Hansard, 1971-07-21

Under the provisions of clause 2 (d) of Article 30 of the Constitution of Singapore, I have granted permission to the following Members to be or to remain absent from sittings of Parliament (or any committee of Parliament to which they have been appointed) for the periods stated: Mr Lee Khoon Choy (Hong Lim), Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office - from 1st July to 31st December 1971 from 21st July to 4th August 1971. Tuan Haji Ya'acob Bin Mohamed (Kampong Ubi), Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office - from 1st July to 31st December 1971. Mr Ng Kah Ting (Punggol) - from 21st to 31st July, 1971. Mr N. Govindasamy (Telok Blangah) - from 21st July to 4th August, 1971. Mr Sim Boon Woo (Changi) - from 22nd to 31st July, 1971. YEOH GHIM SENG Speaker, Parliament of Singapore Mr Speaker, preceded by the Sergeant at Arms (bearing the Mace), and followed by the Second Clerk-Assistant, the Clerk-Assistant, and the Clerk, entered the Chamber.

Order, order. I have to inform Honourable Members that the President is due to be present in this House this evening at ten minutes to seven o'clock to deliver his Speech at the Opening of this the Second Session of the Second Parliament. 6.31 p.m. The Sergeant at Arms left the Chamber.

The House will now await the announcement by the Sergeant at Arms of the President's approach. After the President has made his Speech, Parliament will stand adjourned to a day to be named by the Leader of the House in accordance with paragraph (1) of Standing Order No. 14. 6.35 p.m. The Sergeant at Arms re-entered the Chamber and announced the approach of the President. Mr Speaker, preceded by the Sergeant at Arms (bearing the Mace), and followed by the Clerk, the Clerk-Assistant and the Second Clerk-Assistant, left the Chamber to receive the President. 6.50 p.m. The President (accompanied by two A.D.C.s) entered the Chamber, accompanied by Mr Speaker, who was preceded by the Sergeant at Arms (without the Mace), the Second Clerk-Assistant, the Clerk- Assistant and the Clerk. On the Clerk announcing "The President", the President delivered his Opening Speech. 6.51 p.m.

The President (Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares): After six years of separate independence, we have shown that Singapore is viable. She is less dependent on the traditional entrepot trade, She is developing into a centre for manufacturing, servicing, transportation and communications. When the British Government announced in January 1968 that they were going to pull out their forces by the end of 1971, there was widespread fear of unemployment. Unions, management and the government worked hard to create the conditions for rapid and massive investment. We succeeded. At present, there is a temporary shortage of workers. Work permits are freely issued to skilled and semi-skilled workers, and to unskilled workers for heavy manual jobs. Block permits are given to building contractors so that work is not slowed down all over Singapore, from urban renewal, to new satellite towns, factories, roads, flyovers, canals and reservoirs. Married quarters and other accommodation formerly used by the civilians employed by the British Services, and not suitable for the Singapore Armed Forces, will soon be released. They can provide accommodation for over 10,000 new work permit holders. It is important that our industrialisation programme should not stall for lack of skilled, or if unskilled, then educated, industrious and easily trainable, workers. The policy of free work permits will continue until the re-cycling of national service recruits has evened out. In about three years, the national service intake will not exceed the numbers going into the reserves. Then we should have reached conditions of full employment. Meanwhile, my government has plans to systematically mechanise laborious and repetitive work. The private sector will be encouraged to do the same. There is a limit to the inflow of unskilled non-citizen workers we can absorb if the fabric of our society is not to be strained. We want economic growth to raise the standards of living of our people. We want better schools for our children, better homes, with playing fields, gardens, parks, and recreational amenities. We must become viable in defence. Through the Commonwealth Five-Power defence arrangements, stability and security are assured for several years ahead. But we must make use of this time to consolidate our own defence capability. The Ministry of Defence has had to overcome many problems. They are the result of very rapid expansion in the last few years. In the next few years, the heavy expenditure for the purchase of arms and equipment for defence will level off. Then a greater share of our revenue can go into education, health and social services. Meanwhile, the rapid pace of development is making land more scarce, and resettlement more difficult, especially for farmers. As our economic position is now stronger, my government has decided to give higher rates of compensation to tenants and ex gratia payments to squatters for resettlement. Shops and industries in government-owned or acquired premises will now get resettlement ex gratia payments. Genuine farmers will be given more generous terms of resettlement. If we want to continue our rapid growth, we have to import part of the capital, and most of the technology, the management and marketing expertise. A considerable part of the wealth, increasingly evident since the last two years, in expensive shopping complexes, hotels, office blocks and factories, represents imported capital. It will take time and experience to build up our own corps of managers, engineers and marketing experts. With time, our people will increase their participation in the owning and the running of the new enterprises. But, for the present it is foolish not to admit that however shrewd and wealthy our merchants are, many have not yet learned how to run a modern corporation, where ownership is separate from management. Our investors and entrepreneurs have to develop new attitudes necessary for the management of industries, and other enterprises. Recently, a British group of stock market operators quietly bought the majority stocks of a Singapore company, and then sold the company's holdings in a bank and in newspapers, for considerable profits, all at no risk, in little time, and without much effort. It is a sad and painful example of how poorly we run some of our limited companies listed on the stock exchange. We have to acquire sophistication and expertise to run large corporate holding companies and their subsidiaries. We must not allow anyone to take such easy pickings. We believe our young executives and accountants have the ability to acquire this expertise quickly in the next five to ten years. We shall the more rapidly develop this expertise if we increase the number of our own professionals by attracting highly qualified and able professionals, who will come not just to work, but also to settle permanently in Singapore. Our way forward is clear. Through land reclamation, effective anti-pollution measures, good zoning and planning, we can develop a gracious environment. Through family planning and a combination of incentives for small families, and disincentives on having more than three children, we shall keep the population growth in check. This is the only way for the quality of life to go up. Food alone is not enough to bring up a good citizen. Every child needs care, and years of education and training. In many new countries, the population explosion has brought life down to the dirty ditches of the countryside or the filth and squalor of the pavements in the cities. It is fortunate that most of our people have accepted the realities of life in present day Singapore. Their approach to problems is generally practical and tolerant. If we are to remain a cohesive people, we must concentrate on the factors, which bind us together, and not those, which will divide us. We cannot allow anyone to work up heat on the gut issues over language, culture and religion, grating the raw nerves of our people. No one, and especially anyone working in the mass media, has the right to play with the emotional reflexes of our different communities. Partly as the result of recent politicking in the press over language and culture, now even designs of commemorative stamps, which were intended to be light-hearted and quite innocent, have been convoluted and inflated into a serious issue about cu1ture and religion. Provided we keep these sensitive issues of language, culture and religion muted, we have the capacity to transform our once disparate peoples into a modern industrialised island-nation. We must not be deflected from our course towards this goal. 7.04 p.m. At the conclusion of the President's speech, Mr Speaker, preceded by the Sergeant at Arms, the Clerk, the Clerk-Assistant and the Second Clerk Assistant, escorted the President (accompanied by two A.D.C.s) out of the Chamber, and the House adjourned without question put, pursuant to the Standing Order. Adjourned accordingly at four minutes past Seven o'clock p.m.

