Hansard, 1974-03-26

Order read for resumed consideration in Committee of Supply [7th Allotted Day].

Head OA --

(In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head OA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1004*. (* The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs N. Govindasamy, Cheong Yuen Chee, P. Govindaswamy and Lai Tha Chai.) Sir, when the Government announced that all civil servants, including employees of statutory boards and aided school teachers, clerical staff and servants could opt for a reduced medical leave and in return compensated with a monetary allowance or Leave Allow- ance, everyone was very happy. The civil servants were paid their allowance last year, whereas the teachers were paid only at the beginning of this year. It is immaterial as to whether the allowance was actually paid out earlier or later. But what is unreasonable and unfair is that the conversion to leave allowance for teachers and other teaching staff was back-dated to the 1st of November last year, whereas that for the other civil servants was back-dated to the 1st of January, 1973. We know that the salaries of civil servants in the various grades vary according to their qualifications and experience. Hence, there are salary scales for general Pass degree holders, professionals and non-professionals, skilled workers and non-skilled workers. There are different salary scales for different qualifications, and we have no quarrel about this. However, in the payment of an extra allowance which is given more or less for the same reason, then all of them should be equally treated. There should not be any discrimination. For example, take the reduced medical leave allowance. All of us have traded our sick leave for a certain sum of money as allowance in return. It has nothing to do with academic qualifications or experience. Why is it that teachers had their medical leave allowance back-dated to only the 1st of October, 1973, whereas civil servants were more generously treated as they had their allowance back-dated to the 1st January, 1973? What is the rationale behind this? Teachers have complained as to why our Minister for Finance should treat them differently. They were treated like step-children by the Minister for Finance. Sir, about two weeks ago when we had a debate on the Budget Statement, quite a number of Members spoke at length on the subject of personal relief from income tax. I do not want to dwell on this any more, but just to air my views concerning the reply given by the Minister on this subject. In his reply the Minister said that he had carefully considered the question of raising the amount of personal relief from income tax, but he said that if the request was acceded to, it would lead to increased expenditure in the other sectors. Therefore, he was of the opinion that it was not feasible at this stage to increase the amount of personal relief. The fact that the Minister had now re-assessed this subject shows that the amount of personal relief, which was fixed about 20 years ago, is already out of date and inappropriate in the light of present developments and inflationary trends. If the amount of personal relief is increased, it would result in the reduction of revenue. But what I would like to ask the Minister is whether he has considered the possibility of getting those who are able and those who are well-off to bear the burden of taxation. We all know that the general run of wage earners is that they are living in difficulties. Their incomes are small and therefore it is not reasonable to tax them any further. The employers submit the annual returns on the incomes of their employees. Therefore, it is impossible for them to evade any payment of taxes. On the other hand, the business houses in the private sector could look for loopholes in the Income Tax Act to evade payment of taxes. The Minister should plug these loopholes and see that there is no evasion of tax and should not ask the poor wage earners to pay unduly heavy taxes. It can be done unless the staff of the Income Tax Department do not want to enforce the relevant provisions of the law. The evasion of taxes by businessmen can be stopped.

Mr Tay, your 10 minutes are up.

Sir, under this amendment, I just want to congratulate the Minister and commend him for introducing the Singapore Allowance for pensioners. However, when he replied to a Question for oral answer on 15th March, it was pointed out to him that among the pensioners, those who retired before 1969 had their pensions computed on the basic wage drawn by them prior to the time of retirement, and that those who retired after 1969 had their pensions calculated on a consolidated wage which included the cost of living allowance. It is, therefore, unfair to older pensioners drawing lesser pensions through no fault of their own. When this point was raised a few days ago, the Minister did not reply, but said that it was a separate question altogether. The Minister himself being an ex-civil servant would appreciate the need for Government to look after its old and faithful servants. I implore the Minister to reconsider the case of the few pensioners who retired before 1969 and to pay them pensions computed on their consolidated wage instead of their basic wage.

Sir, it has been a long time since chit fund companies were wound up. Up to now the public has not been told anything about the results of the winding-up, except for the punishment meted out on the directors. Anxious citizens are waiting to see how much can they recover from their losses. How long have these ex-subscribers got to wait to recover their losses? At the rate we are going, by the time the payment is made, the amount will be diminished to peanuts. Would the Minister tell us what action is being taken in this respect? 2.45 p.m. I would like to know the present ruling governing the account of a C.P.F, member who dies and who had, on his nomination form, named a person who had since died. Is it true that the nomination form of the C.P.F, is similar to a will, and therefore in such a case the family of the deceased nominee could put a claim through the public trustee? Could the Minister enlighten me on this matter? The economic survey of Singapore has been very well planned and written. Figures quoted in the annual Budget Statement are apt and they really show the precise situation. I note that the "oil crisis" and the consequent economic slow-down in the industrial countries, world-wide inflation, international trade and the international monetary system have affected our otherwise booming economy. It is indeed sad to note this fact. However, much credit goes to the planning of the Government to off-set these ills and to rectify deficiencies wherever they exist because of these factors. The oil crisis, or what could be termed as our own oil financial crisis, is going to be a permanent feature of Singapore's life. Anyone who believes that the oil-producing countries are going to lower their oil prices to the pre-October level is living in a fool's paradise. As such, it is time we introduced legislation not only to conserve our oil supplies, but also to make sure that our foreign exchange is not drained out by buying oil at prohibitive prices. May I ask what measures have been taken to make sure that shopping complexes, business houses and hotels reduce their lighting to the barest minimum? Up to-date what other measures has the Finance Ministry taken to deal with this energy crisis? Raising the question of reducing wastage is an important one. Government should revamp and revive all the special campaigns that it used to have some time back. The TV and radio should increase the number of warnings on the conservation of energy and "save more" campaigns. In the Budget proper, we welcome the statement requiring all Ministries and Departments to cut down wastage and unnecessary expenditures. These are two very important aspects of our economic life. The Minister also stated that there is no let-up in the implementation of desirable development programmes and projects. I would like to know how these proposals are going to be checked. Though there is now publicity in the press and on the air about inflation, something concrete must be done if our lower and middle income group citizens are to survive. Prices of essential commodities have risen by about 200-300 per cent. Prices are still rising. Every day a new price is quoted by the shopkeepers and hawkers. When asked, some of them say that the Government has allowed them to raise the prices of goods. Shopkeepers and hawkers seem to round up their prices to the nearest 5 or 10 cents in any price increase. This is because of the lack of I-cent coins. Is there any method that can be adopted to prevent the customers from being cheated because of the hack of 1-cent coins? More effective price controls must be substituted. Has the Price Control Department appointed sufficient inspectors to check on prices? Shopkeepers and hawkers are adopting the "take it or leave it" attitude which hits the poor below the belt. The people welcome statements followed by action, such as the black-listing of bakeries producing short-weight bread. In conjunction with this there should be more NTUC Welcome Supermarkets. These are fast becoming popular. The people are heeding the call by the Trade Division to boycott shops selling goods at exorbitant prices. But there have been cases where the price of an article in the Welcome Supermarket was higher by as much as $2 for the same article sold by the shopkeepers outside. A case in point is the Thomson Road Market where a tin of cooking oil was sold for $6 whereas it costs $7.15 at the Toa Payoh Welcome Supermarket. Why should there be such a vast difference in price? This will discourage the consumer from buying at Toa Payoh. Can an attempt be made to check the prices in Welcome Supermarkets against prices in the other shops, so as to make the Supermarket prices attractive to customers? This is the time to do it, as supermarkets are becoming popular. In this way we can easily check profiteering by the retailers. I would request the Price Control Department, CASE and INTRACO to play their very important role in the control of prices of goods in the Welcome Supermarkets, and try to make them more attractive. Moreover, some of the fresh foods like meat, fish and vegetables in the markets are as old as Noah's Ark. Cannot something be done to have them changed or auctioned to the public, and new stocks brought in? It is better to sell at a cheaper price than to allow them to perish. Sir, I am glad to note that the Government has taken the necessary measures, without harming any sector of the economy, to diversify the sources of our most essential food supplies, and to revive a scheme for a rice stockpile. Welcome and SAFE Supermarkets should be activated to fight against inflation. As a result of the tourist boom a decade ago, the Government encouraged people to build hotels. What has been done to alleviate the plight of hotel owners by bringing in more tourists and so increase the occupancy of hotel rooms? Have our foreign missions played any significant part in this respect? It has been quite some time now since Government began its industrialisation programme. Up to-date very little propaganda activity has been organised for the sale of Singapore made goods. What action is the Government taking in this regard? We have, in the past, been emphasising on the promotion of our Singapore made goods. It is time that we placed greater emphasis on the promotion of our locally made products, both locally and abroad, so as to compete with foreign goods. Sir, a daily peep of the newspaper reveals that our youths are involved in some form of activity or other. Youth problems of the Republic today are different from those of the past. In view of the far-sighted policies of our Government, there is an urgent need for an effective youth council to be formed in the Republic, where greater participation of our youth in more responsible activity can be looked into. Sir, it has been suggested in the past that deserving officers be given merit increments as an incentive to work hard. How many officers have so far benefited from this scheme? There is hardly any difference in the output of work between clerical assistants and clerical officers. Yet the clerical assistants are paid less than clerical officers. It can be a terribly frustrating experience for clerical assistants, with the same qualifications as clerical officers, to work in the same office with clerical officers and doing the same job but paid less instead.

Your time is up, Mr P. Govindaswamy. Mr Lai?

I am not speaking, Sir.

Sir, we hear so much about the credit squeeze these days. Indeed, in his Budget Statement a few days ago, the Minister has outlined the fiscal measures adopted to counter inflation. However, the average man-in-the-street or the petty trader is still confused as to what is going on. When he approaches his bank or finance company for credit facilities, he is either turned away or asked to pay fantastic rates of interest which all goes to add to his cost which, in turn, he will obviously pass on to his customers. This will inevitably help to accelerate the rate of inflation. Sir, I would like to request the Minister to inform the House of the specific areas where such a squeeze is being applied, and whether the measures taken hitherto have the desired effect. In one of his recent statements in this House, the Minister mentioned that the economic prospects of the world now looked rather more optimistic. I would like to know when the Minister is going to relax the squeeze, in the light of this remark. There are also fears expressed that if the squeeze goes on for too long the foreign investor will be frightened away, and this will slow down the economy of the country to such an extent that it might be impossible to pick up later on. Sir, I hope that the credit squeeze will not squeeze the economic life out of this country in the long run.

Sir, yesterday in this Chamber when we were talking about agriculture, I said that it was my duty as a rural MP to raise the point that the lifting of import tax on frozen chicken had caused considerable hardship to our poultry farmers. In fact, as far as I know, some of them have already given up poultry rearing as a result of this measure. The Minister for Law and National Development in his reply informed the House that this was a matter for the Ministry of Finance, and that his Ministry was strongly in favour of reimposing the import tax on frozen chicken. Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to ask the Minister for Finance what is the reaction of his Ministry on this matter, and when will the import tax on frozen chicken be reimposed.

Sir, the Singaporean is worried about inflation. Government is worried about inflation. CASE is worried about inflation. The trade unions are worried about inflation. And so am I! I am just wondering how far will this go, and will Government assist us Singaporeans to cushion the effects of inflation? I am wondering whether the Minister can tell us whether he will, in the few months to come, increase taxes on petrol, motor vehicles and other items, or whether he will assist us by lifting tariffs on more consumer commodities.

Sir, there are quite a number of questions to be answered, particularly from the Member for Anson, but I will answer them in the order in which they were posed. The Member for Paya Lebar asked why the scheme of allowance in lieu of medical leave for employees in the civil service and statutory boards was implemented on 1st January, 1973, whereas for teachers this was made effective only from October, 1973. He wanted to know the rationale for this. First of all, I want to make it quite clear that there has never been an allowance in lieu of medical leave, as such. The proposal which Government made to the unions was for the payment of leave allowance in lieu of reduced leave. That means reduced vacation leave. 3.00 p.m. The purpose and objective of this proposal was to solve the growing problem of accumulation of vacation leave by employees in the civil service, most of whom have very little likelihood of ever being able to use up their accumulated leave. There was no such problem with teachers who enjoyed a different leave scheme and still enjoy it, and who have their own school holidays. Teachers were, therefore, excluded from the proposal from the beginning. There was, as I said, no intention to provide monetary compensation for reduction of medical leave alone for any employees in the public service. However, in the negotiations with the unions, compensation for reduction of medical leave was included as part of a package settlement. Because of this settlement, representations were also made by the Education Ministry, by the Teachers' Union, and also by the Member for Moulmein (whose services have not apparently been entirely appreciated) for the concession of monetary compensation for reduction of medical leave alone to be extended to teachers who are also enjoying school holidays. I must stress that this suggestion was not initiated nor desired by the Treasury, and there was indeed very considerable reluctance of my Ministry to accept it. But finally we accepted it with reluctance. This was a matter subsequent to and separate from the proposal for leave allowance in lieu of reduced vacation leave, and therefore it was thought appropriate that a different effective date for implementation should be used. As the scheme for reduced medical leave for teachers was accepted by the Teachers' Union sometime in September 1973, the effective date was to be 1st October, 1973, in accordance with the normal Treasury practice of adopting the first of the month following agreement as the date of implementation. In the case of the main scheme for the public service, 1st January, 1973, was adopted as the effective date because general agreement on the scheme was reached in September, 1972, following consultations between officials of my Ministry and those of several trade unions representing employees in the public service. The Member for Paya Lebar also referred to my explanation, during the debate on the financial policy of the Government, that in considering the question of giving personal relief I had decided that, other than the tax relief increase for dependent parents and grandparents, there should be no concession in the way of personal relief. He thought this decision was inappropriate in the light of present developments and that, as the rate had been the same for the last 20 years, it was out of date. In this respect, of course, I have to consider not only whether the rate which has obtained over the last 20 years gives the same or more revenue, but also whether, in fact, there is now very much more expenditure which will have to be covered by fresh revenue. So it does mean that if reliefs were given resulting in less revenue, then I would have to consider applying a tax in some other way which would make good the loss in revenue and which would be sufficient to cover the very much greater additional expenditure, since the rate of personal relief was decided 20 years ago. Now, I think a word on the income tax system may not be inappropriate here. This system is progressive in its effect, the higher income earner paying a higher rate of tax. So from the point of view of imposing taxation, if any method has to be used, this would be as appropriate, if not more appropriate, a method as any other. The existing reliefs already ensure that only taxpayers who are in the middle and higher income brackets are liable to pay the tax. As an example, in 1972 only 126,000 persons, or 17 per cent out of a total of 725,000 who were gainfully employed, paid any income tax. A taxpayer supporting, say, a wife, two children and two parents, would therefore be liable to pay tax only if his annual income exceeds $7,000. Generally, therefore, the lower income groups do not pay income tax, and any upward revision of personal relief would benefit only those who can afford to make some contribution to Government revenue. The international view of Singapore income taxation is that we are rather generous in our personal reliefs and we would do well to broaden the base of such taxation. In fact, if our taxation were examined further, it may be that next year we shall have to reduce the rate of personal relief rather than increase it. Psychologically, it would bring home to the new taxpayers that Government grants, subsidies and concessions, which are being so liberally advocated by Members, can come only out of the generosity of taxpayers among whom perhaps many of the advocates can be numbered. The Member for Telok Blangah asked a question regarding the extension of pension benefits to officers who retired before the consolidation of salaries. He would like the present method of computing pension based on the consolidated salary to be also given to those officers who retired before the setting up of the Salaries Commission. I have had representations from pensioners as well as the Member for Telok Blangah and I have considered them, and I will always consider representations which are made from time to time. But this is really a very hardy and perennial question, and I cannot really hold out any hope that Government will extend the present method of computing pension based on consolidated salary to those officers who retired before 1-1-69 when pension was computed on the basis of basic salary without taking into account the variable allowances. The exercise to consolidate salaries in 1969 was intended to improve the terms and conditions of service of officers who were then in service, and of others who would be joining the service subsequently. It was not intended to increase the pension of those pensioners who had already retired from the service before 1969. Officers who retired before 1969 on non-consolidated salaries are already being assisted in that they are paid a cost of living allowance and a Singapore allowance if their pensions are (a) below $257 per month, and they have no dependants, or (b) below $331 per month, and have dependants to support. On the other hand, officers who retired on consolidated salaries are not paid this cost of living allowance and Singapore allowance, so that if the pension for officers who retired before 1969 on non-consolidated salaries were to be recomputed as though they had their salaries consolidated, and if they were to give up accordingly the cost of living allowance and Singapore allowance, then about 73 per cent of such pensioners would be receiving less pension. I do not know whether the Member for Telok Blangah intended to have this particular effect.

