Hansard, 1976-03-24

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

Head W --

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 1OO4*. (* The same amendment also stood in the names of Messrs L. P. Rodrigo, Teong Eng Siong, P. Govindaswamy and Dr Ong Leong Boon.) Sir, the officials of the Ministry of Finance as guardians of public funds are expected to be meticulous in processing proposals for the financing of public projects. But in the process, when the guardians of Government purse become an obstruction to development, then something is really, wrong. Let them process the proposals but let them not sit on them. When querying revotes for a number of items of Development Estimates in the various Ministries, I am told that among other things, some projects could not be proceeded with as a result of the difficulty posed by the Ministry of Finance in respect of releasing funds. Sir, when budgetary provisions are made for any financial year, before parliamentary approval is sought, the Budget Division of the Ministry of Finance would have screened the requirements of the various Ministries, queried the needs for such projects and having been satisfied, the provisions would then be tabled in Parliament. Since these provisions have been approved by the Ministry of Finance and consequently approval has been obtained from Parliament, I fail to see the reason for a delay in releasing funds. Having made this general remark, can I now turn to a specific issue where there has been an unnecessary delay in releasing funds for the construction of a community centre in the Telok Blangah constituency? For FY 75, $10.8 million was approved as contribution to the People's Association which included provisions for building community centres. Having accepted a suitable site in Telok Blangah from the Housing and Development Board, the People's Association approached the Ministry of Finance for the release of funds in order to purchase the site on 29th September, 1975. Since then, six written reminders have been sent to the Ministry of Finance. A number of telephone calls requesting the Ministry to expedite processing have also been made. The latest written reminder was made on 22nd March, 1976. Six months have passed since the first request was made, and still the People's Association is awaiting release of funds which was approved by Parliament last year. Meanwhile, the MP for Telok Blangah is pressing the People's Association to process the plans and to submit the plans to the Planning Department. The Housing Board, on the other hand, is also pressing the People's Association for payment. Cost of building is going up and up and Telok Blangah is without a community centre. I concede that the Ministry of Finance should exercise sufficient checks and balances before releasing public funds but it should never become a bottle-neck for public development.