Anti-Pollution Unit Rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and increasing numbers of motor vehicles are making more acute the problems of air pollution. The Anti-Pollution Unit, which was set up last year, has undertaken basic air pollution monitoring throughout Singapore. So far the monitoring shows that air pollution levels are not yet acute, although they are increasing in the industrial estates. Preventive and control measures include the careful siting of industries. We have also to see that we do not `import' the very dirty industries, where the industrialist will not or cannot install antipollution measures because it will be too costly. Laws and regulations for industrial air pollution control have been drafted. When passed, these will be gradually but systematically enforced. Grace periods may be given for existing factories to comply with anti-pollution regulations. Continual surveillance by the Traffic Police and Registry of Vehicles has resulted in fewer smoky exhausts. New motor vehicles will be required to install a crankcase re-circulation device to cut down pollution. This will help to cut down pollution by motor vehicles. Even more important is the prevention of water pollution. The whole of Singapore will be sewered, in phases over a period of 10 years. All kitchens, salvage bath and other polluted household water must go into the sewers and not into open drains. Industrial wastewater must be treated to reduce the pollution before being discharged into canals, open drains or sewers. As these measures are implemented in phased areas, our water resources will increase.

Electricity The increased demand for power, because of the rapid pace of industrialization and better housing, has made it necessary to start construction of Stage II of the Jurong Power Station, immediately after Stage I was completed in March this year. Stage II will be completed before the end of 1973. In anticipation of more demand for power in the middle 1970s, the P.U.B, has decided to build a new power station operational before the end of 1974. Efforts are constantly being made to ensure reliable and efficient power supply system in the Republic. To this end, a load despatch centre has been developed at Pasir Panjang `A' Power Station. This centre aims at ensuring the safety and reliability of power supplies at high voltages as well as providing alternative supplies by remote control in the event of a power interruption at a substation. Twenty-seven new rural electrification schemes were completed in 1970. Since 1963, 400 rural schemes have been completed for 45,000 people. By 1973 every house in Singapore's rural areas can have light and power. Water The P.U.B, is undertaking a comprehensive study to develop the water resources in Singapore. With effective anti-pollution we shall be able to extract one-third of the average daily rainfall of 750 million gallons. Work on the Kranji-Pandan scheme will soon begin. When completed in 1974, it will increase substantially the daily yield and the total storage capacity of our impounding reservoirs. Extension work on the service reservoir at Jalan Eunos is in progress. The storage capacity of the reservoir will be doubled to 15 million gallons to cater for the increasing demand in the eastern part of the island. Work will begin soon on a service reservoir of eight million gallons capacity at Mount Faber. All public standpipes will be gradually removed and meters installed. This will enable rationing during a drought period and avoid squabbles at public standpipes. More than 65 miles of pipes were laid in 1970 to supply water to the housing and industrial estates at Toa Payoh, Jurong, Henderson Road and Kampong Tiong Bahru. Gas The Vickers-Zimmer Reformer, which is capable of producing three million cubic feet (85,000 cubic metres) of gas daily was commissioned in 1970. The Reformer uses naphtha as feedstock. This will minimise pollution of the atmosphere. Another gas-making plant of similar capacity is to be commissioned by the middle of 1973. This will be necessary to meet the demand, which is expected to exceed 300 million units per annum by 1973. The Board has also been extending the use of its gas to areas outside the city reticulation system. Distribution of liquid petroleum gas is from storage tanks and can reach all areas in Singapore.