Oh, no!

I come now to the questions of the Member for Anson. He has touched on a very considerable number of topics, some of which are not really under my jurisdiction or may only be partially so. Nevertheless, I shall try to answer him where I can. First of all, I think he said that the public has not been kept informed of the results of the winding-up of certain chit fund companies. I think this is incorrect because a press release was made on 19th December, 1973, announcing the initial dividend payment for seven chit fund companies being wound up by the Official Receiver. To-date, five companies have paid dividends. Another two companies will make payments of dividends before the end of May, 1974. The Government is aware that the verification of claims for the various chit fund companies that are wound up since late 1972 has taken considerable time. This is inevitable as the process of verification depends on the co-operation of the creditors and the substantiation of their claims at the Official Receiver's Office. Until each member's account has been verified, it is not possible for the Official Receiver to declare a dividend. 3.15 p.m. The Member also sought some clarification on CPF matters which no doubt my colleague, the Minister for Labour, would be better able to answer. But I believe that when a member of the Fund dies and if the person nominated by him to receive his credit balance had died before the member, the amount will be paid to the public trustee to be disposed of in accordance with the law for the time being in force. If the nominee of the deceased member dies after the demise of the member, the amount due to the nominee will be paid to the estate of the deceased nominee. I hope that clarifies the point raised by him. The Member for Anson then touched on the Government's "Save Energy" campaign. He must already be aware of the effects of the campaign which began last November and the result of the efforts of the public to restrict consumption of petroleum fuel and electricity. We made a list of suggestions to guide the public in the efficient use of fuel and electricity and gave extensive coverage in the local newspapers, radio and television to this campaign. During the last few months, the PUB sent out inspectors all round the island to ensure that there was no unnecessary lighting and that advertising lights were switched off after 9 p.m. Since the commencement of the "Save Energy" campaign, the weekly consumption of electricity, as most Members would know, has declined by an average of 10 per cent. The Control of Essential Supplies Act and the Restrictions on the Supply, Distribution and Use of Petroleum and Electricity Act enacted last year give the Government legal powers to take action against any wasteful consumption of energy, as and when necessary. I think the recent increase in the tariff rates for electricity would also act as a deterrent against excessive consumption of fuel and electricity. I think the Member also touched on alternative measures to develop new sources of energy. The PUB is replanning Stage II development of Senoko Power Station to incorporate a dual firing system which allows the use of either gas or fuel oil. The possibility of burning coal is also being examined. Another possibility, as far back as 1971, is that the Government has considered the introduction of a nuclear-based power station in the Republic. Studies involving the siting of a nuclear power station are in progress. Detailed investigations on the environmental effects of such a plant and the necessity for additional safeguards against dangers to nearby areas of high density population in Singapore are being carried out with the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Member for Anson also asked how we check on development proposals. This is a rather complicated procedure. Presumably he has in mind the check aimed at ensuring that only desirable projects are allowed to go ahead. Generally, if any project falls within the framework of Government's major policies, it is prima facie a desirable project. My officials examine the various aspects of the projects, such as their scale, location, phasing, alternative aspects to achieve the same objectives and so on. When the projects have been properly evaluated, they are submitted to a Ministerial Committee, called the Development Planning Committee, for approval. Subsequently, the technical details are further vetted by the Development Planning Sub-Committee to ensure that there is no extravagance in the choice of materials or designs. The Member has also touched on inflation and price controls. I have already explained in my Budget Statement in some detail the action we have taken, and I have explained the undesirability of price control in general as an anti-inflationary measure. I have also explained the measures that Government has taken to dampen the price escalation, including action against profiteers and the promotion of consumer co-operatives - rather than fixing prices, it is more appropriate to disseminate information on prices and stocks to consumers to enable them to differentiate between unscrupulous add dependable traders, thereby enabling them to protect their own interest. Only when consumers, armed with this information, refrain from buying from high-priced shops and make selective purchases from shops which sell at fair prices can the Government's efforts be assured of success. In the long run this is the only way to deal with sellers who round up their prices to the next five or ten cents, as complained by the Member. At the end of 1973, there were 35 million one-cent coins recorded as being in circulation, and there is really no excuse for sellers not to fix prices to the cent, especially for the lower priced goods where a few cents represent a significant percentage of the price. If there is any difficulty in getting one-cent coins, I think the Currency Board is always ready to issue more coins. The existing machinery in the Department of Trade for the dissemination of price and supply information and the investigation of complaints on profiteering will be consolidated. The Singapore Manufacturers Association will also be helping in the fight against profiteering by, firstly, doing their best to print the prices upon their products wherever possible and, secondly, keeping the Department of Trade informed of price increases. The Member for Anson mentioned that he was aware of over-charging by CASE or the Welcome Supermarket. Perhaps he should forward his inquiries to the Member for Potong Pasir and the Member for Boon Teck. However, if I am asked to answer this particular question, I would venture to say that for a limited range of goods the prices charged in the small retail shops can occasionally be lower than the prices charged in the NTUC Welcome Supermarket. In the case of cooking oil mentioned by the Member for Anson, as prices increase some retailers who have stocks purchased at the old prices may be able to sell at the old retail prices, while popular organisations like the NTUC Welcome Supermarkets, where the turnover is much more rapid, have to pay higher prices for new stocks and are, therefore, compelled to charge higher retail prices. In any case, these prices provide a reference to what charges would be fair. The discriminating shopper should, therefore, take advantage of any lower prices and buy if he can from shops which sell more cheaply. I do not expect the NTUC Supermarket to object to this. The Member for Anson also spoke on tourist promotion. He may recall that in 1973 Singapore passed the millionth visitor's mark, and there was an increase of 28.9 per cent in the tourist traffic over the previous year. The hotel occupancy rate in 1972 was 61 per cent and this rose to 67.2 per cent in 1973, despite the increase in the number of hotel rooms from 8,358 in 1972 to 9,413 in 1973. This achievement was largely due to the tourist promotion and publicity efforts overseas by the Tourist Promotion Board and other bodies such as the Singapore Airlines. A major portion of the Tourist Promotion Board budget has been expended for this purpose. Our foreign missions have always supplemented the efforts of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board in promoting Singapore as a tourist centre by the dissemination of tourist brochures and information. However, since tourist promotion is a specialised function, this is done more extensively by the overseas offices of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board which are established in countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia, the major tourist markets. The Member also suggested action for promoting sales of locally made goods. The Government has always been conscious of the need for export promotion and the Exports Promotion Unit was initially set up in the Economic Development Division to fulfil this function in line with an active trade policy to widen domestic and overseas markets for manufactured goods. Since 1972 this Unit has been transferred to the Department of Trade. The Unit maintains a library service to provide both product and area information. A number of seminars have been organised to help medium and small-sized manufacturers to break into the export market. The Unit through the Commercial Secretary stationed in Singapore missions overseas also help traders and manufacturers to get in touch with foreign buyers. At the same time, buyers are actively encouraged to come to Singapore. For this purpose the Department of Trade maintains a trade register which gives relevant details of firms interested in exporting. The Member concluded his remarks with comments on staff matters. I am glad that at least one Member has remembered the need to give incentives to deserving officers. The merit increment scheme was introduced in April, 1973. In June, 1973, a total of 106 officers were awarded merit increments as follows: 88 officers ... 1 increment 15 officers ... 2 increments 3 officers ... 3 increments Thus, about 30.6 per cent of the officers who were eligible for consideration under this scheme were given merit increments. I think that deals with the queries by the Member for Anson. 3.30 p.m. The Member for Delta raised a point on the anti-inflationary monetary policy. I mentioned in my Budget Statement that while this anti-inflationary policy would not be relaxed, resources would be made available to facilitate economic growth. Members may wish to know therefore that as a result of the monetary measures implemented recently, the tight liquidity situation in the inter-bank money market has eased. Inter-bank interest rates have moved from about 11 per cent to a more reasonable level of 9 per cent. With the reduction of the special deposit ratio from 5 per cent to zero per cent in early March by the Monetary Authority, a significant sum of $73 million was released to the banking system to finance investments and productive activities. It is, of course, necessary that the funds being released are directed towards financing the activities of productive enterprises and not for inflationary spending and speculation. The Member for Delta can therefore rest assured that the liquidity situation will not be allowed to inhibit economic growth. Finally, I think there are two comments and two different points of view by the Member for Jurong and the Member for Potong Pasir. The Member for Jurong complained that the lifting of the tariff on frozen chicken has affected the livelihood of farmers. He wants to know whether I will reimpose the tax. The purpose of lifting the tax is to act against inflation of prices, which we thought had perhaps gone too far. And the price of chicken has since come down, and therefore it has to that extent achieved our purpose. The Member for Potong Pasir made comments that he hoped that we would lift further taxes in order to fight inflation. In every case we consider, of course, the respective merits of the effect on inflation and also the effect on our manufacturers as well as our primary producers. And when we impose a tariff, we do so only for very good reasons.

(In Mandarin): Sir, the Minister for Finance has said in his reply, by way of a challenge, that he might consider the possibility of reducing the personal relief for income tax. I would like to ask the Minister for Finance this question. Does he accept the fact that the recommendations of the NWC are reasonable? I feel that the answer must be in the affirmative because he has already accepted the NWC recommendation for the payment of a $25 special allowance to those whose incomes are below $1,000. My point is: since the NWC is aware of the difficulties of those earning below $1,000 and even for those who earn as much as $975, then if the income of $1,000 is used as a yardstick for the maintenance of a family, it means that the family will have an income of at least $12,000 per annum. Then allowing for deductions for personal relief, reliefs for wife and children, what is the total amount of relief for a family with an annual income of $12,000? It is my hope that in the next financial year the Minister for Finance would increase the amount for personal relief instead of reducing it. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head OA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1601. Sir, with your permission I would like to range my comments over amendment (3)*, subhead AA 1702, because they are related matters. * The amendment, standing in the name of Mr N. Govindasamy, reads as follows: (3) That the sum to be allocated for Head OA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1702.

Yes.

Sir, this amendment is moved merely to seek clarification. What is this CPF/MPF contribution for? Why has there been such a phenomenal increase from an appropriation of $1,900 for FY 73 to $14,250 for FY 74, more than a seven-fold increase? In respect of non-pensionable allowances, the increase is almost threefold. Sir, similar provisions are also seen for all other Ministries, but the increases do not seem proportionate, in other words, inconsistent. For example, the CPF/ MPF contribution for the Ministry of Law and National Development for FY 73 and FY 74 is almost the same, whereas for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the CPF/MPF contribution has, in fact, decreased when compared to the previous year. Sir, would the Minister care to clarify?

Sir, there is a fairly simple explanation. Let me deal first with the difference in the provision for CPF/MPF contributions. The provision for FY 74 is much larger than that for FY 73 because of two factors. First, about 62 per cent of the Division III and Division IV officers opted to leave the pension scheme to join the CPF scheme. Second, the 9 per cent wage supplement which became payable from July, 1973, involved additional CPF contributions. Both these factors could not be estimated even if they were foreseen at the time of preparing the Budget estimates for FY 73. As for non-pensionable allowances, the provision for FY 74 is much larger than that for FY 73 because the former includes the 9 per cent wage supplement which came into effect from July, 1973. Again no fore-knowledge of this factor was available at the time of preparing the estimates for FY 73. The increases in respect of these two subheads vary from subhead to subhead because of establishment differences. For example, a Ministry or department which has a high proportion of super-scale posts can be expected to show a large increase in non-pensionable allowances owing to the salary revision for such posts in 1973. Similarly, a Ministry or department in which many of the Divisions III and IV officers have opted out of the pension scheme for the CPF scheme will have a large increase in the provision for CPF contribution.

Sir, in view of the explanation, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Mr N. Govindasamy -

Amendment (4), Mr N. Govindasamy.

I am not moving, Sir.

(In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head OA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CA 3001. Sir, I would like to ask a few questions on the Jurong Town Corporation. Firstly, when will the Jurong Town Hall be ready for occupation, and when will the JTC offices move into the Jurong Town Hall? Will the JTC leave behind an area office in the present neighbourhood when it moves to the Town Hall? And will it set up area offices in each neighbourhood for the convenience of the residents? These area offices, in my opinion, are a great convenience to the residents of Jurong for the payment of their PUB bills and other charges. Secondly, there have been complaints on the poor quality of work of the JTC flats. Most of the complaints are related to wall and ceiling cracks, choking of sewers, failure of the drainage system, etc. I would like to know whether the JTC would exercise stricter supervision over the construction of flats to make sure that there are no malpractices by contractors. Thirdly, Sir, we are aware that the Housing and Development Board maintains its own markets and hawker centres within its housing estates. There is a Markets and Hawkers Unit to look after all these matters. I wonder whether the JTC will also set up its own Markets and Hawkers Division like the HDB. Fourthly, in Sembawang and in other places, the JTC will be setting up satellite towns. When the satellite towns are built, will the JTC ensure that the essential facilities such as markets, shop houses, schools and other amenities are provided when the flats are ready for occupation? In this way, when the residents move into the satellite towns, they will not find that there are no facilities for shopping and marketing. 3.45 p.m. Fifthly, I would like the Minister to tell this House whether the JTC will consider giving concession to Jurong Town residents when they visit the parks and gardens or make use of the sports facilities in Jurong Town? Sixthly, I would like to seek information from the Minister whether the JTC will exercise stricter supervision on the work of the refuse collection contractor to ensure that there is regular collection of refuse and cleaning of the grounds within the precincts of the JTC so as to avoid accumulation of rubbish. Seventhly, I would like to deal with the question of flats. There are now non-citizens tenanting JTC flats. Some of them are asked to quit their present premises and to rent rooms from Singapore citizen tenants. In some cases, although the head of the family is not a Singapore citizen, members of his family are Singapore citizens. I wonder whether the Jurong Town Corporation will give sympathetic consideration to those affected families with at least one member who is a Singapore citizen to continue occupying the flat? In the case of new applications, will the Jurong Town Corporation consider those cases where only the head of the family is a Singapore citizen, is a worker in Jurong Town, and wishes to settle in Jurong for good? These people who work in Jurong Town are hoping that they will be able to settle down in Jurong, provided accommodation is good. Lastly, I would like to deal with the question of the luxury flats in Jurong Town for the executives. When will such flats be completed, and when will applications for purchase of these flats be opened and called for? What will be the condition and minimum requirements governing the application for the purchase of these flats? How will these flats be priced?

