(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, like my colleagues, I would like to express my support and convey my congratulations to the Minister for Finance for announcing his third painless Budget in this House. Sir, although we are not entirely out of the woods yet, our economy has all the time been going up instead of declining. This is largely due to the able leadership of the Government, combined with the strong will and determination of the people to overcome obstacles. Mr Speaker, Sir, despite increases in expenditure for Defence, Education, Social Services, and others, the Minister for Finance has been able to balance his Budget without having to increase existing taxes or introducing new taxes. On the contrary, he has been able to introduce six tax reliefs. I must congratulate the Minister for Finance on this. However, I must also echo the disappointment of the rural people. There is no mention in the Budget Statement of any change in the policy on agriculture and fisheries. I am not an economist, and so I will not be able to say how much profit can be made out of agriculture and fisheries as compared to industry, for the same amount of land that is being used. However, I know that some land should be allocated for agricultural purposes. I am sure most of us remember that during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, almost every family planted tapioca or potatoes for their own consumption. But now there is no land available in the city to grow even a plot of potatoes. Most of our farmers are engaged in the production of supplementary food. Due to lack of proper care, they are left entirely on their own for survival. Agricultural land is continually being diminished. If, for any reason, there is further decline in the production of supplementary food, we will have to spend a great deal on foreign exchange in order to import food from other countries, and should this supply be cut off for any reason, we will all be starved to death. I, therefore, feel that definite policies must be formulated for fisheries and agriculture, in order to look after the interests of our farmers in Singapore. Mr Speaker, Sir, there are about 23,000 families engaged in agricultural or fishing activities. Together with relatives and allied workers, merchants and hawkers, I think about 200,000-300,000 people are dependent on agriculture and fisheries for their livelihood. This constitutes more than one-tenth of our total population. So their contribution to our economy cannot be completely ignored. Sir, there are signs that agriculture and fisheries are on the decline. We can see from the annual reports of the Primary Production Department that farming and fishing activities in Singapore are declining at a tremendous speed. We must do something to stop or check the decline. Because land is scarce in Singapore, we have to find ways and means to make the best use of whatever land we have and, after industrialisation, allocate some land to farmers for agricultural pursuits. However, the tendency is towards urbanisation and industrialisation. As a result, it is understood that agricultural land available amounts to only a small area of 33.000 acres. Apart from the small portion of private land, a greater part of it is State land, leased to farmers under Temporary Occupation Licences. Because they have to farm under T.O.Ls they always have the sense of insecurity and are convinced by the fact that they are often resettled from time to time. After resettlement a few unfortunate ones have to move again. As a result of resettlement, farmers experience great inconvenience and losses. The Government should therefore take steps to avoid resettling the farmers more than once. Sir, farmers require land just as fish require water. Since land is leased to them under T.O.Ls, they are always liable to resettlement or eviction. Psychologically, this has a bad effect on them. Because of this, they tend to take things easy, instead of trying to find permanent ways and means to increase their production. This is a great blow to our agricultural activities. Mr Speaker, Sir, although we are not in a position to implement "Land to the Tillers" scheme, we should designate agricultural areas and grant longer leases of, say, 30 to 50 years, so that they will be able to till the land for a fixed period, so that they can also plan for improvement and expansion. Sir, as the Minister for Finance may probably be aware, the prices of primary farm produce especially of pigs and eggs, have gone down recently. In some cases, the prices have dropped to below cost. Some farmers are experiencing considerable hardships and are on the brink of bankruptcy. This shows the weakness of our agricultural economics. Farmers are engaged in these activities for a living and they only manage to make ends meet. But with the small returns they get, they cannot be sure of even three meals a day. This is the case not only in times when the harvest is poor, but also when the harvest is good. This is the result of the rising costs of fertilisers and animal feeds. Farmers normally obtain animal feeds and fertilisers on credit. They repay the suppliers for their fertilisers and animal feeds when they have a rich harvest. The suppliers act as a sort of middlemen and moneylenders. Mr Speaker, Sir, in spite of the rising costs of fertilisers and animal feeds, the prices of primary farm produce are going down. We can see from this that a bad relationship exists between the primary producers and the middlemen. I can only use the word "exploitation" to describe the relationship, in the absence of a better term. Sir, farmers are not rich. They do not even have the money to buy things on cash terms. They have to purchase their supplies on credit. It is only when their livestock are big enough for sale and sold will they be able to raise some money to pay for the supplies of animal feeds and fertilisers. Another difficulty which the farmers face is that when the harvest is plentiful, there is an excess of supply over demand. Again the poor farmers will be exploited by the middlemen and the suppliers of their animal feeds and fertilisers. As a result, the prices of their products dropped. They will then again experience difficulty in repaying the debts that they have incurred. This is an unusual phenomenon which should be removed. A socialist Government cannot continue to ignore the unreasonable acts of the middlemen who exploit the primary producers. Government must do something to ensure that everybody gets the fruit of his labour. All along their interests have been looked after by the Primary Production Department by providing them with technical aids. If the Government does not give further help to the farmers in the form of financial aid, planning, marketing and sales, then whatever benefits they may get from the Primary Production Department will be cancelled out, because of the low prices of their produce. There will then be no profit to the farmers despite all the technical aid provided to ensure good harvests. Mr Speaker, Sir, at this time