The functions of the Ministry of Science and Technology include, among others, the training of scientific and technological manpower for professional work and for research and development. The following policies have been or are being formulated:- 1. Gearing the tertiary education programme to meet the increasing demand, of industrialisation for the next decade (a) A Master Plan for the new campus of the University of Singapore: The 1971 total enrolment in the University, including students registered for higher degrees, is approximately 4,800. The University expansion programme is geared to meet the forecast student population of about 8,000 in 1980. Phase I of the Master Plan for the new University at Kent Ridge comprises the Faculty of Engineering, the School of Architecture and School of Accountancy and Business Administration, administration building, residential facilities and general students' facilities. It is scheduled to be completed by 1975. The Government has applied for a World Bank loan to finance this project. An Appraisal Mission from the Bank was in Singapore in June to make an assessment of Singapore's application. (b) Singapore Polytechnic Development: At technician level, the Singapore Polytechnic's expansion programme is to meet an enrolment target of approximately 8,000 in 1980, about double the 1971 enrolment of about 4,400, The Polytechnic's new site of 40 acres is at Ayer Rajah Road. Phase I of the development programme is scheduled to be completed by October 1971. The whole new complex will be ready by 1975-76. 2. Encouragement of Research and Development and Consultancy Activities Total dependence on imported technological expertise is undesirable. Singapore must build up an "indigenous technological capability", related particularly to hardware engineering and consultancy services. The Ministry, together with the Science Council, are studying measures needed to build up the infrastructure to encourage research and development and consultancy activities. An incentive for research and development efforts in the industrial sector is being considered so that the industry would be more technically self-reliant. One method is to provide tax relief for expenditure on equipment and technical manpower used for quality control or research and development. The feasibility of a centre for applied research and a technical information centre is also being studied. For formulating governmental policies, it will be necessary to undertake developmental studies and fact-finding surveys. Some of them are multi-disciplinary. This Ministry can act as an agent for Government departments and statutory bodies requiring such studies. 3. Promotion of the understanding and appreciation of Science and Technology as tools for Economic Development Sustained interest in Science and Technology must be the basis for Singapore's industries. It is the keystone to Singapore's future economic development. A Science Centre on a 16-acre site in Jurong will help develop this interest. The Science Centre Board, formed in November 1970, is planning for the project to be completed in 1973. 4. Metrication Parliament, in December 1970, approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Science and Technology that Singapore, with the majority of the world, adopt the International System of weights and measures. The target is for all Government departments, statutory bodies and 75 per cent of industries with external trade to adopt the metric system by 1975. Excellent progress has been made. Considerable experience has been gained in the first few months of this conversion exercise. With increasing goodwill and co-operation of the various economic sectors and of all those concerned, the chances of going metric by 1975 are very bright. 5. Industrial Liaison Unit The Ministry has set up an Industrial Liaison Unit, which will undertake studies on scientific and technological aspects of industrial problems that are of special significance to the economic development of Singapore. Where a problem involves several sectors, the unit will bring them into conference to determine the best way of handling a problem. Straightforward studies are farmed out to local experts through research contracts. An Economic and Statistical Unit provides information on the stock of professional manpower. The unit works closely with the Economic Research Centre of the University of Singapore. It will also collate data on industries, which are science based, or which have a high technological content.

During the past six years foreign policy was concerned primarily with aiding Singapore's economic and industrial development. The stress was on developing economic relations with foreign countries. The aim of foreign policy was to assist Singapore to maintain internal political stability and economic rationality so as to provide incentives for local and foreign investment. Singapore has also avoided adopting arresting but futile postures towards cold war issues. In the years ahead Singapore's foreign policy will have to be more outward looking than it has hitherto been if only because external developments will be more directly felt by Singapore. The British military run down, the accelerated American dis-engagement of ground forces from Vietnam and other parts of South-east Asia, the growing interest in our region of a great power like the People's Republic of China, a developing Russian presence in the area and the re-emergence of Japan as a major power suggest potentialities for new kinds of competition and conflict in the region. Where before the Pacific Ocean was the main arena of big power conflict, it has now been broadened to include the Indian Ocean. Since Singapore serves as the gateway to both these oceans its strategic value, in peace and in war, has been enhanced and not lessened by British withdrawal. So more than ever before Singapore's domestic policies will be shaped not only by internal needs and aspirations but also by the fact of competition and conflict not among a larger number of outside powers but also superpowers. Some of these external developments will impose heavy strains and great dangers. They may put unpleasant but necessary curbs on what we can and would like to do domestically. Some of the old and comforting assumptions of our foreign policy may have to be modified and even discarded in the light of new circumstances we may find ourselves in. The big powers themselves are reassessing, in radical ways, policies and attitudes to one another. We cannot foresee what new permutations of big powers would be worked out. Whatever the nature of the new combinations and permutations, their undeviating objective would be the furtherance of big power interests under conditions of competition and conflict. And Singapore, from the point of view of the big powers, would be no more than a valuable piece on the chessboard. Singapore cannot halt the game the big powers will play in the region. However, we can meet and overcome the problems outside nations can create for us by basing our foreign policy on realities and not on wishful thinking. A prerequisite for our survival as a distinct people is national cohesiveness. So any attempt to weaken this solidarity by appeals to contrary chauvinistic pulls must be fought unflinchingly. The present prosperity and stability in Singapore can generate complacency and wishful thinking that all is well and that if we mind our own business other nations will leave us alone. Unfortunately the region in which we live is too valuable to many nations for them to leave us alone. We will be affected more and more and often in vital ways by what happens outside our shores.