Sir, I think I ought to explain that while I am responsible for the general performance and policy relating to the Jurong Town Corporation, I am not aware of the day-to-day details of its operations, nor can I be expected to go into them in full detail. Subject to these comments, I will try my best to answer the questions which have been raised by the Member for Jurong. He asked: when will the Town Hall be ready for occupation; when will the JTC office remove to this Hall, and will there be an office after the removal of the main office to the Town Hall? I understand that the Jurong Town Corporation hopes to move its offices to the Jurong Town Hall next month. It will maintain an area office in part of its present premises for the collection of rentals, maintenance of flats, and it will also set up similar area offices in other neighbourhoods that it develops. The next area office will be set up at Neighbourhood II, Boon Lay Garden in Jurong Town. The Member also complained of poor supervision over construction of flats. The JTC, I understand, tries to exercise very strict supervision over all its construction work through its team of engineers, technical officers and particularly the clerks-of-works. If, in fact, there are really cases of unusually bad workmanship, perhaps the Member for Jurong can give the particulars to me and I will look into this matter further. The Member also asked about JTC setting up a Hawkers and Markets Division. The JTC is in the process of setting up a Hawkers and Markets Division to manage all markets and hawker centres in the industrial and housing estates under its control. This will, I assume, include Sembawang, which the Member mentioned. This new Division will also control unlicensed hawkers in all JTC areas. The Member also wanted to know whether the JTC will ensure that, in planning and building residential premises, other essential amenities such as shop houses, markets and schools are provided at the same time. The answer is that, in the planning and building of residential neighbourhoods, the JTC ensures that not only all essential amenities, such as shops and markets, are provided but also as far as possible that these amenities are completed about the same time the flats become tenantable. It works closely with the Ministry of Education in providing sites for the construction of schools. The Member asked whether the JTC will consider granting concession rates to the Jurong Town residents when they visit the various parks and gardens or use the various sports facilities. The JTC developed a 70-acre park land, beside the Jurong Lake, consisting of undulating wooded areas, parks and pavilions for the use of the public, including Jurong Town residents, free of charge. The admission charges for the Japanese Garden at 40 cents for an adult and 20 cents for a child are already concessionary rates. This garden is not built solely for Jurong residents but also for the enjoyment of all Singapore residents and tourists. As such, it is not possible to reduce the rates for Jurong Town residents. As for the sporting facilities under JTC control, the charges for their use are nominal and are about the same as those charged elsewhere in Singapore. It is not considered necessary to grant further concessions to Jurong Town residents. The Member asked whether the JTC supervises the work of refuse collection contractor to ensure that regular collection is done and that the areas are cleaned up after removal. The JTC contractor is responsible for collecting refuse from refuse chutes and transporting it to the various bin centres where they are collected by the Public Health Division. The JTC has a team of supervisors to ensure that the refuse collection contractor does his work regularly and properly. Another question which the Member asked is: will the JTC consider relaxing its rule regarding renting of flats to allow a family with only one member who is a Singapore citizen to apply? The present policy adopted by the JTC for the renting of flats is that the applicant must be a Singapore citizen and the majority of his family must either be Singapore citizens or permanent residents. Single citizens are not eligible for JTC flats. This policy on low-cost housing follows that of the HDB, and it is considered undesirable for JTC to deviate from this policy, thus setting up two standards. Finally, about the luxury type of flats now under construction, he asked: when will they be completed and open for application, and what will the price be? The two blocks of 20-storey flats comprising 144 units at Yuan Ching Road, Jurong Town, are expected to be completed by the fourth-quarter of this year. The selling price of these flats will be fixed after work has been completed, so that a proper costing can be computed. These flats are built to meet the needs of top executives working in Jurong Town.

(In Mandarin): I thank the Minister for his reply to my questions, and I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the names of Dr Ong Leong Boon and Mr L. P. Rodrigo -

Dr Ong and Mr Rodrigo are not here. The sum of $580,075,300 for Head OA ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $511,869,950 for Head OA ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head OD --

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head OD be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1107. Sir, I would like to take this opportunity to say "Thank you very much" to the Hon. Minister, his Anti-Inflationary Committee and the Department of Trade, for their contribution to consumers in Singapore. I want also to pay a special tribute to the Hon. Minister for taking such pains in his attempts to alleviate consumer discomfort, and I would like hon. Members to note that I do this not on the basis that he has not said nice things about me in the House on the 15th instant nor in the hope of prompting him to say nice things about me in the House today. Sir, I also rise in support of suggestions to enact a Consumer Protection Act by Members during the debate on the Budget Statement. The Member for River Valley spoke on this at length, and I would also like to speak on the subject to complement his intelligent proposals. The Member for River Valley called it the Consumer Protection Act. I would like, however, to call this piece of legislation, which should be introduced as soon as possible, the Consumer Information Act. I call it the Consumer Information Act because this Act will ensure that consumers are truthfully informed in regard to products purchased and because a Protection Act could insinuate that consumers need to be protected against all traders when, in actual fact, only some of them are guilty of trade malpractices. 4.00 p.m. This Act, for example, will require the labelling of all packaged goods truthfully. It will require a statement of weight of contents or volume. It most certainly will curb deceptive packaging and labelling. There will also be the necessity to include the name and address of the packer on the label, to prohibit false and misleading labelling, advertising and pricing, and misleading packaging shapes. The Act should also require quantity markings for packages, the compulsory use of standard quality units and that advertisers furnish the proof in respect of the claims made. All goods should also be clearly marked reflecting the volume, weight or the dimensions of length and width, wherever these considerations apply. Consumers will also be anxious to see, indicated, the date of use in respect of commodities of limited life. The Consumers' Association of Singapore (CASE) does not regard legislation as necessarily an appropriate method of ensuring that consumers get a fair deal. CASE does not also advocate legislation in cases where it feels it can achieve the desired end by agreement between the interests concerned. CASE does not also press for legislation unless the problems raised are sufficiently serious to warrant such action. Unless a considerable number of consumers are affected by the conditions CASE considers need correcting, legislation is not, in the view of CASE, appropriate. But there is still a wide field where it is necessary to lay down rules in legislative form not only to the benefit of the consumers but also for the protection of the honest trader. This proposed legislation is an obvious example and it will benefit not only purchasers but also reputable traders, who are in the majority and who are adversely affected by some of the activities of certain dubious entrepreneurs. The Hon. Minister did say that he would be looking into this matter very carefully on the 15th instant in this House. I would like to state that this is a matter of utmost urgency and request that it be given high priority. Would the Minister be charging his Ministry to seriously study the suggestion of enacting legislation for both consumers and traders' interests at the earliest possible juncture? Would the Hon. Minister permit CASE to work closely with his Ministry to determine the feasibility of this consumer legislation?

Sir, as the Member has noted, I have stated earlier in reply to the Member for River Valley and others that the legislation for consumer protection requires study to ensure that there is no danger of accusation of erecting non-tariff barriers, and to prevent duplication of legislation such as we already have in specific Acts, which protect Singaporeans from health and safety hazards, and also from the more recently enacted legislation of some urgency. My Ministry is, however, prepared to examine the need for enacting further legislation for consumer protection. I certainly would welcome worthwhile suggestions from CASE and other consumer associations to facilitate the study for further legislation. To start this examination of the need for further legislation, perhaps CASE or the Member for Potong Pasir could send me a memorandum outlining the special areas he wishes to have considered early. My officers can then look at it, and then perhaps there could be a discussion between him and my Ministry.

Mr Speaker, Sir, that was a most encouraging reply by the Minister. Most certainly I will put forward suggestions from CASE. I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $2,780,400 for Head OD ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $263,000 for Head OD ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head OG-- The following amendment stood in the names of Messrs. N. Govindasamy and P. Govindaswamy -

Mr N. Govindasamy.

I am not moving, Sir.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head OG be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1105. Sir, the present income tax return form does not provide any space to claim reliefs for parents and grandparents as well as relief for garden maintenance. Why must the taxpayer be made to travel to separate places to ask for the necessary forms? If these forms had been designed properly, this unnecessary travel could have been avoided. Could a simpler and clearer form be issued from next year onwards? Moreover, many people find it difficult to fill in the present form. May I know how many people had their forms filled in incorrectly for the last few years? Sir, the relief for parents and grandparents is most welcome. At least the Government has shown some consideration for the aged and the needy. At the same time it would have been better to offer some tax relief for wage earners. The present reliefs were drawn up a long time ago, and are no longer practical in view of the present cost of living and inflation. This item of relief has not been considered along with the compensation for the high cost of living nowadays, such as the 13th month pay, 9 per cent wage increase and the $25 interim payments, which have swelled the annual incomes of wage-earners. But then these higher incomes will be affected by their inclusion in the income tax returns later on. I wonder whether the Minister will reconsider the decision which he has made in Parliament on the 15th of this month, and instead consider a further personal relief for taxpayers in his Budget calculations for the next financial year.

Mr Speaker, Sir, as the present policy goes, we allow private house-owners to claim a tax deduction for maintaining a garden. Sir, the intention of this tax relief is to encourage people to help beautify Singapore and make it a garden city. But I do not think it is wise to make it a permanent feature of our tax policy. Otherwise the Government might be accused of being in favour of those who can afford to maintain a garden over an extensive piece of land, as far as the policy is concerned.

You are not a gardener!

Sir, any tax relief measure should be beneficial to all, poor or rich. This particular relief, at present, benefits the rich only and should be discontinued. Singaporeans should have been well-indoctrinated by now that it is their duty to keep or maintain a clean, green, beautiful living environment with or without tax relief or other incentives. Furthermore, these so-called private gardens are never meant for the pleasure and enjoyment of members of the public. Instead, members of the public will be accused of trespassing or be chased away by fierce dogs if they approach these private gardens. Sir, persons who have donated cash to charitable organisations are allowed to claim tax deductions, but no such tax relief has ever been given to blood donors. For these blood donors I think their public-spiritedness is recognised only in terms of medal awards and certain medical benefits. I do not mean that these blood donors are mercenary-minded. But since we allow tax deductions for maintaining a private garden and for cash donations to charitable organisations, why can we not give tax relief to blood donors, whose blood is more important and more precious than cash donations and private gardens? Sir, if the Hon. Minister for Finance agrees to this suggestion, I think the Blood Bank will appreciate the generosity and will not have to make appeals in the press for blood donations from time to time.

Mr Speaker, Sir, our existing tax structure relating to personal earnings, as pointed out by the Hon. Minister earlier on, is a progressive one in that as the income of an individual increases, so does the rate of tax. On this basis, the rich pay more, the poor pay less or not at all. This is fair enough. But I am just wondering whether the Minister would consider differentiating those individuals who are salaried employees from those who derive their income from capital investments, either in landed properties or other business operations. For salaried employees, perhaps the existing progressive rate of income tax could be made less drastic so as not to cause disincentive. Sir, those who are in the so-called middle management bracket suffer most under the existing tax structure and are perhaps among the most frustrated group of people in Singapore today. As they advance in life, despite what appears to be a very attractive pay, in most cases after the tax boys have finished with them, their net take-home pay is reduced to such an extent that there is hardly enough left to save either for a house or for a rainy day. Some hon. Members: Hear, hear!

Sir, I will deal first with the Member for Anson. The income tax return forms fo the year of assessment 1974 were drafted and printed in the second half of 1973, when the regulation relating to relief for maintenance of aged parents was not ready. A supplementary form therefore has to be used for this year. The parent-relief requirement, however, will be incorporated in the income tax returns for future years. The tax relief for maintenance of gardens is not an exemption, but a concession by way of remission and is subject to approval from year to year. Besides, the claim form for garden relief has to be certified by an authorised person and tax-payers may not want others to know the details of their income when they go to this authorised person for his signature on the forms. So a separate form for claiming the garden relief is, therefore, necessary. 4.15 p.m. The format of the income tax return form has been made as simple as possible and most taxpayers have become quite familiar with it. Explanatory notes are also attached to the forms to assist taxpayers in filling up the forms. If any taxpayer still finds difficulty in filling up the forms, he can contact the Income Tax Department which is always ready to give information and assistance. There is no record kept of forms incorrectly filled up so that I cannot answer the Member's question. But I am told that, judging from experience, the majority of forms received have been correctly completed. As regards giving increasing personal reliefs, I have already explained in detail in my answers to the Member for Paya Lebar and other Members, and I do not think I have anything else to add to what I have already stated. The Member for Delta did not think very much of the relief for keeping gardens and thought perhaps it should be eliminated because the relief is not of general application. Instead, he wanted relief for blood donation in the same way as relief for charitable contributions. I only wish blood donors were of such great numbers to be of significance that this principle of relief, being of general application, can also be applied to relief for blood donation. I think our blood donors are so generous that they do not mind forgoing this slight relief. As for the Member for Jalan Kayu, he made the point that the salaried earners should be differentiated from people who receive their income from property and other sources. There is already this differentiation in the earned income relief, although I admit that the incomes from profits, which are also earned, fall within this relief. I do not see how we can really distinguish them and why should there be any distinction between a salaried income worker and a man who by his own effort makes a profit on his business. I agree with him that perhaps the middle income group feel the burden of income tax most because as they go up the scale, the rates for income tax, being progressive, become higher and higher and, therefore, they feel that it is very burdensome to have to pay income tax. Perhaps they can live in the hope that when they go to the top bracket there will be no further progressive taxation beyond that.

Sir, what I am trying to point out is that there are certain inequities. With the businessmen there are all sorts of loopholes in the law through which they can get away, and yet their own personal income is subjected to the same rate of tax as a salaried person. It is very easy to differentiate an employed person from a non-employed person. There are people who, because of wealth handed down to them, just sit back and collect rents, and for their entire life need never sweat for their income and yet they are taxed at the same rate as you and I, in fact, the whole lot of MPs here. Is that social justice? This is the point I am trying to make. It is not difficult to differentiate them because there is the CPF which keeps statistics. All employees have got CPF numbers. I do not see why we cannot differentiate them through these numbers if they are employed. But towkays do not have numbers!

Mr Speaker, Sir, when the Minister said that the income tax forms were simple and that all of us know how to fill them in, I am sure he did not mean it. I have been filling in these forms. Those who can afford it, that is, the large business firms, which the Member for Jalan Kayu was talking about, have accountants and many other agents who not only fill the income tax forms for them but also help them to fill in in such a way that they get the most rebates. But for people like us who have to fill in ourselves, the tax form becomes more and more complicated as the years go by. The Income Tax Department now wants us not only to fill in what we have earned but it wants us to tell them how much they should collect from us. I do not mind doing this work for them, but it is so complicated that I cannot do it. For the past many years, as the Minister has said, I have faithfully gone to the Income Tax Department requesting them to help me fill in these forms. It is being done. But as the years go by I find that previously where we had to wait for perhaps half an hour, we now have to wait for one hour, and the crowd there is becoming unmanageable. I think there is a need for a simplification of this form. In spite of the explanatory notes, if we read them we become even more confused. I think it would not be really too difficult to design a much simpler form, and this is a matter which the Inland Revenue Department should pursue.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I think it is a well-known fact that a good number of hawkers in Singapore are making good profits. In fact, a good number of them own houses, motor cars, and properties. I understand that some of them are also partners in finance companies. In view of this, I would urge the Minister for Finance to look into this matter. It is not fair that workers are required to reveal their income to the Income Tax Department, on which they have to pay income tax, while a good number of hawkers who are making good profits - some of them are earning more than executives, professional people or even MPs - do not have to do so. Perhaps the Minister will look into it to ensure that they do contribute their share of tax.

Why compare them with us?

Mr Speaker, Sir, in the case of blood donors, what I advocated was a matter of principle. It is not a question of the blood donors being generous. It is a matter of principle. Since we allow charitable contributions to be deducted from income for tax purposes, we might as well allow blood donors some sort of tax relief. As far as the garden relief is concerned, this tax policy benefits only a small minority of the population.

Mr Speaker, Sir, with regard to the Member for Jalan Kayu's comments - he is not here now, but perhaps I can still answer them. He said that there were loopholes which were taken advantage of by people who were non-salaried, such as towkays and so on. May I assure him that these loopholes are being looked into all the time. Some Members have even commented that we have recognised the value of the contributions which the Income Tax staff have made towards closing the loopholes and punishing those found to have taken undue advantage of these loopholes, assuming they were not legal loopholes. The Member for Telok Blangah has complained about the income tax forms and the additional amount of time it requires to fill in these forms even with the assistance of the Inland Revenue Department. Perhaps he may console himself to be in good company with people like Dr Albert Einstein who could not fill up his income tax form correctly. But there is also a very simple explanation as to why it now takes longer for him to fill his forms, and this may be that his income is getting more complicated! The Member for Bukit Ho Swee suggested that we should tax the hawkers. I do not want to make a general investigation, but I would be quite prepared to consider an investigation into certain hawkers who are making more than professional people only if I could be supplied with a list by Members of all such hawkers in their respective constituencies. I would be happy to do it. The Member for Delta has pressed again for tax relief for blood donors. If he is serious, perhaps he can send me a memorandum, as I have suggested, giving the reasons why they should be given tax relief, whether they really want to take advantage of a fairly small relief, and at what rate we should compensate these blood donors for their blood. The general principle which the hospitals have assumed is that blood donation is not something which should be paid for. In fact, in certain countries I believe payment is made for blood donations, and this is more direct. But he is suggesting an indirect method, and perhaps the principle of no payment for a donation is a good one which I commend for his consideration.