(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Budget speech which was delivered on 1St March 1 976 announced no tax increases except on cigarettes. This is indeed good tidings for the people. The increased tax on tobacco should not affect the general livelihood of the people except cigarette smokers. Therefore, for the sake of the health of the people especially the younger generation who should not be encouraged to smoke, I believe that such tax increase on a non-essential item will receive the support of the majority of the people. What 1s amusing is that the Minister himself earnestly pleaded certain people including some of his Cabinet colleagues to give up smoking. I believe the Minister himself is not a smoker. Mr Speaker himself is also not a smoker because. I believe he is a doctor and he knows that smoking is bad for the health. Smokers tend to rationalise their bad habit by saying that a cigarette after a meal will induce a sense of euphoria. Men of letters say that smoking will help them to think better and will bring richer inspiration to them. So they go on smoking for the rest of their lives. Those who smoke, including Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and Backbenchers, should pay heed to what the Finance Minister has said and give up smoking in order to safeguard their physical and mental health so that they may not dissipate themselves away. Sir, I would like to raise four questions under this amendment. First, on economic growth, as the Minister for Finance has pointed out, last year was a bleak year of economic recession. The major industrialised countries, e.g., the United States, Japan and West Germany, were in the throes of depression resulting in a rapid decline in industrial production and mass unemployment. In spite of this adverse international economic recession, we were able to register a 4.1% economic growth which was not as good as in the year 1975 when the growth rate was 6.8%. However, this is still a very creditable performance compared with other developing countries. The fact that despite economic recession we were able to progress steadily and to carry out our various economic developments, could be attributed to three important factors. First, the farsightedness of the Government in carrying out various practical economic policies to promote industry and trade. Secondly, the enormous outlay on infrastructure in the public sector resulting in considerable success in anti-depression measures. Thirdly, our workers' diligence, and high level of technological skill contributing greatly to our economic development. Although the Minister has criticised our workers saying that they are not as hardworking as those in Korea and Taiwan or Hong Kong, however, I am sure that by and large, our workers are hardworking and are not inferior to them. Now my question is: When the international economic situation has recovered from the recession, are we well prepared to catch up with such a recovery speedily? If so what are the prospects of our economic progress this year? Can the Minister forecast the growth rate for this year? The second question relates to the control of inflation, The rate of inflation is quickly declining and according to the consumers' price index there was only an increase of 3% last year. This has resulted in a definite improvement in the cost of living of the people generally. Compared with Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan our price index here is much lower than in those countries. In spite of this, the retail prices of certain food items are still very high, for example, the retail price of pork. Although the price of pigs has gone down to $110 or $120 per picul, the retail price of pork has so far remained unchanged. I would like the Minister and the Consumers' Association as well to take note of this. I believe the Government should do something to bring about a reduction in the price of food. Although the Consumers' Association of Singapore has done well in bringing about a lowering of prices, it must spare no effort to monitor food prices and make suggestions to the Government to maintain a fair level of prices in order to alleviate the burden and hardship of the people. The third matter is on how to encourage our people to use local products. The Economic Survey made by the Ministry of Finance says that about 57% of consumer goods were imported, while locally produced consumer goods constituted only about 43%. Obviously this is a problem that we should pay careful attention. On the one hand, while our products are very popular abroad, on the other hand our own people do not seem to be interested in our own local products. Thus, large sums of money will have to be spent on foreign exchange to import foreign goods. Why should our people pay more for imported goods than buy our own local goods which are cheaper? I do not think the quality of our local products is inferior to the imported products because the popularity of our goods abroad is a clear evidence of the good quality of local products. What then is the reason? I feel that the reason is a psychological one and an improper understanding of the true quality of local products. Therefore, the first problem to tackle is to instil a confidence in our people in locally produced goods. In this respect, the Trade Department should get all the manufacturers and merchants concerned together to organise trade exhibitions jointly every year in order to introduce our local products and their good quality to the people and to foster their understanding and confidence in locally produced goods n order to buy more of them. Ideologically we should also encourage the patriotic consciousness of our people. This will not only help `the promotion of our local industries but also will be conducive to our economic development. I hope the Government department concerned would try to launch such campaigns on a large scale in order to promote the popularity of our locally produced goods and help their development. 2.45 p.m. Fourthly, the Minister for Finance also said that the Asian Dollar Market has achieved some progress last year. This could be seen from the increase of investment in our Asian Dollar Market last year, which totalled some USS 12.6 billion, or 22% more than 1974. From the point of view of our development as a financial centre, our Asian Dollar Market is successful. This achievement has given greater confidence in international circles and has induced them to make large capital investments in our financial market, and this also helps to strengthen our currency, The Minister has given three tax concessions to further develop our Asian Dollar Market. I would like the Minister to give more details of the activities of the Asian Dollar Market, and I would also like to suggest four proposals to the Minister.

Mr Teong, your time is up.