Review of wages Our success in industrialisation and rapid economic growth has been paid for by hard work, greater discipline and postponement of less urgent consumption. Much of the visible economic affluence is imported capital and technologies, which will remain in Singapore only so long as the conditions of political stability, reasonable wage levels and disciplined workers, prevail. Until we are in a position to own and be able to manage and operate a far greater share of this wealth in the next decade, the conditions for such rapid influx of investment and technology will have to he maintained. The Government is conscious of the sacrifices and contributions made by labour towards rapid economic growth. Employers who have been making exceptional profits have been urged to give better bonuses in recognition of the worker's contribution to the present economic prosperity. Early next year, after the full effects of the rundown of the British bases have been assessed, a review of the present wage policy will be made. Central Provident Fund The rate of contribution payable to the Central Provident Fund has been increased from 5 per cent to 6k per cent in 1968, from 6k per cent to 8 per cent in 1970, and with effect from 1st January, 1971, from 8 per cent to 10 per cent so that the total rate payable by employees earning more than $200 per month is now 20 per cent of wages. In addition, contributions are also payable on bonuses without any limit. Thus, whilst the policy of wage restraints still has to be observed in this early stage of industrialisation, the Government, by enhancing C.P.F, contributions payable by employers and employees and allowing such C.P.F, contributions to be used for the purchase of Housing and Development Board or Jurong Town Corporation flats, has ensured more adequate provision for workers in their old age, and made home ownership possible for more and more workers. Today about 35,000 workers own or are paying instalments to own their flats, it is anticipated that, as the Housing and Development Board accelerates its building programmes, thousands of more workers will be able to own their flats for the first time. Work Permit Policy Our success in industrialisation has bro Light about an acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers required for the new factories. Unless we are able to train skilled and semi-skilled labour for our factories, the pace of our industrialisation will falter. To solve this urgent problem, the Ministry has issued work permits liberally for the type of skills we require. As on 30th June. 1971, a total of 55,800 work permits have been issued. Also, temporary permits on a month-to-month basis in the form of block permits have been issued to non-citizens who are engaged as construction workers. As on 30th June, 1971, over 10,000 workers are working in Singapore under such an arrangement. In the next two years a review will be made on whether work permit holders should be given permanent residence and later citizenship. It is also proposed to further simplify the issue of block permits for construction workers. Apprenticeship and in-plant training schemes This liberal work permit policy, however, is a temporary measure to meet a pressing problem. In the long term, we are restructuring our education system to give technical and vocational education the proper emphasis and recognition demanded by our expanding industrial and servicing sectors. More intensive industrial training schemes, such as apprenticeship training and in-plant training, will be needed. Eventually, Singapore should supply most of the skills required by our industries from our schools. Protection of growing industrial work force Greater industrialisation, however, has been accompanied by an increasing number of industrial accidents. Apart from the financial loss to the economy estimated at $23,000,000 for 1969, this is quite unnecessary and often avoidable suffering for the unfortunate victims and their families. The Ministry will be taking the following steps. (i) Reorganisation and expansion of the Factory Inspectorate The Factory Inspectorate will be expanded and staffed by suitable officers to supervise and enforce industrial safety regulations. These safety regulations will be strictly enforced and recalcitrant employers wilfully neglecting the safety and health of workers will be punished. (ii) Amendments to the Factories Act A Bill to amend the Factories Act will be introduced in Parliament. The main objectives of the Bill are to improve the health and safety measures and the welfare facilities in the interests of persons employed in factories. It will also encourage a more stringent observance of the safety provisions in the Factories Act by giving the Chief Inspector of Factories greater powers and increasing the maximum penalty under the Act. These provisions will undoubtedly help to reduce the rate of industrial accidents. (iii) Building Operations and Works of Engineering Construction Regulations The Ministry has also gazetted in March 1971 the Building Operations and Works of Engineering Construction Regulations, 1971, which would provide, among other things, comprehensive measures and requirements designed to safeguard the health and safety of workers in the building and engineering construction worksites, which have accounted for the highest number of industrial accidents in recent times. These Regulations will come into operation after their adoption by a resolution in Parliament in the coming session. (iv) Amendments to the Workmen's Compensation Act To reinforce the above measures, the Ministry will also introduce a Bill to amend the Workmen's Compensation Act. The Bill seeks to extend the scope of workmen's compensation to cover non-manual workers who earn up to $750 per month (as against $400 per month at present), to treble the quantum of workmen's compensation payable at present and to provide for a more detailed list of injuries which would result in permanent partial incapacity so that a more accurate assessment of compensation may be made. Also, two new diseases, namely, silicosis and asbestosis, will be included in the schedule of occupational diseases. The Amendment Bill is designed not only to ensure that workmen who sustain injuries in the course of their employment are more adequately compensated, but also, with the increased quantum of compensation, to induce the employers to institute adequate measures to safeguard the interest and welfare of their workers. Protection of non-unionised workers By and large, most employers have come to observe the letter and spirit of the Employment Act, and accord to their employees their rights and privileges as stipulated in the Act. However, there is a need to protect the interest of large numbers of the non-unionised workers, mainly Chinese-educated employees, in the smaller establishments, from exploitation by some unscrupulous employers. For this purpose, the Ministry will expand the Labour Inspectorate and also set up regional offices so that the working conditions in these smaller establishments can he inspected more frequently.