Mr Speaker, Sir, one unique feature of this current Budget session seems to be that Members of Parliament have been assigned to do so many jobs that very soon we do not need the Civil Service.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I think we are giving too much work to the Minister for Finance. However, regarding the income tax forms, why could there not be two types of forms, one for the workers and the other for businessmen? It is better this way. The businessmen will have to declare everything in their income tax forms, while the workers need fill only their earned income and how much they spend. That is all. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Haji Mohd. Ariff Bin Suradi: (2) That the sum to be allocated for Head OG be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CA 1111.

(In Malay): I am not moving, Sir. The sum of $9,847,500 for Head OG ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $543,000 for Head OG ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

I think it will be a good idea to have a break at this stage before moving on to the debate on the next Ministry which will be a long one. Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

I suspend the Sitting now and shall take the Chair again at 5.00 p.m. Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.30 p.m. until 5.00 p.m. Sitting resumed at 5.00 p.m.

Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

Head PA --

(In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head PA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AA 1004*. (*The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs Sia Khoon Seong, P. Govindaswamy, Ho Kah Leong, Ch'ng Jit Koon and Lai Tha Chai.) Sir, sometime this year there was a report in the newspaper that two Government aided schools had merged into one. This newspaper report made me feel that the Government should go a step further by taking full responsibility for the improvement of accommodation and facilities of aided schools. Consideration should also be given to the absorption of aided school teachers into the public service. This will break the psychological barrier between Government teachers and non-Government teachers. This is important because Singapore depends on its manpower resources for its development and survival. Sir, in educational circles, it is quite common for Government teachers to have a superiority complex over non- Government teachers. As a result, some good teachers from the Government aided schools rush to apply for transfer or absorption into the Government education service in order to raise their status and reputation. As a matter of fact, it will not be much of a problem or difficulty to absorb Government aided school teachers into the public service because for the past 20 years the Government has been paying the salaries of the aided school teachers and expenses of aided schools, including CPF contributions. So it is just a matter of procedure to absorb aided school teachers into the public service. Sir, with the increased expenditure on aided schools, I feel that the Government should also have a greater control over aided schools. I believe that the Board of Governors of the aided schools will be only too happy to agree to this move. Furthermore, education is an important life-line in the survival of a country, and it should by right be the overall responsibility of the Ministry of Education. Only in this way can the development and reform of education be possible on a comprehensive basis. Sir, the request of aided school teachers for medical benefits after their retirement should also be considered.

Mr Sia Khoon Seong.

Sir, I am not speaking at this stage.

Mr P. Govindaswamy, are you not speaking too?

Sir, with the implementation of the 43 per cent-exposure to second language this year, a great number of teachers particularly in the English stream have become redundant. If this is so, I wonder why secondary schools still have a great shortage of qualified teachers. At one time it was reported that there was an excess of 400 teachers in the English stream, and yet a good number of relief teachers are still seen manning full classes in secondary schools. What steps is the Education Ministry taking to correct this anomaly? The Minister has said that the problem of mass transfer of teachers has been resolved. Can he elaborate on it? Promotions were supposed to be a regular annual exercise. Nothing has so far been done about this. Why? In the last Budget session the Minister remarked that the promotion exercise for teachers would be an annual exercise. For the first exercise, applications were called for in 1972 and promotions took place in 1973. But since then there has been no news. Has the heart-breaking exercise introduced at the beginning died a natural death? What steps have been taken to correct the many errors made in the first exercise? If there is another exercise, the Ministry must make sure that some of the principals do not bungle up things this time. What steps is the Ministry of Education taking to make sure that there is an increasing rapport between principals and teachers? How many teachers are drawing salaries in excess of their principals and senior teachers? Why and how does this situation arise? Should not something be done to correct this anomaly so that teachers with much more salaries than principals and senior teachers be made to hold similar positions? This is only logical. Would such principals and senior teachers treat these other teachers with respect and decorum? Sir, I believe in 1969 the Primary Pilot Project was put on trial in certain primary schools by the Minister. This project has now been extended to many other schools. I wonder whether this project is a successful one. Though the specialists say it is successful, I understand that many teachers sincerely say it is not so, because the project is still on trial and that the implementation of bilingualism clashes with this project. Furthermore, the children take a long time to complete the syllabus and they do not have any written examinations. So later when they reach a higher primary level where they have to take written examinations, they will find it difficult to pass due to lack of training. Can the Minister comment and enlighten me on this subject? Every year when primary school pupils leave for entry into secondary schools they are given a choice of two schools. Does the Ministry make it compulsory for the pupils to go to schools nearest their home? If not, why is this not so? The pupils can save a lot of money and time if they do not have to go to schools far away from their homes. This will also ensure that secondary schools receive the same number of quality pupils. At present many pupils with good results land in the so-called good schools. The rest, especially those who pass after two or three attempts, are sent to some other mediocre schools. This is totally unfair to the schools that receive the poorer quality of pupils. Not only do the teachers find it frustrating to teach them, but the pupils too do not have the sense of esprit de corps with the school for they too know what category they belong to. Further, sending pupils to schools nearest their home will eliminate traffic congestion during school days. I am sure the Minister will agree with me that this "class distinction" among schools should be done away with and should not be encouraged in Singapore. Singapore has experienced another laboratory blast in a secondary school. Could these blasts and unnecessary injuries have been avoided if proper precautions had been taken? What steps are being taken in science laboratories to ensure that this sort of incident is not repeated? What steps are being taken in schools to conduct fire drills? Are there sufficient provisions of fire hydrants and fire hoses to fight fires in schools? Sir, sometime ago it was reported in the press that some secondary schools had accumulated funds to the tune of $100,000-plus. There may be many more secondary schools accumulating amounts close to the $100,000 figure. The miscellaneous fees have been collected from pupils and these contributions are supposed to be used for their benefit. But there are schools where such funds are not released by the principals to purchase items sorely needed for pupils' use. The worst case I have come across is the use of funds for the purchase of art materials. Many of the schools cannot be bothered about art. As such they see no need to spend these funds on the purchase of materials for the teaching of art. In fact, in one secondary school the principal allocated a miserable sum of $25 for art per term. This is a ridiculous state of affairs in our schools. Certain schools have beautiful art rooms built at great cost, and yet some principals refuse to allocate sufficient funds for the efficient teaching of this important subject. This is really a sorry state of affairs. I have quoted only one example. Funds meant for sports facilities are not used, and so also for science. Thus we see why these schools have inflated bank accounts. To make matters worse, I believe the financial section of the Ministry dictates the amount a school may spend per month. For example, a school with 2,000 pupils may collect $6,000 per month, yet it is not allowed to spend more than $4,000 per month from the miscellaneous fees account. A saving of $2,000 lies in the bank only to collect interest, and serves no other purpose. Such cock-eyed policies must be done away forthwith. Let the money go back to the children. Sir, ETV lessons have not been very satisfactory. Standards have to be improved. One classroom lesson has far greater value than an ETV lesson. I would also like to know what is the programme of training teachers in the Institute of Education. It would appear that the Institute of Education is similar in nature to the former Teachers' Training College. What is the Minister's view on this? What measures are being taken by the Ministry in their regular inspection of schools to ensure that schools carry out education policies effectively? Some schools are rarely visited by anyone from the Ministry of Education, and these schools tend to wallow in anonymity. Some of the schools deep in the rural areas are never visited by any official from the Ministry for years. 5.15 p.m. In some schools, the teachers do not check the compositions written by the students. It is just like what is done in the University, they just give a lecture, and that is all. How can the students progress in this way? The teachers just give them notes, and that is all. Again, regarding the word "million". The last time I brought this matter up, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary said that it had been referred to the Ministry of Education. May I ask the Minister for Education whether instructions had been given to the Ministry of Culture about this? I know it is bad for me to talk about the word "million" again.

(In Mandarin): Sir, if you may recall, in 1973 the Ministry of Education increased the collection of miscellaneous fees by $1 per student. At the same time the Ministry of Education also announced that the teachers were to be paid the 9 per cent wage supplement. Putting these two facts together, people get the impression that the $1 increase is to pay for the 9 per cent wage increase. But the fact was disclosed a few days ago by the Minister for Finance in this House that the Ministry of Education had a large balance of some $7 million in the School Fund Account. So the cat is out of the bag. This increase of $1 in miscellaneous fees was made because of higher expenditure. But the Member for Anson has already pointed out that it is quite difficult to make use of the money in the School Fund Account. So I would like to ask whether it is because of the very strict regulation governing the appropriation of money from the School Fund Account or whether it is because of too much red tape. I entirely agree with the Member for Anson that since the fees are collected from the students, they should be used for the benefit of the students. I would like to take this opportunity to speak on school clerks. Although the school clerks draw the same salary as those in the public service, we must realise that the duties of the school clerk are more onerous because they have a lot of other duties to do. They have to answer telephone calls. They do typing work, printing, and a lot of other things. But their services are not properly recognised. They do not have division of labour like other clerks in the civil service. The allocation of school clerks is based on the number of students in each school. However big a school may be, one may only get two or three school clerks. In some small schools, there is none. In other schools they have to share the services of a school clerk. I feel that the school clerk plays a very important part in the running of a school because, like civil servants in the British system, they are so familiar with the rules and regulations that they know all these at their finger tips. So they are just like the head of a department. As they know all the rules and regulations, they can advise the principal on procedural matters. If the school clerk is efficient he will be a tremendous help to the school and to the principal. That being the case, we can see that he is a very important person. So his remuneration and service conditions should also be properly adjusted to benefit him. That will only be a reasonable gesture. After considerable negotiations with the Teachers' Union, the Ministry of Education has at last accepted the proposal that teachers with ten years' experience are to be recognised as trained teachers. This only shows that the Ministry of Education is amenable to public opinion. It also shows that the Teachers' Union has done the right thing. But there are few tens of graduates from some foreign universities who have been trained at the TTC for one or two years. They are not entitled to this benefit, and have not been given the salary of graduate teachers. Sir, since we want to raise the quality of teaching and solve our educational problems, we must give the teachers the proper remuneration and conducive working conditions. I feel that the foreign graduate teachers who have been trained in our TTC should be properly recognised and given the benefit of graduate teachers' pay as had been accorded to an earlier batch. Next, I would like to deal with the question of medical benefits for aided school teachers. This is only a recent innovation to enable aided school teachers to enjoy the same medical benefits as teachers in the Government schools. This, of course, is a very enlightened policy which we appreciate. But unfortunately when a Government aided school teacher retires, he has to surrender his medical benefit entitlement card. Sir, generally speaking, when a man gets older he becomes weaker and so requires more medical attention. But a Government aided school teacher will not be entitled to medical benefits after his retirement. So he has to rely on his meagre sum of money in the Central Provident Fund to pay for his medical expenses. This will cause him a lot of financial difficulties. Sir, a few days ago the Minister for Finance announced that pensioners would be given a special new Singapore Allowance because of the rising cost of living, but there is no corresponding increase in the CPF contributions for retired aided school teachers. So this proves that they require medical benefits even more. Our national policy is to build a fair and just society. We recognise that civil servants or Government school teachers do contribute to the society, but we cannot deny that aided school teachers also make the same contribution. We have done a great deal in the promotion of multi-racialism and multi-culturalism. We have also been actively promoting bilingualism in our educational system. This is praiseworthy. In pursuance of such a policy, I understand that this year the exposure time for second language in the various language streams has been increased. Because of this English school teachers who had taken an examination in second language are asked by the Ministry to teach that second language. Of course, administratively it may be quite right. But from the Education point of view a language teacher must not only know that language but he must also be proficient in that language. Otherwise he can only prepare one lesson ahead of the students, and that is not the right way of doing it, as the students will lose the benefits of proper teaching. I fully endorse the implementation of bilingual education, but I cannot agree to this method of teaching because such teachers took their second language examination some eight or ten years ago as a single subject and since then without further brushing up the language they might have now forgotten it. Whatever they may remember now is inadequate for teaching purposes. If there is, in fact, a shortage of second language teachers in English schools, I would like to urge that the Institute of Education should set up more classes to train such teachers and, if necessary, to borrow teachers from Chinese schools for this purpose. The retirement age of Chinese language teachers may even be extended by unifying the retirement age at 60, instead of some teachers retiring at 55 and some at 60 years. In this way, perhaps the problem of second language teachers can be solved. But whatever it is, Sir, it is not right to make use of teachers who happen just to have passed a second language as a single subject to teach that second language in the English schools. I would like to ask the Minister concerned whether he is aware that the second language textbooks have been changed frequently. In some schools, the student has bought the first Book I, but he is required to buy Book II of a different edition. This adds to the burden of parents in Singapore, particularly in the face of a rising cost of living.

Mr Ho, your time is up.

(In Mandarin): Sir, Singapore is a small island country with no natural resources. The only resource that we have is our limited manpower. In order to make full use of our manpower and to nurture every individual to be a useful citizen, the Government is allotting large sums of money every year for education. In the estimates for the coming financial year, the Government has greatly increased its allocation for this purpose. I am glad to note that the Government intends to build four new secondary schools and eight primary schools in the next two years. There are also plans to build 28 new primary schools and 26 secondary schools. In order to ensure and match the speedy and progressive development of our economy and industrialisation programme, the Government is paying great attention to the task of technical education and training. The Government has allocated large sums of money for the Industrial Training Board, the Singapore Polytechnic and the Ngee Ann Technical College. At the same time the Government has also increased the votes for industrial training abroad and industrial development scholarship schemes. With all these, we hope that the votes can be usefully spent to realise our intentions and that the industrial circles will also sincerely participate in the Government's efforts in providing the technical education needed for our economy, and in striving for the development of industrial groundwork and technological skills of our new country. From these we can see that the Government is paying much attention to the education of our people and is trying to help train our people to become skilled workers so that they may be able to contribute towards industrial development of our country. However, we know that there are many school students who, because of poor results in examinations, cannot pursue their studies and have become drop-outs. These youngsters have not reached the age for national service and they are too young to be suitably employed. So without anything to do at home they roam about in the streets, visiting the different places, going to shopping centres and coffee shops and mixing up with bad elements in anti-social activities. Thus, they become a social problem and increase the burden of our society. I would therefore suggest that the Government should try its best to arrange for these youngsters to be trained in some industrial training centres so that they can learn some kind of skill to enable them to earn a living and to contribute something to our society. Of course, there is a need to further improve the training facilities and contents in these centres. On the other hand, parents should also change their attitude and send their children to such centres for industrial training because in the long-term it would benefit them and the country as a whole. 5.30 p.m. Sir, a higher institution of learning is a very important link in the educational system of any country for the training of better personnel. Therefore, our college and university education should be in keeping with the needs and development of our country in order to educate more useful citizens to enable them to help build our country and contribute to our society. Nanyang University is one of our higher institutions of learning. It was built in the colonial days. At that time, the purpose was to provide higher education for Chinese middle school graduates in Singapore and Malaya and also to provide teachers for Chinese middle schools. However, today the situation is different. Singapore and Malaysia have become separate independent countries. In recent years, our Government has been trying its best to promote industrialisation and to modernise. In order to match our development and practical needs, our educational system has changed basically. The Government has been implementing the policy of bilingualism and technical education in all schools. The University of Singapore and the Singapore Polytechnic are also opening their doors to students from Chinese middle schools. Thus, Nanyang University is no longer the only institution of higher learning for Chinese school students. Nantah has also provided a large number of teachers It should adapt itself to the needs of our society. Otherwise Nantah would be wasting its resources and producing manpower that does not meet the requirements of our new society. So, suitable development of human resources should be the new mission of Nantah. Recognizing the value of Nantah, and in order to make Nantah an important link in our educational system, the Government has positively assisted in its development and has, in the short period of nine years since Singapore's independence, granted more than $27 million financing the recurrent expenditure of Nantah. During the period, donations from Singapore and Malaysia totalled only $5.05 million, almost 90 per cent of which came from supporters in Singapore. Sir, our two universities are important links in our educational system. Recent trends seem to indicate that in order to better develop our educational resources to train our limited manpower resources to meet the needs and development of our society and to provide university education for more people from various language streams, our two universities have taken several steps of co-operation between them. This is the turning point, and I hope that they will co-operate on the basis of quality and of mutual benefit, while at the same time preserving their individual characteristics and traditions. In order to enable the public to better understand the co-operation between the two universities, I would like to ask the Minister for Education a few questions. (1) About the Joint Admission Committee of the two universities, I would like to ask who are the members on the Committee and what are their functions and duties? Do they include the selection of new students for all the faculties in the two universities? (2) About the University Service Commission, what is the purpose of setting it up, and what are the objectives, functions and duties? Who are the members, and to whom is this Commission responsible? (3) About new salary scales and designations for teaching staff of Nantah, I would like to say that Nanyang University had adjusted the salaries and also the designations of its teaching staff in 1970. And it is going to do the same exercise again on par with the University of Singapore. I would like to know what is the standard or criterion for this exercise. Is it based on qualifications, experience or present salaries? How many people in Nantah will be made professors, assistant professors, senior lecturers and lecturers after this exercise? (4) Regarding Honours degree courses, will general degree graduates of the two universities, if qualified, be encouraged to continue their higher studies in the other University? If so, what will be the time needed for such purpose?

