also plans to inaugurate a National Service network. At the moment Radio Singapore broadcasts four language programme and though these have ceased to be exclusively communal, they nevertheless cater to particular linguistic groups. The National Service would be identified with no particular language or cultural group. It will try to reflect a Malayan outlook and content. We hope to increase short-wave broadcasts substantially early next year. The Government has also decided to introduce television. It is not possible at the moment to say when a television station will be in full operation, for in addition to erecting the station we will have to train technicians and programme staff to work this new mass media which can help break through the language barriers. We have had the valuable assistance of foreign experts and their report is now being studied. Active work on television will begin this year. In the National Library it will be the policy to strengthen the Malay, Chinese and Indian sections which were neglected in the past. When the new building is completed later this year there will not be that shortage of space which had hampered expansion of the Malay, Chinese and Indian sections in the past. The National Museum will be reorganised to make it more representative of local customs and traditions. There will be more stress on the wealth of cultural material out of which we hope to weave a Malayan culture. It will emphasise more the history and contributions that the many races have-made towards the creation of modern Singapore. Conclusion The second year of office of the P.A.P. Government will be a year of construction. This year will see the addition of an industrial base to our entrepot economy. As the Five-Year Development Plan, which has been prepared by the Government, gets into stride our economy will gradually lose its colonial character by ensuring a greater measure of economic self-reliance. This does not mean the advent of an economic paradise. By broadening our economic base we will enhance the chances of a better life for more of our people, in particular the underprivileged sections of our society. The necessary conditions for economic expansion are purposive action and political stability. These the Government will strive to provide. But it will not overlook the fact that the purpose of economic expansion is to benefit the people as a whole and not a privileged few. 11.20 a.m. At the conclusion of the Yang di-Pertuan Negara's Speech, Mr Speaker, preceded by the Serjeant at Arms, the Clerk, the Clerk-Assistant and the Second Clerk-Assistant, escorted His Excellency out of the Chamber, and the Assembly adjourned without question put, pursuant to the Standing Order. Adjourned accordingly at 11.22 a.m.