Civil aviation Growth rates of air traffic through Singapore have exceeded average international growth levels expected at 15 per cent a year. In the past two years, passenger traffic at Paya Lebar Airport has been growing at an average annual rate of 21 per cent. Growth of air cargo is more rapid with average annual increase of 42 per cent. Passenger traffic is expected to grow from 1.57 million passengers in 1970 to 3.64 million passengers in 1975, to 15.6 million passengers in 1985 - a ten-fold increase. Air cargo will rise faster; from 25,600 metric tons in 1970 to 94,900 metric tons in 1975, to 1.309,000 metric tons in 1985-a fifty-fold increase. To meet this extremely rapid rate of growth and the operational requirements of wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing-747, as well as the supersonic's, a second runway has to be built by 1980, if not earlier. Land is already earmarked for the second runway at Paya Lebar. But as Changi would be handed back to Singapore at the end of the year, the Ministry of Communications is studying the feasibility of building the second runway at Changi, which can then be developed as Singapore's second international airport. Besides first-class hotels by international standards, and scenic recreational centres such as S-ento-sa, the growth of tourism in Singapore will depend in rapid begin by the Pro-large measure on easy air connections and inexpensive fares. The Government will, therefore, enter into more bilateral air services agreements to enable not only the scheduled airlines of other countries, but also their non-scheduled carriers to o-perate regular and full-load charter services to and beyond Singapore. The Singapore national airline and Saber Air will in turn exploit the opportunities which bilateral air services agreements will open to them. Singapore's national air-line is considering the pu-rc-h-ase of the wide-bodied jet aircraft for operations in the near future. Encouragement will be given to leading international aircraft manufacturing companies to set up aerospace industries at Seletar and Changi, to which added racilities are being considered. The establishnient of an Air Academy to train flight crew and technicians on a proper co-ordinated basis, probably at Seletar, is under consideration to help the matipower requirements of Singapore's airlines and the aerospace industries. Public transportation The major overhaul of the public bus transportation system was successfully completed after some initial teething difficulties. 542 new buses were added, making a total of 1,816 public buses. Ten Chinese bus companies were amalgamated into three larger ones. Direct services now link the rural areas, the suburbs, the satellite towns, to Jurong, and to the City. School buses increased by 900 after reorganisation. This rapid build-up of public buses has made the eradication of illegal pirate taxi operations possible -- a traffic hazard which has plagued Singapore for the last 15 years. In the 1980's, Singapore's public bus tiansport will have to be complemented by a mass rapid transit system. A rigorous evaluation of the financial and technical feasibility of a mass transit system for Singapore will early next year. It will be assisted United Nations Development gramme and the World Bank. Telecommunications Singapore's communication satellite earth station at Sentosa will become operational in August this year. The earth station will link up with the Indian Ocean intelsat III Satellite, enabling Singapore to communicate directly with countries as far east as Japan, and as far west as Britain. The Telecommunications Department is planning to build another antenna to face the Pacific Ocean. The two satellite earth station antennae will put Singapore into direct space communication with more than two-thirds of the world. They will complement Singapore's communication links by land and sea. The first 600 lines of the 1,200-line National Automatic Telex Exchange will be commissioned in September this year. The International Telex Service will become fully automatic by 1973, initially with 150 lines. When ready, telex calls need not go through operators. To cater for the off-shore oil explorers, a high frequency radio network will soon be installed. An approach control radar system for Singapore International Airport of 70-80 miles' range will be comissioned next year. With all these developments, organisational changes have become necessary. The Telecommunications Department will be converted into a statutory authority in April 1972. This will allow more speedy response to the rapidly changing and highly complex space age communication systems. Telephones The telephone network in Singapore has to grow by 16 per cent per annum in the next five years to cope with demand. The five-year development programme, 1971-1975, will cost $212 million. Only a part of this can be financed from operational surpluses averaging $12 million a year on existing rentals. Not all of the balance of about $160 million can be borrowed. The World Bank has given a loan of $33 million to the Singapore Telephone Board (S.T.B.) to finance its current capital development programme. To finance this vast expansion programme, it will be necessary for the S.T.B, to raise its rentals. The expansion programme, when completed, will provide 15 telephones per 100 population by 1975, compared with 7.7 per 100 population in 1970. Postal services The Ministry's most traditional department, the Postal Services Department, is in the midst of a re-organisation exercise. The National Productivity Centre is helping. The number of postal articles handled has been growing by 10 per cent a year. It is expected to rise even more sharply. The General Post Office would be decentralised into several regional or district general post offices, for speedier processing and delivery. The facing, cancelling and sorting of letters will be mechanised as much as possible. More deliveries will be made by postmen on motorcycles and scooters, instead of on bicycles or on foot. Legislation was introduced on 1st March 1971 requiring all high-rise residential and commercial buildings, including Government buildings, with more than four storeys to provide letterboxes at a central point on the ground or first floor for the delivery of letters and other mail to their tenants. Owners, or developers of existing high-rise buildings will be allowed up to 1st March, i973 to provide such letter-boxes on their premises. This is a necessary adjustment in a city rapidly urbanised and growing literally upwards. Traditionally, the Post Office Savings Bank business is handled at Post Offices with other postal and non-postal transactions. In order to provide more retail outlets for the convenience of depositors, the Bank will be setting up separate branches, which are fully air-conditioned providing solely Savings Bank business in various parts of Singapore. The Bank's first air-conditioned branch was set up at the General Post Office in Fullerton Building recently. The Bank will be reconstituted as an autonomous statutory corporation by 1st January 1972. This will give the Bank greater flexibility to provide better and more efficient services to its depositors. Port and shipping Shipping and cargo tonnages in 1960 were 68.9 million net registered tons and 14.9 million freight tons respectively. In 1970 they had grown to 148.7 million net registered tons and 42.2 million freight tons, increases of 115.82 per cent and 183.22 per cent respectively. New policies were adopted in 1970 to ensure the continued use of Singapore as a trading and transhipment centre and to cater for the revolutionary changes in sea-borne transportation. Current major development projects such as the container port project, the provision of more warehousing and berthing facilities, were re-examined. Several changes had to be made. For example, the coming of third generation container vessels has necessitated several changes to the existing container berth design. Plans to develop an inland container depot were mapped out. The Port of Singapore Authority began acquiring land for the purpose. At Jardine Steps an ocean terminal to accommodate facilities such as ferry services, as well as a cable car to link Sentosa, is being developed. Cargo handling was streamlined to enable a faster turn-round. A reorganised labour force, and 24-hour service, plus better use of equipment, improved efficiency, and increased earnings of workers. Seamen training facilities are to be expanded to provide for better quality training. Multi-purpose training of crew is now necessary to man the more modern ships and give them higher pay. Present seamen will be given special retraining to upgrade their skills and pay. A National Maritime Board is being formed to co-ordinate, promote and develop maritime employment, training and welfare. The proposed Maritime' Board will replace the four existing marine statutory bodies. As at 30-6-71, there were 521 ships totalling 742,894 gross tons flying the Singapore Flag. This compares with 377 ships totalling 319,675 gross tons as on 30-6-69, an increase of 38.19 per cent and 132.39 per cent respectively. The Singapore Registry offers various incentives, including exemption from income tax. Pollution Environmental pollution is being checked. During the year ended 31-3-71, a total of 32,680 vehicles were booked for excessive emission of exhaust smoke. The campaign will continue. On the sea, stringent measures were adopted by the Port of Singapore Authority (P.S.A.) to control pollution of our waters. New harbour safety measures combined with better surveillance were introduced. The P.S.A, will be setting up oil disposal facilities where ships may discharge slop. As the Airport expands and the number of planes using it increases, noise pollution becomes more of a problem. It is not possible to completely eliminate noise. But measures are being taken to minimise the noise pollution. The Singapore International Airport runway is being extended northwards instead of southwards so that noise nuisance can be reduced. The possibility of re-routing the landing and take-off paths is being studied to lower the noise problem for the more populated areas of the city. Meteorology A 10 cm, weather radar costing $500,000 was installed at the Airport Operations Building of Paya Lebar Airport to replace an older equipment. This high performance radar will enable the location and tracking of storms and thunderclouds within a radius of 250 miles. It also allows the study of the vertical structure of individual storms. This radar is indispensable for short-term weather forecasting and for quantitative rainfall measurements, particularly during the Northeast monsoon season. An automatic picture read-out station to obtain cloud photographs from weather satellites was set up at the Airport in December 1970. These photographs, transmitted by orbiting satellites, give an accurate pictorial description of weather and details of cloud distribution and patterns over Asia and South-West Pacific. Satellite data is a new meteorological aid. It supplements conventional weather analysis. It has also proved to be invaluable for long-range forecasting.