I am sorry, but your time is up, Mr Ch'ng.

(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, I read in today's newspaper about streaking in a certain area in Singapore. This reminds me of what the Minister for Finance referred to in his Budget Statement about birds of passage. I also heard the Deputy Prime Minister answering the Member for Sembawang in this House that it would be very difficult to train our young men through national service to be loyal to our country. According to the Member for Kim Seng, these birds of passage will in the end leave here and settle abroad. So this has caused me to think of a reason for all this, and I have found out that it is all due to education. Now I would like to tell you a little experience. About two weeks ago, I had occasion to visit our young intellectuals in our two universities. I found that those studying accountancy or medicine in these universities are imbued with the sense that if they had the opportunity to go abroad, they would certainly do so, and leave behind their parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends to live like foreigners and to die as "foreign devils" in foreign lands. Why is this so? I learned from my conversations with them that they think that in a developing multi-racial country like ours, the languages are too complicated, thoughts are too diversified, and there is intense struggle and strenuous work. Life is therefore very monotonous. On the other hand, they felt that if they were abroad, they could enjoy better pay and a better life - they would have shorter hours of work, and they could have a longer vacation - so that with whatever knowledge and experience they have acquired they could roam the four corners of the earth as and when they please. If the elder folks passively criticise these youngsters who are bred here, they would be shirking their responsibility. Therefore, I hope that from now on the Ministry of Education would, in addition to the usual administrative work, go a step further to strengthen the leadership that guides the thoughts and ideology prevailing in educational circles. Of course, this will affect the career of thousands of teachers. Our teachers today, as we know, are enjoying a more stable and better environment for teaching. They received better training in their profession, and are enjoying a better material life. On the other hand, the younger generation today, who are now taught by these teachers, are wiser than the previous generation. Of course, the difference is that their learning is more advanced, more burdensome and arduous, because we have progressed. We are now stressing the importance of nurturing talents and not the simple education of a people to be useful workers, which was a system we inherited from the previous era. Therefore, our education should now be a positive one, aiming at leadership training, and not one of passive education. So all this will have to be the new burden of our teachers in the new era. Of course, in educational circles there are many teachers who are very faithful and hardworking; during the day they are busy teaching; during the night they are busy correcting homework, and during vacation or on free days they are busy going round bookshops to look for more teaching materials, or visiting students or taking students to factories and places of interest. All this dedicated educational service will influence our youth and bring up nation-builders. This kind of behaviour, compared with that of a small group of rotten and so-called educational workers, calls for our admiration and these faithful teachers deserve better treatment. About a year ago, the Minister for Education addressed an educational gathering. He said that there were certain black sheep among teachers and suggested the necessity of drafting a code of professional conduct for teachers. Subsequently he told the House that there would be another promotion exercise which would benefit many teachers. The Ministry should not give up its role of promoting ideological leadership in educational institutions. It should not ask another body to take charge of matters of ideological education, because to do so would give rise to the false impression that our Ministry is not playing an active leadership role in the sphere of education, as it would then be no more than a machinery for issuing circulars. For example, I agree with the Member for Jurong that hardworking and dedicated teachers should be rewarded. They should also be allowed to work with a sense of security. The Member for Paya Lebar also referred to the differences between Government schools and non-Government schools in respect of the administration and traditions and also differences between schools of different language streams. And if we just talk about the promotion of teachers without paying attention to the specific surroundings of the school, it will not contribute to the interest or advancement of education or of the teachers. It will lead to psychological barriers and a low morale among the teachers. I hope the Minister for Education would, in addition to paying more visits to the schools, play a more active role in the leadership of thought education so that the evil influence from the small group of black sheep will not spread to the other teachers. Thus, the integrity of the teachers may be preserved and the cause of education furthered. 5.45 p.m.

(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, as we all know, education is a very important link in nation building. The educational system is now being systematically and frequently changed and, as a result, the content of education is improving. This is important in our task of nation building. In recent years, the Ministry of Education has done a lot for education, such as increasing the teaching hours for technical training and consolidating the teaching of second language. All these are very good. I only like to raise a few questions about which all parents are very concerned and which they want the Minister to know. First, is the Minister aware that in the first few months after the opening of the new school year some primary school pupils were still short of textbooks? What is the reason? Is the Minister aware that these pupils who do not have textbooks would suffer a great setback in regard to their lessons? Is it not also a great loss to their parents and to education? Second, how many graduates from Nanyang University and the University of Singapore have joined the Institute of Education? And after graduation, how many will be sent to teach in middle schools? Third, has the Minister received complaints about textbooks and exercise books being too expensive? I myself have received complaints from parents that the prices of these books have increased 50 per cent or even more compared with those of last year, thus causing a greater burden to parents in the middle and lower income groups. Fourth, I would like to ask the Minister about the Industrial Training Board. Since its inception in April last year, how many students have completed their training? And after graduation have these students been recruited by the factories to do jobs for which they were trained? What was the treatment like? How many of the graduates have been employed? Fifth, since setting up of the Industrial Training Board, how many tutors have resigned, and why? Is it because their salary is lower than that offered in the private sector? If it is so, would the Minister consider adjusting their salaries so as to enable them to stay on? Sixth, I would like to ask the Minister whether he is aware that in various schools in the different language streams the flag raising ceremony, in which the students give their pledge, is not performed with solemnity so much so that when parents pass by such schools they feel very disappointed. Sir, in fact, this ceremony should be carried out in a serious atmosphere of solemnity and respect so that our students can be inculcated with a deep sense of loyalty and patriotism, while they are still young and impressionable. I think those are the only questions that I want to ask.

Mr Speaker, Sir, it was reported in the press that prices of school textbooks sold in certain book-shops were quite high. Moreover, at times students could not buy certain textbooks because they were not available. I understand that school principals have the right to select textbooks for use in their schools. In fact, certain schools change their textbooks from time to time. Sir, in order to stabilise or reduce the prices of school textbooks and to avoid the difficulty of getting certain textbooks, may I suggest to the Minister for Education for his consideration whether he would utilise $3 million out of the $7 million in the School Supplementary Fund to establish a School Textbook Co-operative for the bulk purchase of school textbooks and re-sale to the students. Perhaps this co-operative may also include buying cloth in bulk for school uniforms. This would definitely reduce the prices of textbooks and school uniforms. If this co-operative is to buy school textbooks and cloth for the students, then it should be called the School Textbook and Cloth Co-operative. I am sure all parents, teachers and students will give full support to this co-operative. I hope the Minister for Education will give his approval to establish this School Textbook and Cloth Co-operative as soon as possible.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not profess to know much about education, but I would just like to speak simply as a parent. Sir, for the past years the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, have been looking after the physical health of our school children very well and as parents we ought to be thankful. However, in our endeavours for qualitative development in education, the time has now come for us to pay closer attention to the mental health of our school children. Most parents who have young children at school are often aggrieved to find that some teachers -I emphasise some - at times demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of child psychology and would seem to make little or no attempt to assess the learning capacity, both physical and mental, of their pupils so much so that these poor children are often overloaded with work and all sorts of extra-curricular activities. Teaching methods also leave much to he desired. In an extreme example reported to me recently, a child was asked to write a word 2,000 times as a punishment just because he had copied it wrongly from the blackboard. It is this sort of attitude on the part of some teachers that causes many children to develop a dislike or fear of going to school even at an early stage. And it is one sure way of producing school dropouts who in time develop into social misfits. In 1971 we were told there were some 7,000 school drop-outs. This is a staggering figure. The 23rd March issue of the Straits Times carried a letter written by a mother, under the heading "Inquisitive pupils who fight shy of asking questions". In the concluding paragraph of a very touching letter she said, and I quote: `If children in schools do not feel free to discuss a problem or even query something they feel sure is wrong they are being treated not better than robots. Is this education?' In saying so, she has touched a soft chord in the heart of every parent with school-going children. Quite by coincidence, on the same day all the newspapers reported a speech by the Minister for Education on opening a Seminar on "Problem children and children with problems". In one part of his speech, the Minister stated and I quote: `We have upon our shoulders the sacred task of developing the qualitative aspect of our children.' In another part he said, and again I quote: `We bear the responsibility, jointly with our parents and the community at large,.'. Whilst I agree that, generally speaking, the responsibility should be a collective one amongst teachers, parents and the community at large, in the context of Singapore, I feel strongly that the brunt should be borne rather more heavily by the schools. I say this because I think in the area of parent/child relationship, we have a rather unique situation not found in many other countries. On account of the emphasis placed on equal opportunity in education, since our Party took over the reins of Government and as a result of the tremendous success of this policy, we now find in our midst a large number of illiterate or semi-literate parents with children going to schools at different levels, and because of the plural nature of our society we now find Chinese-educated parents with children going to English schools and vice-versa, or Tamil or Malay parents with children receiving English or even Chinese education. This has resulted in a situation where there are both a generation gap and a cultural gap between parents and children in Singapore. The opposing sets of value judgments often make it difficult for a proper dialogue between parents and children. This, to my mind, is one of the major contributory causes of serious misunderstanding or breakdown in communication between parents and children, and in extreme cases it leads the young to resort to anti-social and self-destructive activities either as a form of protest or simply because of the lack of proper guidance. The young need to be understood and be guided in their problems. I feel strongly that our teachers are not only better placed but better qualified in the context of our society to give such help as may be necessary or required by their pupils from time to time. In concluding, I can do no better than to quote from Mr Chan Kai Yau, the Deputy Director (Schools Division). He was reported to have said at the Seminar which was attended by the Minister, and I quote again: `Teachers should realise and put into effect this realisation that pupils were individuals, each of whom had a distinct and unique personality and required personal attention. When teachers take a personal interest in every child, they would have no difficulty in distinguishing the problem children, the children with problems and their problems, and hopefully had the solutions to these problems as well.' High sounding principles and lofty views are often to be heard at seminars expressed by the so-called experts, but only if words can be translated into action, the world would be a much happier place to live in. 6.00 p.m.

Sir, a few days ago the Minister for Communications distributed a chart to this House showing the distribution of the total transport trips on a 24-hour basis. A study of the chart shows the aggravation of peak-hour travel by school children. In most countries, there are only two peak periods. However, the mid-day peak seems to be peculiar to Singapore. In a speech made at a dinner held jointly by the Tiong Bahru and Henderson constituencies to celebrate the election victory on 14th October, 1972, the Prime Minister stated that it was desirable that primary school children should not travel to school beyond a two-mile limit and secondary school children should not travel beyond a four-mile limit. In view of this and the fact that there are more than half a million school children in Singapore, will the Minister for Education inform the House whether steps have been taken towards the implementation of such a scheme for school children to attend schools in their immediate neighbourhood, and to construct schools in areas where there are none, for such purposes? I would also like to know whether the Ministry of Education has given a directive to principals to assist parents in forming car pools. Sir, you will recall that the Minister for Communications has mentioned the success of this scheme in the Methodist Girls' School. This being the case, why cannot we ask the other schools to follow suit?

Mr Speaker, Sir, may I now have my say?

Yes.

Sir, I thought Members would rest satisfied with lashing their criticisms on the conduct of bus workers at this session of Parliament and spare the annual ritual of flogging the teachers in public in the current sessions of Parliament. But I was wrong, and I will humbly make an attempt to defend the teachers. I must thank the Member for Henderson who has understood the problems of teachers and is an eloquent champion of the cause of teachers. The Member for Anson, I must confess, has got a very efficient network of intelligence to enable him to find out what went wrong in the various Ministries. I think he found out about what went wrong with the Hawker Inspectorate, the Emergency Unit of the Ministry of Health, and also in schools where teachers did not mark the composition books. It could be true that there were one or two teachers who did not fulfil their duties. But one swallow does not make a summer. One teacher who did not do his work should not give the impression that the whole lot of teachers did not mark composition books. The system in force at present, with supervision by headmasters and inspectors, does not allow teachers by and large to get away scot-free if they do not mark the books. Teachers, at least the overwhelming majority of them, definitely have a conscience and a commitment to fulfil their obligations. Sir, I am also a little bit surprised at the very wild allegation made by the Member for Sembawang that flag raising ceremonies are not properly conducted. That would imply that principals and teachers are not conscious of the seriousness and the solemnity of such occasions. I wonder whether he had attended such ceremonies because, if he had not, then it is a rather wild allegation. In every day of the 200 school days a year, there has got to be a flag raising ceremony where thousands of young children pledge their loyalty to Singapore. Surely once in a while there could be moments when children become fidgety. But this does not mean that throughout the year the flag raising ceremony is not properly conducted. In any situation where human beings are involved, one cannot expect perfection. If, as the Member has said, he had witnessed a flag raising ceremony, it was probably done by chance. But there again it is rather too sweeping an instance for him to generalise. Sir, I share the sentiments of the Member for Jalan Kayu over his desire to attain desirable objectives in our context of a multi-racial society of generation gaps, of parents who desire to have nothing but the best in the educational pursuits of their children. I wish to tell him that there could be a few black sheep, but the vast majority are very conscious of the various desirable objectives that should be attained in the execution of their tasks as teachers, not only in the academic or educational field but more important still in the attainment of a national objective of building a truly Singaporean society, multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and Singapore-orientated society. This is being consciously carried out by the teachers. As regards mental health of school children, surely it is a very important aspect. I wish to tell the Member that the Singapore Teachers Union conducted a seminar in co-operation with the Singapore Mental Health Association, and we had various papers advising teachers on the pitfalls that they would meet if they did not handle the children carefully, and that they should be conscious of the importance of mental health of children. This has been disseminated to teachers without the Ministry doing anything about it. But we did it. I am not saying that the Ministry does not concern itself with such problems. It probably does. But it has got so many other matters to look into, that it probably gives top priority to some other things and less priority to others. But the point I want to put across is that teachers on their own, under the leadership of the various teachers unions, are consciously making attempts to fulfil their tasks as nation builders, as educators, and as people who fill in the gap as parents when the children are at school. This is seen to not only by the Singapore Teachers Union but also teachers unions led by my fellow colleagues in this House and other teachers unions. But then, with all the best intentions and with all the best efforts, when one carries out a task where human beings are involved, one cannot expect perfection. With all the best intentions and with all the best efforts of the educational authorities in England, in America, and in various other advanced countries in the West where considerable amount of care, attention and money have been spent on education, yet hippies, streakers and what have you hail from such countries. Is it because efforts were not made towards achieving desirable objectives in their educational system? I think nobody could say with conviction that these countries had never spent considerable time and energy, money and effort, towards attaining desirable educational objectives, and yet such things happen. That goes to prove that in the field of education every time an achievement is made, other problems arise. In Singapore, I think it must be understood that in the last decade or so we have attained very impressive objectives - we have brought about integration, bilingualism (and even multi-lingualism in some cases) patriotism, loyalty to the country. These are objectives which other countries took decades to attain. In Singapore, in one decade we have achieved them with a greater measure of success than many other countries. These are the achievements that do not appear in the press and are not publicised. These are the achievements that cannot be measured tangibly and are often forgotten. But the misdeeds of a few are often publicised. Therefore, the attention that is drawn to the misdeeds and to the failures is always highlighted more than the attention drawn to the successes that we have achieved. What I want to say, Mr Speaker, Sir, is that we must keep on correcting the faults of the few. We must make every effort towards improvement. We must make every effort towards qualitative development in our educational system, and we must never slacken in all these efforts.