last year I asked the Minister for Finance about the establishment of an agricultural bank. After one year's deliberation, may I know what is the decision of the Minister? Even if there is no intention to set up an agricultural bank, I think the Minister should consider setting up a department in the Development Bank of Singapore to deal with financial matters relating to farmers and to provide low-interest loans. It is only through the granting of low-interest loans that farmers can rid themselves of the exploitation by the middlemen. This move will improve their well-being. Secondly, the question of over-production is due to the farmers' lack of ability to analyse markets. They produce without any proper planning. But we cannot blame them for this, because they do not have either the knowledge, the data, or the machinery for analysis of the market. This work should, in fact, be done by the Primary Production Department, so that the problem of over-production can be solved. In addition to this, I think Intraco should also assist farmers to explore and open markets overseas so that the agricultural surplus products can be exported. I think the Government should also encourage the setting up of industries and factories processing agricultural produce. This will absorb the surplus farm produce. Mr Speaker, Sir, to eliminate the exploitation of farmers by middlemen, it is necessary to set up a co-operative for farmers. The Government has been successful in the implementation of co-operatives for transport and insurance for the workers. So there is no reason why the Government cannot succeed in the field of agriculture. It is no use for Government officials to sit in air-conditioned rooms, expecting farmers to come forward and register themselves to form a co-operative. The Government should take a positive step to help the farmers, because they are usually very busy and they lack the necessary experience and knowledge. If the Government does this, great benefits will be shared not only by the farmers but also the consumers at large. Mr Speaker, Sir, I would now like to touch on fisheries. We know that Singapore is surrounded by the four seas. But our fishermen can only catch one-quarter of our total consumption of fish. The Minister for Law and National Development has said that this is a shame. According to a survey our consumption of fish is the highest in Asia. The figure comes to 35.6 kilos per person per year. Following the increase in our population, the consumption of fish is bound to increase. It is estimated that by 1975, our consumption will reach the figure of 82,000 tons. On the other hand, we can see from the annual reports of the Primary Production Department that if fishing activities are declining and if allowed to continue, we would have to import more and more fish. Then this will not only lead to a loss in foreign exchange but, if there is any external factor, also to an increase in the price of fish. The people who stand to lose will be our home consumers. Sir, we know that the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean have an abundant supply of fish, and there is a great potential for deep-sea fishing. There are fishing trawlers from Taiwan and Japan catching the Tuna in the Indian Ocean, and they are exporting them to Europe. Why cannot we do the same thing? In fact, the distance from Singapore to the Indian Ocean is only half that from Taiwan or Japan. In the same way, there is no reason why we should not succeed. Deep-sea fishing has not been developed to any significant extent in the last few years. The setting up of a Fisheries Training School is not sufficient by itself. Deep-sea fishing requires a large amount of capital and it involves great risks. Without the active participation of Government, there is not much prospect of deep-sea fishing developing as an industry. The Government has already withdrawn the pioneer industry status for deep-sea fishing. However, other kinds of preferential treatment should be given to encourage local and overseas businessmen to develop deep-sea fishing. Mr Speaker, Sir, there is no conflict of interests between deep-sea fishing and off-shore fishing. Therefore, the Government should also encourage off-shore fishing. It is a fact that during the last few years the Government has neglected the development of off-shore fishing. In fact, it has regarded off-shore fishing as an archaic or useless occupation. Mr Speaker, Sir, we must also look after the sea-beds from which large quantities of fresh fish are obtained. I am referring now to the small trawlers which operate near the off-shore areas, and in the process they affect the natural environment of the sea. The presence of these small trawlers makes the sea more choppy and, as a result, the fish and the prawns do not reproduce in large numbers. We should impose a total ban on the operation of these-small trawlers in the off-shore areas. The Marine police and the Primary Production Department should co-operate in this respect. During the last year, only eight trawlers were arrested and we-cannot help but have some doubts on the efficiency of the Marine Police. Mr Speaker, Sir, I shall now touch on the question of reclamation. We-know that the large-scale reclamation of land has led to land and sea pollution. This has an adverse effect on the catch of the kelongs in various areas. Of course, we cannot criticise the-Government's reclamation schemes. However, we must consider the question of giving assistance to these kelongs so that the fishermen can carry on with their livelihood. Mr Speaker, Sir, we know that in the last few years there were many cases of fishermen being robbed by pirates. Some of them were also arrested by foreign governments. Sometimes they were also kidnapped and were released only after the payment of a few thousand dollars. I am sure that our Government and all the people are sympathetic towards these fishermen for their hardship. I hope the Government will think of some adequate measures-to reduce, if not altogether eliminate, such incidents. For example, our Government can enter into an agreement with our neighbouring countries on the question of fishing rights so that our fishermen will be allowed to fish in their territorial waters without fear of being arrested, tortured or prosecuted. The Marine Police should also increase their vigilance and prevent plundering by sea pirates. I have also been informed that some of these pirates have even come to our kelongs to rob our fishermen. Mr Speaker, Sir, the personal safety of these fishermen must be protected. The Minister for Finance knows better than I do of the contributions that agriculture and fisheries make to our economy. I only hope that he will spend some time considering in depth how to develop our agriculture and fisheries and I hope that in his next Budget speech he would devote more time to agriculture and fisheries. I am sure the 200,000 or 300,000 people of Singapore who depend on agriculture and fishing will be very grateful to him. I support the Budget presented by the Minister. 4.51 p.m.