General Education The main objective now is to improve the quality of education at all levels. Curriculum development A review of the curriculum has begun. A new combined curriculum for the first two years of primary school has been introduced. A revision of the rest of the primary school curriculum will be implemented in stages. The aim is a more flexible education system to enable a child to learn at a pace suited to his individual needs and his rate of maturing. Language teaching Language teaching in both the first and second languages will be increased and improved. More time for the teaching of language will be allotted in the primary years and fewer periods for the transmission of knowledge, so that students will become effectively articulate in the first and second languages before they go on to secondary school. This may mean fewer periods for history and geography, which can be made up for in the secondary school. Teacher training is undergoing overall review, to provide better teaching of bilingual students. It is planned in the next decade that nearly all teachers should be bilingual. Technical education and industrial training Technical education and industrial training programmes will continue to expand and develop. Eventually, most secondary schools will have a technical stream up to G.C.E. level. The restructuring of the secondary school syllabus and training programme at vocational institutes is nearly completed. The emphasis in the next phase will be on the upgrading of skills through apprenticeship schemes and joint training programmes with industries. The present shortage of skilled workers can only be met by in-plant training. In the next five years, the enrolment of technical students will be substantially increased to meet the needs of industry. The schools can give the basic grounding so that they can be easily trained for the special skills required in each industry. Apprenticeship training Urgent consideration is being given to apprenticeship systems. A comprehensive range of schemes will be initiated to regulate and formalise training in respect of certain industries, particularly those with advanced production methods requiring specialised technical skills. The schemes will provide a framework for effective control and supervision to maintain minimum standards. Inducements are being worked out to encourage industries to offer apprenticeship facilities. A proper system of grading and award of apprenticeship qualifications will be introduced. The Ministry will intensify its joint training programme with industries, especially in precision skills. Industries will also be encouraged to operate jointly with the Ministry schemes for off-the-job industrial training (O.J.I.T.). Industrial Training Board The establishment of a statutory board is being considered to undertake responsibility for all matters related to industrial training, including apprenticeship, off-the-job industrial training and administration of the industrial institutions. The industrial sector will be well represented on this board. More extensive involvement by industries can lead to closer collaboration with the board and ensure that the training provided is relevant to our rapidly expanding industrial needs. Administration Once the administration of industrial training is separated from technical education, there will be a reorganisation of the Ministry headquarters. The policy is to integrate the General and Technical Education Departments. This reorganisation began in 1970 with the division of the administrative and professional aspects of the work of the General Education Department and the creation of a second post of Permanent Secretary (Administration). A sound administrative structure can more effectively meet the changing needs of education, which must anticipate and respond more rapidly to the manpower needs of our fast changing economy.

The mass media exert an immense impact on the lives of the people. The influence they have on our young in their formative years makes scrutiny and regular review of our mass media policies crucial. The Ministry of Culture's responsibility in inculcating values and attitudes necessary for a robust and sturdy society is particularly difficult, because a significant bulk of TV and radio programmes from the west tend to undermine our efforts to counter the drug and hippie culture. More local productions with the main focus on our youth and their future responsibility will feature more regularly on Radio and Television programmes. The Ministry will continue to encourage creative effort and nurture talent. Monthly art exhibitions at the community centres, and helping the Singapore Arts Council to set up a modest Art Gallery are steps forward in the right direction. Our library facilities have to be expanded to cope with the needs of an increasingly literate society. A full-time branch library in Toa Payoh will be ready in early 1973. Another for the next satellite town by 1974. These libraries provide an oasis of quiet and congenial environment for recreational and serious reading in our high-rise satellite towns. The Printing Office has now been reorganised to run along commercial lines. The technique of offset printing is rapidly improving. It is expected that the Printing Office will ultimately be a cost-effective unit. The People's Association will provide better facilities and new activities to meet the more demanding needs of a better-educated generation. The younger generation expects more sophisticated facilities for their recreation.

Sports Our youth population need to grow up healthy and competitive and participation in sports is one way of achieving this aim. The facilities and finances for more systematic promotion of sports have been improved and increased. The National Sports Promotion Board has already been established. It will be considering the long-term programmes and requirements of sports. The present facilities, including those coming up in the new housing estates, should be adequate. Improvements will be made to the Jalan Besar Stadium and the British Dover Road Sports Complex. Given the necessary public support and leadership and direction by the National Sports Promotion Board, the standards of sports can be improved. Social welfare There are plans to strengthen the existing system of social welfare services. Existing welfare institutions are being restructured, whilst new facilities and services will be provided. Existing social welfare programmes for preventive, remedial and developmental functions in social welfare will be further improved by effective community participation. Some of the existing services will be decentralized, so that welfare services will be provided in all major residential areas. The number of volunteers participating in welfare and probation work is increasing. It is encouraging to note that more men and women have come forward as volunteer welfare workers. The probation and aftercare service for the rehabilitation of offenders while they remain at work or at school under supervision is being strengthened. Plans for a prison social service to devise a system of parole and aftercare suited to conditions in Singapore are being worked out.