Mr Sia, I think you have forgotten that you are entitled to 10 minutes only. Mr Sia Khoon Seong resumed his seat.

Sir, I did not say that all teachers do not do their work, but only some teachers in the schools.

(In Mandarin): Sir, I would like to correct what the Member for Moulmein said just now.

Mr Teong, do you want the Minister to answer?

(In Mandarin): Yes, Sir. Of course, I could not go to all the schools. But I have been to certain schools and I myself saw such incidents. I believe that the Member for Moulmein himself is not able to go round all the schools, and yet he believes that the flag raising ceremony conducted in all the schools is proper.

Sir, it suddenly occurred to me that one more seat in Parliament has been created for the Singapore Teachers Union.

Sir, first of all, may I thank the Member for Moulmein for his eloquent defence of the teaching profession, though not necessarily the Ministry of Education. With a Backbencher like him, perhaps the Minister for Education need not attend the Budget sessions.

6.14 p.m. Sir, various Members have in their speeches ranged through a vast area of interest. I will answer them according to the main subject matters. There were many questions on the conditions of service. The Member for Anson asked about promotions. I did say that promotions will be carried out regularly but not necessarily annually. It may be shorter than one year. It may be longer. But we propose to carry out one promotion exercise at the end of this year. The Member for Jurong raised the point about emplacement of holders of foreign degrees on the graduate-teachers' scale. This has been debated before in this House, and there have been prolonged negotiations between the unions and the Ministry. I am afraid the position still remains the same - each case will be considered on its own merit. As regards those teachers who have not been emplaced, they have to satisfy the various requirements before they can be emplaced on the graduate-teachers' scale. 6.15 p.m. The Member for Anson drew my attention to the fact that some teachers are drawing higher salaries than principals and senior teachers. I am afraid this is an inherent feature of the restructured education service. This matter has been thrashed out for 1~ years between the union officials, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance. This feature has been fully understood by all parties as a means to enable flexibility in the deployment of the teaching staff. The Member for Jurong raised the question of school clerks. As the Member may recall, I mentioned it on other occasions that we have invited the Management Services Unit to make a study of the work-load of clerks in schools. They will submit their report soon, and we hope to be able to make a decision on this. But I am afraid that a clerk is a clerk. He belongs to the General Clerical Service within the civil service, and we just cannot raise their salary unilaterally. The Member for Paya Lebar mentioned something which has far-reaching effects. Although he did not say it in so many words, but I think he wants to nationalise the entire education service. First of all, aided schools have their own traditions, and I do not think they like to be nationalised and become Government schools. Of course, we do not prevent any aided school from applying for conversion into a Government school, in which case whether or not their teachers will be absorbed into the Government service depends on their qualifications and whether they satisfy the necessary requirements. He also queried the difference in conditions of service between an aided school teacher and a Government school teacher. This is one of the topics that has been discussed year after year, and I would again have to repeat what I said before. Aided school teachers are aided school teachers. They have certain benefits which Government school teachers do not enjoy, as for example, CPF. When they resign or are dismissed, they still retain their CPF. A Government school teacher, however, on resignation or dismissal, loses all his pension. You cannot have the best of both worlds. I think this also applies to the question of medical benefits for the retired aided school teachers, which was raised by the Member for Jurong. Again, this is one question which I have answered before. The Member for Henderson raised the question on whether there should be a code of conduct for teachers. We have a code of conduct for trainee-teachers at the TTC. We believe in tackling the problem at source. I must admit I am rather touched by his rather poetical speech. We do agree that there must be some black-sheep among 20,000 teachers. We try to identify them. And for the good teachers, we must give them due recognition. No one disputes that. The Member for Jurong raised the question of deploying English school teachers to teach Chinese as a second language. I would like to correct his statement. These teachers volunteered, in their personal particulars form, the information that they were capable of teaching the second language. It is not just that they understand the second language, but that they are capable and have the confidence to teach the second language. So we deployed about 100 teachers for this purpose. Thirty of them changed their mind. They decided that they cannot teach in that language after all; we are making the necessary adjustments to see that the students do not suffer. The Member for Anson asked whether we could force children to go to a school in the vicinity of their houses. For various reasons, I am afraid we cannot. Fundamentally, they are entitled to a freedom of choice, and we cannot deny them. Secondly, to be very frank, we do not have enough schools in densely populated areas. As Members know, we are engaged on a very major school building programme, details of which have just been released a few days ago. When it is completed, we will be able to accommodate the wishes of parents to send their children to the school of their choice as near to their homes as possible. That answer, I believe, answers the question raised by the Member for Aljunied also. Both the Members for Anson and Jurong raised the question of miscellaneous fees. It is true that over the years large sums of school funds are accumulated. There are many schools with over $50,000 in their account. However, I would like to refer both Members to the Third Report of the Public Accounts Committee to this House presented on the 2nd of this month: `Your Committee observed that since 1968, expenditure has been on an annual average of 83.9 per cent of the total collections yearly. Your Committee appreciate that strict control appears to have been exercised by school principals and the Ministry of Education over expenditure.' There are many reasons for the unspent miscellaneous fees. First of all, there are certain principals who do not consider it prudent to spend every cent collected from miscellaneous fees. They consider it desirable to have a small balance to meet unforeseen expenditure which has to be met from such funds. Secondly, there are certain schools which deliberately make an effort to accumulate balances in order to meet expenses for special projects. For example, a school may want a gymnasium or a bitumen track which costs as much as $300,000. So he accumulates this sum by careful saving over the years, without depriving the students of current essential requirements. For projects in which the Ministry considers worthwhile and beneficial to the students, approval will be given. In fact, approval has been conveyed to a few schools for certain requests.

Point of clarification, Sir. In the absence of the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, I feel I am duty-bound to stand up and request the Minister to read the entire context of the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee, and not just quoting it out of context.

Sir, I was just coming to the third point, when I was interrupted. Perhaps if the Member had waited for two seconds, he could have saved a few minutes of our time. The third point I am going to mention is that the Schools Fund Regulations, as they stand now, have been too stringent in limiting the scope for which funds may be used and the freedom of principals to use them. We are revising these regulations. We are preparing a "Revised Schools Fund Manual" to enable principals to utilise their funds more freely in the interest of their pupils. Currently, the Ministry has also the following projects which are too large to be handled by schools individually. They have to be met from the miscellaneous fees collected. First of all, we intend to establish a number of centralised language laboratories to serve a cluster of schools, in line with our language policy. Secondly, we propose to construct and establish various centralised centres for ECA, which will include facilities such as swimming pools, where these facilities are not available. With all these projects in hand and with a greater flexibility and freedom given to school principals to utilise their funds, it is expected very soon that the collection of miscellaneous fees may not be sufficient to cover the expenditure spent on students on ECA. The miscellaneous fees may have to be increased again. Various points have been raised about textbooks. The Ministry of Education discourages too rapid a change of textbooks, and this is the declared policy; I would like to reiterate this policy. At the beginning of the year there was a shortage of textbooks. We were aware of it, but this applied only to a few titles. The position has since been rectified. Of course, in certain instances, it seemed to be a deliberate attempt to run down the Educational Publications Bureau by falsely reporting that books published by the EPB were not available, which is not true. It is true that certain textbooks have increased in price, especially those that are imported. But I have to point out that all textbooks published by the Educational Publications Bureau remain unchanged, and as long as it is feasible we will maintain it that way. There are various ways of reducing the burden on parents of the higher prices of textbooks. Co-operative is only one of the various ways. I am not quite sure whether it will be as successful as the Member for Bukit Ho Swee envisaged. All the institutions of higher learning have their co-operatives, and I believe some do not know what to do with them now. We are toying with the idea of encouraging a few secondary schools with large enrolments to set up a co-operative to buy books, set squares, teaching materials and so on. There are many ways to solve the problem. For example, instead of asking the bookshops to tender on the basis of commissions to be paid to the school, we can ask the bookshops to tender on the prices of books, and then allocate the bookstore which can sell books at the lowest prices to the pupils. The Member for Anson raised the question of fire precautions. We do carry out regular fire drills in schools to prevent any mishap. It has been very unfortunate that there has been an explosion in a certain secondary school recently. But accidents do happen. We have no intention to find a scapegoat or go witch-hunting. What we are trying to do is to ensure the safety of children. As a result of the explosion at the Anderson School, we have drawn up very comprehensive precautionary measures for schools to adopt. We are very pleased to say that had that not been done the recent explosion may have caused greater casualties. The Member also mentioned that certain schools had not been inspected for years. I am not aware of any such cases. As regards teachers who had not marked their class work or compositions, as pointed out by the Member for Moulmein, there may `have been a few cases but I do not think we can generalise. As regards assembly, the Member for Sembawang said that he had attended a few assemblies - I hope he himself stood still instead of moving around. Recently the Ministry sent a circular to all principals reminding them of the importance of the assembly and that it should be properly conducted. The Member for Aljunied mentioned about car pools, and the success of MGS. Although MGS appears to have solved the problem, I think the problem should not exist in the first instance. Not very many schools in Singapore have 1,000 cars converging at any one given time. It should not be so. We are trying to encourage those schools in the Central Business District to organise car pools. The Ministry is sending circulars asking principals to form car pools. 6.30 p.m. This is not always possible. For example, we do not expect rural schools to form car pools. The chart circulated by the Minister for Communications must be read in the correct perspective. It represents the total person trips per day throughout the country, not necessarily those going into the Central Business District where the traffic jam is worst. There are very few schools in the Central Business District, and the Ministry is planning to resite those schools within the Central Business District away from the City centre. The Member for Anson passed some comments on ETV. I think `he is wrong. Our ETV is quite good. In fact, I recall three years ago the Member for Punggol, raised a similar question in this House. He said that ETV should not spend too much time in winning prizes. Our ETV production is of a fairly high standard. The Ministry carries out regular surveys to see how frequent does a school use the facilities provided. I can assure the Member for Henderson that the Ministry is sparing no efforts in inculcating a sense of proper national values and patriotism among our school children. We appreciate the importance of doing this at the school level. He can be rest assured that the Ministry considers this as one of its top priorities, although I do not think his observations about the attitude of his friends in the two universities prevail, otherwise we would not have so many professional members in this Chamber. The Member for Anson also mentioned about the Tamil word for "million". I must apologise for not being in this Chamber when the answer was given by my colleague, the Minister for Culture. But as far as I am aware, the original version of the word "million" is being used in schools. Unfortunately, I am not at all conversant in that language, therefore I am in no position to comment on its use over TV. The Member for Paya Lebar asked about improvements to rural schools. My Minister of State had on some occasions urged that all rural schools close to each other should try to merge so as to provide better facilities and amenities for the students. This is the direction we are taking and we are trying to help rural schools to merge to provide better facilities for their pupils. I am very flattered that the Member for Jalan Kayu should quote from my speech. Since he has done so, I presume he must have read the rest of my speech and the deliberation at the seminar. So there is no need for me to reply to his question at all. Of course, he would have known that in my speech I also made references to an earlier speech I made four months ago regarding what we proposed to do in that area of social work. Therefore, I presume that answers his question. The Member for Tiong Bahru asked a series of questions on institutions of higher learning. Regarding the joint admission exercise, in the past the admission criteria of the two universities differed vastly. In order to have better academic interchange between the two universities, we decided to have a common admission criterion and procedure. Therefore, from this year onwards, there will be a common admission exercise for courses common to both universities. Obviously if one applies for admission into the Faculty of Medicine, there is no point in doing a joint exercise since Nanyang University does not have a medical faculty. The members on this committee are drawn from both universities, the Registrar and the Dean. I do not know the names of the members. He also asked for information on the university service commission, its functions and its terms of reference. As the Member is aware, the salary scales of the institutions of higher learning, particularly the universities, were revised recently. During the revisions, we made certain distinctions between professional and non-professional academic staff. For clear-cut cases, like the medical and legal professions, accountancy, and so on, there is no difficulty in appraising the respective lecturers and putting them on the proper scales. But the difficulty exists in the peripheral area. For example, should outstanding lecturers in Economics and Business Administration be emplaced on the professional scale? So the university service commission was appointed jointly by the councils of the two universities to consider these cases. The members are drawn from both universities as well as from the professions outside. He also raised the point about re-designations and asked how many professors, associate professors, etc., were left at Nantah. I am sorry I do not have the exact figures, but I believe that only a handful of substantive professors are left at the Nanyang University, and as a result Nanyang University has started a recruitment drive to fill these chairs. By the time we have a common admission criterion and the academic structure of the two universities harmonised, we can foresee a greater exchange of students between the two universities. Perhaps then we could see more students from one university taking Honours courses in the other university. But I think it is a bit premature at this stage to predict what would happen. The Member for Sembawang asked for information about how many graduates from the University of Singapore and the Nanyang University are being admitted into the Institute of Education. I am afraid I cannot supply him with the figures off-hand. He can file a Question and I will supply him with the details. Similarly, this also applies to his enquiry on the number of graduates being turned out by the ITB, how are they employed, how much they are earning, and how many staff have resigned. I am sorry I really do not have this sort of information now. I do not have a computer out here unfortunately. Sir, I hope I have answered most of the questions.