Public housing More than 125,000 units of public housing have been completed. More than 700,000 people (about 35 per cent of the population) now occupy Housing Board flats. The target is 100,000 units for the period 1971 to 1975, one flat every 26 minutes. Another half a million people will be accommodated in public housing by the end of 1975. The Government's policy of allowing the use of Central Provident Fund credits for the purchase of flats has made it possible for more citizens in the Republic to own their flats. Today 34,812 families own the flats they occupy. As from 1st July 1971, the family income limit for the purchase of H.D.B, flats was raised from $1,200 per month to $1,500 per month. For them a larger type of 5-room flat is being built to improve the quality of public housing. Costs of land have gone up and will now go up further by the increased compensation and ex gratia payment rates for resettlement. Building material prices have also gone up. The H.D.B, has so far managed to maintain rentals and selling prices of public housing fixed many years ago by increasing the subsidies. The provision of children's playgrounds, sports complexes and planting of shrubs and trees within housing estates have not led to any increase in service and conservancy charges. Again this has meant increasing the subsidy for public housing. East Coast Reclamation In the East Coast Reclamation, 1,125 acres of land have so far been reclaimed. Work has already begun to reclaim another 165 acres of land from Tanjong Rhu along Nicoll Highway to the mouth of the Singapore River, and 1,350 acres of land from Bedok to the foreshore of Nicoll Drve. The reclaimed area is magnificently sited. It will make residential and commercial development by both the public and the private sectors possible on a comprehensive basis under a development master plan. It will give Singapore a new skyline viewed from the sea and open up miles of beaches and acres of parkland for our people. Hence we must fight pollution from the rivers, canals, and oil and other spillage from ships. Urban renewal Three sales of 41 urban renewal sites have been successfully launched. The projects range from office buildings, shops, hotels and entertainment centres to housing. An important aspect of urban renewal is environmental improvement. The provision of roads, drainage, car parks, modern sanitation, open spaces and landscaping of the city centre are necessary for a gracious environment. The possibilities in this direction can be seen in the development programme in Precinct South I where New Bridge Road, Outram Road and Havelock Road have been widened and a large and attractive city park at Pearl's Hill is nearing completion. Many large projects now under construction or recently completed, in the city centre, have benefited from the basic planning and architectural concepts under the urban renewal programme. Our aim is to build not only a more functional but also a beautiful and gracious metropolis. Public works The Public Works Department completed projects costing about $64 million, between August 1970 and July 1971, compared to $53 million for the corresponding period the year before. Development included construction and improvement of roads, bridges, sewers, drainage and flood alleviation schemes, parks and playgrounds. Roads Singapore's first flyover, across Clemenceau Avenue, was opened to traffic in mid-1970. By the end of the year, another two flyovers were opened for use. Work on the Pan-Island Expressway has been started. Sections of the Expressway from Whitley Road to the Turf Club, from Paya Lebar to Jalan Eunos, and the extension to Sims Avenue are nearing completion. Drinage The Bukit Timah Flood Alleviation Scheme, a major drainage project, has progressed satisfactorily. The diversion canal, which will carry storm water runoff from the 2,670.acre Upper Bukit Timah Catchment, is already in operation. The whole length of Sungei Whampoa has been concrete-lined. The lining of the Bukit Timah Canal is progressing. Stamford Canal has been chosen as the pilot project for antipollution and purification of river and canal waters. The results will begin to be seen by 1972. Sewerage Our sewerage network at present covers 447 miles of sewers serving over one million people. This network must in 10 years be extended so that every home on the island can reach a main sewer economically. All bath, kitchen, and dirty household or industrial wastewater must go into the sewers. Then we shall be able to extract more and more of our average of 750 million gallons a day. Parks and trees The pace of planting and landscaping has been accelerated. Twenty-three gardens and 23 small roadside parks have been created since the "Garden City" campaign got under way 18 months ago. One major project was the completion of Orchard Park in the heart of the city. The existing Mount Faber Scenic Park has been extended and will be further improved to provide more walks and recreation in scenic surroundings for our people. City planning A comprehensive physical development plan has been drawn up by the State and City Planning Office. It provides policy guide lines for the location and phasing of major projects in public housing, industrial estate development, transport and public works. The plan has been prepared with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme. The recommendations of the U.N.D.P. /S.C.P, study are expected to be submitted by the U.N, to the Government by the end of the year. Primary production In spite of limited land resources, good progress has been made in primary production. With help and advice from Primary Production officers, farms have been modernised and production made more efficient. Singapore is now self-sufficient in pork, poultry meat and eggs, which are also exported. The thriving export trade in ornamental fish and orchids has further increased. Legislation Six volumes of the 1970 Revised Edition of the Statutes of Singapore have already been published and brought into force; the two remaining volumes will come into operation shortly. On completion, we shall have a new Manual of Laws, consolidated and amended, and brought up to date, so that looking up the law will be a simpler process.

The Committee on Medical Specialisation was formed in 1970, so that specialist treatment could reach international standards. The Government has accepted in full the recommendations of the Committee for the priority development of five specialities*. Further comprehensive development to upgrade the whole of the medical services is being undertaken. * Neurosurgery, Cardiac-thoracic Surgery, Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, Paediatric Surgery and Nephrology. A planning adviser will soon be engaged+ at a cost of $750,000. This expansion programme will be costly. It will modernise the existing hospitals and build new hospitals. The programme may include a re-building of Singapore's main General Hospital at Outram Road to house the new medical specialities, and also the building of four new hospitals in Changi (Bedok), Jurong. Woodlands, Seletar/Nee Soon on sites reserved in the Master Plan. + At the time of writing Selection Committee has met and made its recommendations of the appointment. The British Services hospitals at Alexandra and Sembawang will be taken over later this year. These hospitals will cost over $5� million in the first year. Another $540,000 have been approved to implement the interim plans of establishing the recommended specialities with immediate effect. A further $800,000 will have to be approved for up dating of hospital equipment. This rapidly expanding service will require a large number of trained medical personnel. Trained officers for the specialities must be found from within and outside the services. Since last year the School of Post-Graduate Medical Studies in the University has held courses leading to the degree of Master of Medicine in surgery, medicine, paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology. However, overseas training awards will continue to be given for specialist training in eminent medical institutes. Since not all our requirements for the entire range of services can be manned by Singaporeans, we shall continue to allow non-nationals with suitable qualifications and expertise to practise in Singapore. The registration laws for the various medical professions - for medical practitioners, dental surgeons and others - will be amended to allow the professionally trained persons with non-Commonwealth qualifications but of comparable standards and experience to practise in Singapore. Public health The problems of over-population, pollution of the environment and the growing use of chemicals in everyday life have to be watched and preventive measures taken. A clean Singapore has to a fair extent been achieved. The next phase is to raise the overall standards of our environment with effective antipollution control. Development of our water resources to its maximum is crucial. It will be necessary to clean up our rivers and canals. Wastewater, whether domestic or industrial, must go into the sewers and not into open drains, canals or rivers. This waste water from factories must be treated to acceptable limits before it is allowed into our drains and our watercourses. A period of grace is being given before the Government will enforce the measures under the Environmental Public Health (Prohibition on Discharge of Trade Effluents into Water Courses) Regulations, 1971. It is also necessary to change over to "soft" detergents. Other countries have found that the present "hard" detergents give rise to water treatment problems. Family planning is in its second five-year operation. It is being complemented by the laws liberalising abortions and on the voluntary sterilisation of persons. It has been estimated that about 50 per cent of the fertility decline* in Singapore in the last five years has been due to the efforts of family planning. * Wolfers, D (1970) The Singapore Family Planning Programme: Further Evaluation Data, American Journal of Public Health, 60. In the first year of experience of the operation of the Abortion Act, 1969. (which came into force on 20th March, 1970) the number of abortions was less than the original estimates of 10 per cent of births. It is lower than the experience of other countries which had liberalised their laws on abortions. Further, the vast majority of abortions done were on married women with large families and who could not afford any more children. Only 5 per cent of the applicants were unmarried as compared to 46 per cent in the United Kingdom. For the control of chemicals and drugs, the various laws relating to their control will be amended to ensure that the quality of chemicals and drugs is maintained. We must also prevent abuse and suppress trafficking. Hawker resettlement The Government has spent, and is planning to spend, more money to subsidise and build clean and attractive food stall complexes for hawker resettlement. For the second half of this year, we have provided a sum of $5 million for the Public Health Division to acquire land as a pilot scheme. The Housing and Development Board will build hawker complexes on these sites. The stalls will then be let out at subsidised rentals. This will be a subsidy not only to stallholders, but to our workers who take their meals at these stalls. The Hawker Department has found that when economic rents are charged for these stalls, the price of food goes up or less food is given for the same price. In the next few years, we shall reside all the hawkers into cleaner and more attractive surroundings, and remove one of the blots on our clean and green environment.