(In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister has not answered the complaint raised by the Member for Henderson. Since the complaint is also the subject of the next amendment, I will only beg leave to withdraw this amendment after the answer has been given. The Member for Henderson has said that there was a little act of bureaucracy on the part of officers in the Ministry of Education. This is, in fact, the true position, Sir. There are a number of principals who are unhappy over the arrogance of the senior officials of the Ministry of Education, but they do not have the courage to speak up against such arrogance or bureaucracy because, as the Member for Henderson has said, this affects their rice-bowl and, fearing victimisation, they have to eat the humble pie. But, Sir, because of my position, I have heard of such complaints from my colleagues in the course of my teaching duties. I would, therefore, like to have an answer in this House to the question of arrogance on the part of senior officials in the Ministry of Education. Sir, in 1971 the Ministry of Education announced new regulations for the recruitment of principals. Of course, I am not here to speak on the merits or demerits of the principals, but I want to say something with regard to the remarks passed by a senior official of the Ministry of Education at a certain meeting. This official more or less challenged the principals attending the meeting, saying that if they were not happy because they were not paid any charge allowance or post allowance they could give up their posts of principals and go back to teaching. If such arrogant words could be uttered by a senior official in the Ministry of Education, it is tantamount to compelling principals to rise in rebellion. But some principals among them had the guts to speak out against the senior official. One of them stood up and tendered his resignation. But instead he was requested to go back to school to become the principal again. Sir, from this incident, we can see that we must inculcate in the senior officials of the Ministry of Education the importance of courtesy and tact in dealing with principals, because if they want to be harsh or hard in dealing with principals, I think they would get a harder reaction from the principals. If they do not show courtesy and tact, the principals will gang up together and send a joint petition to the Minister, or even resign en bloc. In fact, it has happened; a principal tendered his resignation there and then at the meeting. How much embarrassment was caused to the senior official at that meeting? So, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like the Minister to look into the attitude and public behaviour of senior officials in the Ministry of Education, particularly in their dealings with principals. After all, they are all part and parcel of the entire educational system. There should be proper communication and harmony between officials in the Ministry and principals in the schools. They should not employ high-handed measures and adopt a bureaucratic attitude towards principals in the schools. Sir, I have raised this matter because, although it was brought up by the Member for Henderson, it was not answered. Therefore, I would like to have a definite answer from the Minister concerned.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, actually I did not speak strongly against the administrative staff of the Ministry of Education. What I emphasised was that the Minister himself and key men in the Education Ministry should think out how best to improve `the education of our younger generation. What I want to point out -it is theoretical but an important point - is that many Members of Parliament sitting behind me had said that a small group of teachers had not been doing their jobs properly. As a matter of fact, I do not know what the Minister's view was on hearing that teachers go to the stock exchange every day after school hours to speculate on shares, or telephone the stock brokers for news on stocks and shares. I do not know. A few years ago, the ex-Minister for Education mentioned that a teacher should not go to night-clubs in Singapore or in Johore Bahru. I do not know what the Minister's view is on whether or not teachers can be allowed to go to such places. My view is that if a teacher is good - the majority of them are good teachers - he will not have the time to go to such places. As a matter of fact, the majority of good teachers in Singapore are trying their best to do something for our younger generation. But as far as the small group of teachers is concerned, as the Member for Moulmein has pointed out, the Minister for Education or his officials should try to find out ways and means to correct them. The Minister should not just say that the Ministry of Education is trying to do its best to help these teachers. Surely they are doing very well. But what I am saying is that they should do better. They should not think that because they are doing well they can sit down and enjoy life. The Member for Paya Lebar might say, "Well, you see some key officials in the Ministry of Education will try to play ball". He might say that; I do not know. 6.45 p.m. To come back to my point which the Minister did not answer properly. I am quite sure he would go round quietly to all the schools in all the language streams from the primary schools to the secondary schools and then to the universities, to check on what I had said earlier. The Member for Anson has also mentioned that point. The Minister should find out what is the real situation that the Ministry is facing today. He may then have to take another year to find a new solution to help nation building!

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister was so flattered merely because I had quoted him that he has missed the wood for the trees. I made a few critical remarks and I share the sentiments of the Member who has just spoken before me. One point I made was, and it was reported during the course of the seminar, that in 1971 there were 7,000 school drop-outs. Why do we have these 7,000 school drop-outs? What is the Ministry doing to find out what is the cause of the large number of drop-outs? I also talked about emphasis on the mental health of our school children. The Minister sought to evade the issue. There was not a word on my reference to his speeches which he had made. He seems to be so pleased with his speeches. We want more specific answers in this House. What is he going to do about it? And as the Member for Henderson has just said, "He should not just say, `Just refer to my speech.'" But if he had listened to me carefully, he would have noted the remark: how often were his speeches made at seminars subsequently taken up seriously by the Ministry concerned?

Sir, on a point of order. This amendment (1) has been under discussion since 5 o'clock. It is now going on for 7 o'clock. If every Member who sends in an amendment is allowed to speak twice, or three times, at ten minutes a time, what is going to happen to the later amendments that have been submitted? I think a little judicial recommendation should be given.

Yes. So far, the debate has been on general policy, and it is within the bounds of Standing Orders for Members to speak. But I would ask Members to exercise some control so that those Members who have moved other amendments would have a chance to speak.

(In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not intend to participate in the argument. But the Minister has not answered certain points which I have raised earlier on. I would like to ask him again: what was the criterion used for the conversion into the new salary scales for the academic staff in the Nanyang University? Was it based on their academic qualifications and teaching experience, or was it based on the salaries that the staff concerned are currently drawing? The Minister also said that after the conversion the number of professors in the Nanyang University would drop and that new professors would have to be appointed or recruited. My question is, among the present professors in the Nanyang University, I think most of them, if not all, have the required qualifications and experience, otherwise they would not have been allowed to teach in Nantah. In the circumstances, will they be allowed to continue holding the posts of professors?

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I just want to make an observation on the teachers. I feel that the Ministry of Education has got to review the holiday scheme for the schools. I for one cannot blame the teachers for going to the Stock Exchange or anywhere else. It is because the holidays that are given to them are too long and it looks as if they are forced to take them. In one year there are four school terms with holidays in between. In March there is one week's holiday, in June, three weeks, and then in September, one week, and then the school year ends up with five weeks' holiday. So there is the problem of unproductive days. I think this is the problem that we have got to face. We are all humans. When we have got nothing to do, we would be looking for something to do. This is the problem, and there is no joke about that. I think this is a very valid point. Most of our very good teachers thought that they are forced to take a holiday.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, could I, with your permission, speak now as I have moved an amendment* under Head PA, in respect of the Main Estimates? * The amendment reads as follows: (5) That the total sum to be allocated for Head PA in respect of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100.

I would suggest that the Member might as well wait until the debate under the present amendment is over.

Sir, at the rate this debate is going on, I would not have a chance.

We still have an hour to go. Will the Member please wait?

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, to a certain extent I agree with the Member for Changi that the year-end holidays are too long. I do not think there are that many teachers who go to the Stock Exchange. Members will recall that the Ministry has shortened the year-end vacation. We have tried to spread them out evenly throughout the year. But unfortunately we are handicapped by certain restraints, for example, lack of physical facilities to conduct the PSLE and the GCE examinations. When physical facilities are available to conduct these examinations separately, without having to interrupt the schools' functions, we should be able to spread the holidays out more evenly. I am sorry that I have forgotten to reply to the Member for Tiong Bahru about the conversion. The conversion is based on the existing salaries. There is a conversion table and we convert according to the salaries, because qualifications and experience and other considerations must have been taken into account on first appointment. Of course, there is nothing to prevent the existing staff from applying for higher posts. I believe they have done so and will continue to do so. The Member for Jalan Kayu said that I was rather pleased with my own speech. I am not. It so happened that in my speech I mentioned the measures that we were going to take to enlarge the social work unit and to prepare the teachers to cope with the different conditions. I did make reference earlier to the heavy load on the students. That is precisely why we introduce the PPP, the Primary Pilot Project. The whole project is so constructed that it gives the children the minimum amount of homework to do. The Member also mentioned about the 7,000 school drop-outs. What do we mean by "drop-out"? I think the figure of 7,000 which he referred to was the figure given in 1971 by a certain local English paper. It was a very well written article but completed with the wrong headline. I think this article referred to those who twice failed their Primary School Leaving Examination and were asked to leave school. As he may be aware, the Adult Education Board is carrying out a very good programme known as the Pre-Vocational Class (PVC) to train these pupils of 14 to 15 years for a vocation. At present, about a few thousand of them are in these centres under training by the Adult Education Board to prepare them for specific vocations. The courses range from construction trade to welding, spraying of motor cars, and all sorts of other trades. I can assure the Member for Henderson that the Ministry of Education never rests on its laurels. We are never satisfied with what we have achieved. We always try to aim at a better and a higher target. That is what we will do, and will do it again.

Next year?

Even next year, we will still aim at a higher target even if we have achieved what we had set out to do. He can be rest assured of that. The Member for Paya Lebar referred to a certain incident. I was familiar with this incident because the union saw me on this. I think we must look at this problem in its true perspective. The senior official made the remark that if the principals were not prepared to carry out their jobs they could step down as school principals; nothing prevented them from doing so and they would lose nothing. I believe the long meeting with a large group of school principals had exasperated him. In fact, this particular officer had proved to be one of the most polite and the least aggressive of all officers. It was most unfortunate that this happened. An hon. Member: Please do not defend him.

I am not exactly defending this officer, but I just happened to know of this particular incident. I had attended, similar meetings before. If those who attended the meeting asked the same question 200 times and we explained 200 times, and if they still asked for the 20 1st time, then who would not feel exasperated?

Sir, may I make a small clarification?

May I suggest that we stop the debate on this Head now? Does the Member want to clarify?

Yes.

All right.

The Minister seems to think that I quoted the figure of 7,000 school drop-outs from some paper in 1971. I did not. It is a figure quoted by his own officer who participated in the seminar recently.

I do not know which article he referred to. There were a few articles on the question of dropouts. As I said, the question of drop-out is a question of definition. If by "dropouts" we refer to those students who leave the primary school as a result of failing the PSLE, then that is what we have done.

Sir, I still think the Minister has not answered the point. I have suggested that the Ministry should try to find out. He himself has said that they do not know what is the definition of a "drop-out". That means that they have not done anything to find out what is the cause of the drop-outs. 7.00 p.m.

Sir, it is not that I do not understand. The definition of "drop-out" varies. It depends on how one looks at it. If by leaving school, one means a drop-out, then there are lots of people who are drop-outs.

(In Mandarin): Sir, in spite of the Minister's praise of the senior officer that I referred to, I am not here to praise him.

Mr Tay, will you stop the debate now and either withdraw or do not do so? If you do not withdraw, then I will put it to a vote.

(In Mandarin): Yes, Sir. Although I am not satisfied with the Minister's reply, I am forced to withdraw my amendment because of lack of time. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

(In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head PA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AB 1105. Sir, as I am aware that Backbenchers are not allowed to speak for more than 10 minutes on an amendment, I have therefore reserved this item to enable me to continue with what I could not finish just now. The Member for Paya Lebar referred to an incident of an act of bureaucracy on the part of a senior official. I am in sympathy with what he said. I feel that there is a lack of rapport between officials in the Ministry of Education and principals and teachers in the schools. In fact, the gap between them is widening. I remember a few days ago the Minister for Education addressed a gathering of some 25 principals in which he said that the gap between the Ministry of Education and the schools should be narrowed. This is proper and is an urgent matter to be tackled. Sir, there are some traditional reasons and causes for principals and teachers of school to be afraid of Inspectors of Schools because, in the past, the Inspectors went to the schools and threw their weight around, thinking that they had all the power in the world to control the schools, the principals and the teachers. And they wielded the power in order to satisfy their own ego. Sir, Inspectors of Schools are given such a name because we hope that they would be able to help the teachers in their duties, instead of throwing their weight around, and threatening school teachers and principals with their power. Henceforth I hope that when Inspectors of Schools visit the schools, they would go about in a more friendly manner, with sincerity, in order to help bridge the gap between them and the teachers and principals. Sir, in reply to my query the Minister said that there will be another promotion exercise this year. This, of course, is good news for the teaching profession. According to my understanding, in the early days when the teachers' unions were negotiating with the Ministry of Education, there were certain criteria for promotions, i.e, in addition to the confidential reports put up by the school principals, the additional qualifications and the social work done by the teachers were also factors to be considered for promotions. I think I mentioned all this at the last sitting of Parliament, and I hope that the Ministry of Education will look into this matter and take these matters into consideration in the second promotion exercise to be conducted this year. Sir, the Pre-University classes in the Chinese stream have just started their lessons. According to my reckoning, it appears that the opening of these classes at Pre-U level has been rather belated and the number of students has dwindled. In some schools, only one class has been set up instead of two. Sir, before opening I think comprehensive arrangements had been made for the provision of activities and other facilities in the school for the whole year. But after the opening, there has been a sudden change in respect of the Pre-U classes. This will cause great difficulties to the schools and also to those students who have enrolled for these Pre-U classes. What arrangements are being made to look after the interest of these students who have enrolled but who have no classes to attend? Sir, the next point I wish to raise is the question of post allowance or charge allowance for principals. Teachers seem to be losing interest in applying for the post of principals because of the additional duties and the greater responsibility and burden entrusted on principals. This is probably because of the abolition of the system of paying post or charge allowances. Of course, I agree that teachers or those in the teaching profession should not quibble too much about dollars and cents. But teachers are also human beings and so they will also think for themselves. The principals have more work, more responsibilities and longer hours of work. They have even got to be school clerks sometimes or take over classes when necessary. During school vacations principals still have to go back to the schools to do whatever there is to be done. In those circumstances, who will be interested in the post of principals or in becoming principals for that matter? This particular problem is of great interest to us because in some cases teachers are promoted to a salary scale higher than that of principals. In such a situation, how do we expect the principals to be able to supervise the work of the teachers, particularly in schools where teachers work to rule, so to speak? Sir, I ask for the restoration of the payment of post or charge allowance for principals.

Since the Member moving the amendment has touched on the functions performed by the Director of Education, maybe Members who have, in fact, sent in amendments in regard to subhead AC 1105 could also speak now and need not then move the amendment to that subhead so as to save time. Mr Tay, you might wish to speak.

(In Mandarin): Sir, just now I said that I wanted a little more time so that I could complete what I wanted to say.

Yes, you have 10 minutes now.

(In Mandarin): That is enough time for me to complete my speech. Just now the Minister said that the senior officer had behaved in such a manner as I have described was because in pursuing his routine work he was harassed by work that he had misbehaved, and by a slip of the tongue he had made such a remark. But there is a Chinese saying that if you are humble enough, you will not bring about such a situation. In other words, the saying means something like this. He who holds a high post and is not arrogant will stay on the high post without the danger of falling down, and complacency invites harm while humility begets benefit. Our Ministry of Education has always adopted the same attitude in dealing with matters. In 1963, when the Prime Minister "slipped into the drain" because of Opposition members, he was still smiling. So we should be humble in facing all questions and dealing with all matters. I am only trying to say that in future our senior officers should try to be humble so that their prospects would be bright. If they could adopt such a humble attitude, this will benefit them greatly in their own future and will also benefit education in Singapore.

Thank you very much, Sir,I never thought my time would be coming. Let me touch on a slightly different theme from the problem of teachers. I want to talk about exposure to second language. Sir, I have no quarrel with the Government's policy on second language. But my criticism is on the manner in which our second language policy is being implemented. I agree that the additional exposure to second language, thus almost equalising the exposure time for the first and second languages, is still new and I believe there will be teething troubles. How are these teething troubles attended to? Sir, only time can tell whether the results of such exposure hours mean that students will leave school competent in both languages. Or is the first language going to suffer as a result of the lack of time? Would we have our future citizens fluent in two languages, or fluent in neither? Strict adherence to the quota of teachers posted to schools does not allow for the proper implementation of the policy. The magic formula of the Ministry of "x times y upon z" applied to all schools does not really provide the schools with sufficient teachers competent in the first and second languages to implement the policy. The quota of teachers must necessarily differ from a purely English school to that of an integrated school. And here too the quota will have to be different from school to school depending on the number of second languages the school is offering. 7.15 p.m. Quite rightly, the Ministry has allowed principals of schools some flexibility in arranging their time-tables. Even with these flexibilities, principals and senior teachers responsible for arranging the time-tables find it difficult to implement the second language exposure time properly. In fact, there are schools where, even in lower primary classes, in order to allow for a sufficient number of periods to be taught in the two languages as advocated by the Ministry, the time-table can only be arranged in such a way as to expose a class sometimes to up to five teachers per day. Can you imagine, Sir, five different teachers going to a lower primary class to teach the tiny tots in one day? Certain subjects, for instance, Arithmetic and English, are taught by two or three different teachers in the same class. Sir, you need not be an educationist to know that this should not be done. I wonder if the Ministry of Education is aware of this state of affairs. Is the Hon. Minister aware that certain classes in some primary schools are jokingly named "international classes"? In these "international classes" normally the second language teacher is the Form Teacher who hops from class to class, and the first language teachers breeze in and breeze out. Teachers who are concerned about this state of affairs describe them as chaotic and say that pandemonium prevails in such classes. Teachers do not know the pupils and the pupils are bewildered by the number of teachers. I was pleased to hear from the Minister recently that the inspectorate is to he decentralised. Will the inspectors, after decentralisation, assist schools in getting a sufficient number of required teachers so that the time-tables can be properly arranged? Another area that needs looking into is the question of tuckshops in the schools. Sir, in these days of rising cost of living we ought to see that the shrinking dollar is stretched to the maximum. One area where the Ministry can help is to review the tuckshop rentals so that the meals and drinks sold at the tuckshops are not expensive. The Ministry should also look into the possibility of supplying mass produced meals to a number of school tuckshops that are grouped together in one area. Such mass prepared meals in central kitchens could be cheaper and more hygienically prepared. I agree with the Government's policy on family planning. The Hon. Minister for Health gave at least one year's warning to people who refuse to keep their families small. He has introduced the increased accouchement charges for mothers who have more than two children only after a lapse of 10 months. He told them to be careful during the 10 months. In other words, warning has been given that those who do not pay heed to it have to pay more for the luxury of having an additional child. The Ministry of Education, in its enthusiasm to support the small family concept, clamped down on the registration of the third child in a school of the parents' choice, i.e, where elder sisters and brothers are then schooling. In other words, seven years later the third child has to pay for the sins committed by his parents. Sir, this in my opinion is misplaced enthusiasm. This enthusiasm must have contributed to additional hardship to parents with more than two children, and perhaps also contributed to the transport problem as the children in a family had to be posted to different schools.

Sir, may I be allowed to answer the Member for Telok Blangah first? His remarks on the second language and the increased exposure time for second language, and so on, are actually confined to primary schools where there is no such thing as specialist teachers. All these changes resulting in what we call the block time-tabling, are being carried out in the various schools. What does block time-tabling mean? It simply means this: all subjects that are being taught in one single language are put together. We also increase the exposure time of the second language to 43 per cent. The advantages are quite obvious. First of all, we allow teachers the flexibility of allocating teaching time for the various subjects within the same block, i.e. subjects being taught in the same language, instead of adhering to the very strict time-table prescribed. Secondly, it eliminates the undesirable feature at the moment where we turn on and off a child's interest in any subject every half-hour according to the clock. Thirdly, it cuts out the unnecessary wastage of curriculum time as teachers are not required to teach single subjects at half-hourly intervals. Fourthly, the 43 per cent magic figure we worked out represents half the teaching load of a single teacher. The purpose is that each teacher will take two classes, and for every class the children will be taught by two principal teachers for the two main blocks and other teachers for the third block which consists of physical education, music, arts and craft, and so on. Arising out of the fourth advantage, we hope to cultivate a more meaningful student/teacher relationship. Unfortunately when this system was introduced at the beginning of the year there was some confusion and it backfired. As the Member for Telok Blangah pointed out, these are the "international classes", where five teachers teach the same subjects, and so on. This is obviously not in line with the rationale of the policy. Since then the inspectors have been going round to schools to assist the principals in re-arranging the time-table. We have sent out circulars to school principals explaining how this can be done. We invite principals who are in difficulty to contact the Inspectorate so that assistance on how to arrange this block time-tabling could be given. Whether this new approach will result in a fall of standards of either one or both languages only time will tell, as the Member for Telok Blangah has also pointed out. Personally, I do not believe it will lead to a fall in standards. We all know that every lesson could be a language lesson and within every language lesson knowledge can be imparted. In January, 1971, that was a few years' ago, we introduced the primary pilot project, the PPP. This was discussed in this House and was given wide coverage in the media. I do not want to go into this again lest I will be accused of being carried away by my own work. Last year, we invited some overseas experts to do an analysis and evaluation of this particular project. The object was to evaluate those children who had gone through the PPP against those who had not, taking into consideration their social and economical background. The preliminary results indicated that the standard of spoken and written English of those children who had undergone the PPP is, in fact, higher. PPP, incidentally, Sir, is the forerunner of the block time-tabling, which I have just mentioned. The Member asked questions about tuckshops. We have reduced the rental of tuckshops at the beginning of this year. We have also introduced, since last year, a milk feeding scheme whereby we approached a major dairy to provide milk at a very low price, 10 cents per 150 milliliters, to primary school children. It has been extended to about 30,000 students at the moment. We plan to extend it further. At present our efforts are concentrated in densely populated housing estates where one-room flat prevails. We are negotiating with dairy firms to see whether they can provide a wholesome meal, milk with different flavours, plus something more substantial, like a bun or pudding, and so on. We are working on this scheme. Of course, our main effort will be concentrated at the lower income group at the moment. The Member for Telok Blangah queried the policy of admission to primary one. It seems that the Ministry of Education is a bit heartless in this respect, but it is not quite so. No one is denied the opportunity of choice. What we have done over the years was to accord privilege to certain groups of people. This year we have decided to withdraw this privilege to a group of people, i.e. children of the fourth and higher order. It is true that the Ministry of Education has at no time given this warning that children of the fourth and higher order will not enjoy this privilege. Anyway the privilege is something earned and may vary from year to year. However, I would like to point this out. The Family Planning campaign has been going on in Singapore for a long time, and the poster for family planning, which is a silhouette of two parents and two children has been in existence since 1966. It is now used as the logo of the Family Planning Board. Members will recall that in the 1967 National Day Message it was specifically mentioned that Singapore wants to encourage people to have small families of three or even fewer children. Then the Minister for Health gave a 10-month warning in 1968 that accouchement charges for children of the fourth and higher order were to be increased in 1969. We are not really that heartless. We entertained hardship cases. Where a child is the last child in a family, we allow him to enjoy the same privilege. Where one of the parents has gone through sterilisation, we also allow the child to enjoy the same privilege, whether he is the last child or not. Having done all these, out of the 47,600 pupils who applied for admission into primary one, 93 per cent got a place in schools of their choice. Of the 3,000 who did not get a place in schools of their choice, only 500 belonged to the fourth child and higher order. So although we may sound heartless, in hard facts and figures we are not that bad. The Member for Jurong asked about the promotion exercise. He will recall that the Ministry had written to all the teachers' unions asking them for their views about shortlisting and so on. The views of the unions will be taken into consideration in the next exercise. I can assure Members of that. 7.30 p.m. About Pre-University admission, it is true we increase the standards of admission for the simple reason that every year only about 60 per cent obtain a full certificate or a good certificate. We do not want to waste the student's years in studying in the Pre-U in vain, when he can gain admission to the Polytechnic, the Ngee Ann Technical College, or to other vocational institutes to learn a vocation and be a more useful citizen. He also mentioned about allowance for principals. I regret I simply cannot consider that because this is a subject which has been discussed by the teachers' unions and the Ministry for l� years. This point has been thrashed out over and over again, and we have signed the agreement. That is that. I think there is one more point raised by the Member for Paya Lebar. But he is not here. Mr N. Govindasamy rose -

Mr Govindasamy, are you on a point of clarification?

No, Sir.

In that case I suggest you give Mr Ho a chance to withdraw his amendment.

(In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, just now the Minister replied that the standard of admission to the Pre-U classes has been raised. I did not mean to say that the standard should not be raised. What I meant was that there should be prior planning, and not at the last minute change the number of classes. If the number of classes is reduced all of a sudden, it will be very difficult to allot the number of teachers for these classes.

I do not think a reply is needed. Are you going to withdraw, Mr Ho?

(In Mandarin): would like to listen to the Minister's

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the fact is that the decision to raise the standard of admission has been known to principals for quite some time. There have been meetings between the Admission Section and the principals before the exercise was carried out. The reason why there are not enough students in certain schools is that a new Junior College has been established and it attracts a lot of students away from other schools.

(In Mandarin): Sir, I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Mr Ho, for amendment (4), may I suggest that you speak for about five minutes and allow the Minister another five minutes; this will give the Member for Potong Pasir time to speak on amendment (5).

(In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head PA be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead DA 3001. Sir, under this subhead, I would like to ask the Minister a few questions. In Jurong Town, which is in my constituency, the population is increasing. People are now moving in to live in Neighbourhood II and the total population will be about 50,000 ultimately. At about this time last year the Minister said in this House that there would be plans to build a primary school. However, only now do we hear that work has just started. So I would like to ask the Minister whether he can speed up the work and when can this school be completed. Another question is that even if the primary school is completed, it cannot accommodate all the students from Neighbourhood II. I believe there is a primary school called the Joo Long School in the vicinity. The school is trying to apply to the Land Office for permission to extend its premises and it was advised to make a request to the Jurong Town Corporation. But the Jurong Town Corporation in turn asked the school to apply to the Ministry of Education. So I would like to urge the Ministry of Education to give favourable consideration to its application for extension.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, as the hon. Member for Jurong is aware, work on the construction of Jurong Town Primary School in Neighbourhood II is already in progress. In fact, piling work started about 10 days ago. If all goes well, the school will be ready sometime next year. With regard to Joo Long School, the management committee of the school has enquired into the possibility of constructing an extension block of 10 classrooms. The Ministry of Education welcomes the provision of additional school places. However, as far as Joo Long School is concerned, it would be better and in their interest too if, before implementing this proposed extension block, they can further consider whether or not the place is due for urban renewal, whether or not the Ministry is going to build more schools in the area, and whether or not they have enough land for the building extension.

(In Mandarin): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, according to the reply given by the Parliamentary Secretary, the primary school in Neighbourhood II will be completed next year. I want to know a more definite date. January next is next year; December next is also next year. So I would like to know the definite completion date of this school. Secondly, regarding the extension of Joo Long School that I mentioned, the position as I have said just now is that this school has already applied to the Land Office and the Jurong Town Corporation. But according to the reply given, it should get the permission of the Ministry of Education. So I would like to ask the Minister for Education whether he will allow the school to extend its building. As to whether more schools would be built in the vicinity, I think the Ministry of Education is in a better position to tell.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the question on the completion date of the Jurong Town Primary School in Neighbourhood II, I think it is very easy for the hon. Member to estimate. Piling work alone takes about three months and then a few more months for other construction works to be completed. Sir, I think it will not be possible for me to give a definite date. I hope this time next year the hon. Member will not ask any more question on Jurong Town Primary School in Neighbourhood II. With regard to Joo Long School's request to build an extension block, the Ministry of Education will be considering the application for the proposed scheme, subject to its satisfying certain minimum requirements.

(In Mandarin): Although the reply is not very satisfactory to me, but in view of the time, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Amendment (5), Mr Baptist. If you want the Minister to reply, could you please give him at least five minutes?

Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head PA in respect of the Main Estimates be reduced by $100. Sir, the educational progress of many children is significantly affected by a variety of social handicaps. Can the Hon. Minister inform me of any effective attempts to solve this problem? I do believe there is a grave need for school social care. This will enable a child to derive maximum benefit from education, by identifying and trying to help solve the social problems affecting him and his family. Of course, the role of the teacher in this process is of prime importance, though many teachers at the moment are insufficiently informed of the workings of the social services. It is imperative, therefore, that teacher-training should also include the study of the social factors affecting children's educational progress, and some study of the social services. Another possibility is to employ social workers to be attached to schools. Will the Hon. Minister consider implementing any one of these proposals, and elaborate his thinking in regard to this rather real problem? Another problem, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, is the present increasing rate of crime which includes drug-taking, drug-pushing, and other offences among our youth. Let me quote some figures from the Police Department's Annual Reports on youths convicted by Juvenile courts. 1968 - 444 convictions; 1969 - 439 convictions; 1970 - 332 convictions; 1971 - 390 convictions; 1972 - 633 convictions. This reflects to some extent our present education policies. There are some areas in our education policies that could change to the advantage of alleviating this problem. I would like to deal with one area; the area of school holiday amenities. At the present moment, amenities available to children during school holidays need to be extended and improved. All school playing fields should be made available to groups of children and young people during the school holidays; various restrictions are now placed upon the use of some school playing fields. No doubt there should be adequate supervision. There are also available a number of swimming pools in Singapore, and a policy that the Ministry could adopt would be to enable organised groups of school children on holidays to utilise them. A meagre number of facilities for holiday camping are available. The Ministry should look into the possibility of establishing its own holiday camps, properly organised and supervised. There is clearly a need to improve tremendously both the scale and quality of school holiday amenities. Such amenities are obviously helpful to many parents and children and have particular value in an urbanised area like Singapore where there is very little open space. This need is further accentuated by the presence of high-rise housing and heavy traffic on the roads. In addition properly organised amenities have also an educational value. Will the Hon. Minister consider a definite policy to radically increase the present meagre school holiday amenities and charge responsible persons to organise these amenities for the benefit of school children, especially those from the poorer families?

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the first point about social care, the Ministry has plans to enlarge its social work unit. It will not be school-based, as recommended by the Member for Potong Pasir, but community-based, and we intend to introduce a pilot project in a few constituencies for a start. His suggestion on the use of school facilities is a good one. I did mention a couple of months ago that we would consider allowing the public to use the school facilities and that we would welcome, say, the CCC of any constituency to be the body responsible for the use of these facilities. His other suggestion on increasing school holiday amenities is a very good one, and the Ministry will definitely look into this.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, that was a most satisfactory answer. I beg leave to withdraw. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $299,181,900 for Head PA ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $45,075,300 for Head PA ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. 7.45 p.m.

I shall now deal with the remaining heads of expenditure in respect of which no amendment stands on the Order Paper Supplement. In respect of the Main Estimates, they are Heads BA, BB, BD, BE, BF, BG, EB, GB, HD, LB, LC, LE, L, OB, OC, OE and OF. I propose to take those heads of expenditure en bloc.

Question, "That the sums stated for those heads of expenditure which appear in the fifth column of the Summary of Estimated Expenditure on pages 49 and 50 of Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974 stand part of the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975," put, and agreed to.

The remaining heads of expenditure in the Development Estimates are Heads BB, BF, BG. HD, OB, OE, and OF. Here again, I propose to take those heads of expenditure en bloc.

Question, "That the sums stated for those heads of expenditure which appear in the sixth column of the Summary of Estimated Expenditure on pages 49 and 50 of Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974 stand part of the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975," put, and agreed to. Question, "That the sum of $1,943,129,650 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates far the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, contained in Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974," put, and agreed to. Question, "That the sum of $1,561,647,440 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, contained in Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974," put, and agreed to. Resolutions to be reported. Thereupon Mr Deputy Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply has come to certain resolutions. First Resolution reported - "That the sum of 51,943.129,650 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, contained in Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974." Second Resolution reported - "That the sum of $1,561,647,440 shall be supplied to the Government under the heads of expenditure for the public services shown in the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, contained in Paper Cmd. 5 of 1974."

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolutions."

Question put, and agreed to. Resolutions accordingly agreed to.

Order for Second and Third Readings read. 7.51 p.m.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." In accordance with Article 85 of the Constitution of Singapore, heads of expenditure to be met from the Consolidated Fund, other than Statutory Expenditure, have to be included in the Bill to be known as the Supply Bill. The purpose of the Supply Bill before Members is, therefore, to give legislative approval for the appropriations from the Consolidated Fund to meet expenditure in the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975. In the Schedule to the Bill, the various heads of expenditure and the sums that may be incurred in respect of each head are shown. These have been approved by the House in the Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April, 1974, to 31st March, 1975, and appear on pages 45, 46 and 47 of Cmd. Paper No. 5 of 1974. The Supply Bill, when approved, will empower me to issue warrants authorising expenditure up to the amount for each head as shown in the Bill to be paid out from the Consolidated Fund. Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Mr Minister, will you please move the Third Reading?

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time."

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second and Third Readings read. 7.53 p.m.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, the purpose of this Bill is to provide statutory authority in accordance with clause 2 of Article 85 and clause 2 of Article 87 of the Constitution of Singapore for additional provisions to meet expenditure in excess of the provisions authorised by the Supply Act of 1973. These additional sums have been scheduled as Supplementary Estimates which have been considered and approved by the House as Cmd. Paper 7 of 1974. Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Third time."

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Third time and passed.

Resolved, "That Parliament do now adjourn." - [Mr Hon Sui Sen]. Adjourned accordingly at Six minutes to Eight o'clock p.m.