Treasury Division The total revenue for the financial year 1970-1971 (actual) was $1,266.46 million, giving an increase of 20.0 per cent over the previous financial year. This increase is largely due to the buoyancy of the economy and to specific measures that have been taken during the year for more efficient tax collection. The budgeted revenue estimate for the current year is $1,307.2 million, which is an increase of 25.5 per cent over the estimated revenue for 1970-1971. Revenue collection for the first two months of this financial year amounted to $223.0 million. The ordinary recurrent expenditure for the financial year 1970-1971 was $1,206.5 million (actual), an increase of24.2 per cent over the expenditure in the previous year. For the current financial year the estimated expenditure is $1,306.8 million. This is an increase of $266.0 million or 25.5 per cent over the estimated expenditure last year, or $100.3 million or 8.31 per cent over actual expenditure. This has largely been due to increases in expenditure on defence (33.3 per cent), economic services (71.0 per cent) and social services (7.1 per cent). The increased expenditure on economic services reflects the policy of further expanding the infrastructure. To encourage further foreign investment, double taxation agreements have been entered into with eight countries Norway, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Malaysia, Australia, Japan and the Netherlands. The agreements with Japan and the Netherlands have been signed but have yet to be ratified by their Parliaments before the agreements are deemed to have come into operation with retrospective effect from 1st January 1971 and 1st January, 1969 respectively. Economic Development Division The time is now opportune for Singapore to review its overall economic strategy in the light of experience gained during the past few years as well as of the changing economic and political conditions, which will face the Republic in the 1970s. It has become obvious that whilst the traditional entrepot activities will continue to sustain to some extent the economy of Singapore, the diversification of the economy commenced in the last decade will have to be further extended. Industrialisation, which for purely short-term considerations emphasised the need to take up large numbers of unemployed persons, will now have to be re-examined in order to get the maximum advantage from our already stretched resources, especially those of skilled manpower. Also, an optimum investment policy with regard to foreign investment and industrialisation is necessary. This will involve the promotion of those industrial undertakings with worldwide markets and high technological content. Again, to maintain the momentum of economic growth, a large reservoir of skills will have to be established, especially of managerial and technical staff. Turning to the new growth centres of tourism, finance and communications, maximum effort will have to be concentrated to develop these so that they play a more significant role in Singapore's economic development. A comprehensive plan is being prepared for the establishment, promotion and marketing of tourist facilities in Sentosa over the next few years. A Corporation charged with the development of Sentosa is being formed, and work has commenced on the infrastructure facilities on the island. To handle the large number of aircraft and ships that will be arriving in Singapore for trade, commerce, tourism and other purposes, the present air and seaports will be greatly expanded, and already a Master Plan team is studying the long-term development of the port facilities of Singapore to meet requirements in the 1990s. Decisions on the second runway and future airport development will also have to be taken soon. To develop Singapore into the banking and financial centre of South-east Asia, it is intended to develop a modern money market in Singapore which will not only serve the needs of the Republic but also assist in the economic and financial development of our neighbours. Regulations regarding the establishment of financial organisations and institutions in Singapore are being liberalised to encourage a more efficient banking system and the development in due course of secondary markets for commercial paper, securities, bonds, etc. In this connection, it is intended to encourage the use of Asian Dollars to enable the many viable projects in Southeast Asian countries to have a cheap and ready source of external financing. It may become necessary for Singapore to study the changes in store in our traditional relationships with the Sterling area as a result of Britain's entry into the European Economic Community. We must expedite the growth of the Republic as a centre for investment capital in the region. Already Singapore is developing as a gold and capital market for the region and, with a sound and stable currency and growing foreign exchange reserves, it will be possible for Singapore to become a major financial centre for South-east Asia in the coming decade.

Since the separation of the Ministry of Home Affairs from the Ministry of the Interior and Defence, the modernization of the Police Force has dominated the attention of the new Ministry. In an increasingly industrialized, urbanized, and literate Singapore, the Police Force must adjust and introduce new methods to maintain law and order. The Ministry has identified the long-term and short-term needs of the Police Force. On a ratio of every 250.000 to 300,000 people to one police division for optimum operational efficiency, the Police Force requires, within the next decade, four more divisions in addition to the present eight. This estimate is based on current projections of population growth. The existing eight divisional boundaries were drawn up more than two decades ago. The location of divisional headquarters and the boundaries of responsibilities between them will take into account the redistribution of population from urban renewal, new private and Housing and Development Board housing estates, and industrial centres. The programme of reorganisation and modernization is to achieve the following objectives: -