Sir, before I make my speech, I agree with the Member for Sembawang regarding his comments on smoking. But if he takes too much meat he will suffer a heart attack. Therefore he must be careful in not taking too much meat. While advising other people, he must also look after himself. Mr Speaker, Sir, I notice that we have 2,414 vacancies in Division I alone, and so many Ministries are short of these officers. Is this caused by officers in the Government sector migrating to the private sector? Or is it due to their emigrating to other countries? May I ask what steps are being taken to reduce this migration of officers? I suggest that further incentives be introduced to retain them so that they will be able to produce work that will best suit their ability. Every Ministry has a shortage of staff, so much so that temporary recruits are being taken in. For how long are they going to be temporary? They themselves do not know. Why is the Finance Minister not taking steps to fill the gap instead of relying on the temporary staff who feel insecure and after some time would leave for greener pastures in the private sector. There was a hint recently that the automatic yearly wage increments would from now on be subject to productivity. This casts a pessimistic note on the 13th month allowance and the NWC recommendations for this year. May I know what is the position of the NWC recommendations? Could the Minister elaborate? I hope the NWC recommendations are not taken away, because the people's burden of livelihood has been cushioned by these allowances to meet the increased cost of living. But if this is withdrawn, it will affect the daily expenses of the ordinary worker. I wonder whether all the past recommendations will be consolidated in the pay chits. At the moment there are so many allowances stated in the pay-slips, such as NWC recommendations for 1973. 1974 and 1975, leave allowance, shift allowance, etc. These allowances are rather confusing, when it comes to analysing them. I wonder whether the Ministry will consider consolidating these allowances without any loss to the wage earners. In the past many hotels have been built. Tourists were encouraged to come to Singapore. Now what has happened to the occupancy rate of hotels? There seems to be a downturn in the number of tourists coming to Singapore. Despite this the international airport at Changi is to be expanded. Can the Minister supply facts and figures on this matter and state whether any move is being made to raise the occupancy rate of our hotels? In the trading section, it seems that ships calling at Singapore are not as many as before. What has happened to our trading missions? How best have they been successful? Our statistics show that trade with Japan, America and European countries have gone down. Why is this so? Is the Government doing anything to revive our trade with these countries? Next, on Singapore Airlines, how are we faring in competition with the other airlines? What is our profit during the last one year and are we expanding the airlines? Sir, previously there was a tendency to house many offices and various departments under one roof. But, of late, owing to traffic congestion, the Government tends to decentralise some of the departments all over the island. Although this may be a good move to ease traffic congestion, there may be difficulty for a member of the public who has to go to several departments to settle a problem. He will have to travel from one area to another. I hope the Minister will see that the departments are not scattered in a way that will cause inconvenience to the public. On the subject of inflation, with the assistance of the various consumer associations we have been able to curb profiteering to a great extent. Though the prices of many commodities have gone down, we still find hawkers quoting exorbitant prices. What is the use of having price tags when no one is checking on the prices quoted? For instance, iced water costs 10 cents a glass. If you buy it in a plastic bag it costs 20 cents. Just imagine, one has to pay the extra 10 cents for the bag alone. In all the hawker centres too you will find that the prices are high. The people have no choice but to pay for it. Will the Minister see that remedial steps are taken against unfair profiteering? Banks in Singapore open for business at 10 a.m. and close at 3 p.m. during weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. on Saturdays. These hours are extremely short, and the banks are still observing these times introduced during the colonial days, though the work-pattern and the number of working hours have changed. Banks, except the POSB, have not adjusted their hours of business as far as service to the public is concerned. It is time the banks were made to realise that it is for their own good and for the convenience of the public to extend the banking hours. Sir, the economic policy of 1976 seems to lay emphasis on the growth of the private sector. This emphasis is on diversifying productivity, increasing the skills of our workmen and to train them in higher levels of technology in skill intensive industries. This is a right move. It is this type of workman that Singapore needs badly. It is my hope that the private sector will introduce a better disciplined force of workers so that our productivity will increase several fold and benefit Singapore in return. Finally, I would like to comment about the ugly tendency that is growing in certain departments. Whenever a Member of Parliament requests certain matters on behalf of his constituents, a blunt "no" is given by some officials who quote rules and regulations to support their negative answers. However, the same officials are very lax towards other enquirers who do not go through the MPs, and they seem to get away with whatever they do. In some cases if an MP's request is turned down, the same person gets things worked out through other loopholes. Something is drastically wrong somewhere. Why do these loopholes exist, and why do these officials make use of these loopholes to oblige certain individuals and to turn down others according to their whims and fancies? I hope the Minister will see that no double regulations are used in all Government departments.

Sir, in this august chamber where the n-ale sex reigns supreme, it is with some trepidation that I seek to raise the subject of preferential treatment of the male sex in respect of medical benefits for Government officers, and I should hope my male colleagues will join me to seek redress for our fair ladies from the Hon. Finance Minister. Sir, medical attention is given to a Government officer and his family, at all Government hospitals and clinics. This health care is free for attendance at all outpatients clinics, though a nominal ward charge is imposed for in-patient treatment. This is the mainstay of the medical benefits entitlement for civil servants and other Government officers. However, as laid Out in IM No. 2 an officer means. and includes, an officer or pensioner of the Government of Singapore or a woman officer who is a widow or divorcee or who has been granted a decree of judicial separation and is the sole supporter of her family. The term "family" is defined as: (a) a wife and child (or children) in the case of a male officer, and (b) a child or children in the case of a woman officer who is a widow or divorcee or who has been granted a decree of judicial separation and who is the sole supporter of her family. Sir, what the above amounts to is that male officers enjoy medical benefits which are automatically extended to his wife and children, whereas female officers are entitled to such benefits only for herself. Her husband and children are not accorded free medical benefits, and they will have to pay. Only in exceptional circumstances, and these are very unhappy and unfortunate circumstances as I had qualified earlier, is the child or children able to receive free health care. I cannot understand this unequal treatment of the female officers of the Government who, in almost every way are equal to men. They are employed like men to various jobs based essentially on merit. Only in certain situations such as hospitals and public cleansing work do we see an all-female or all-male cast. These situations are so because of different work demands, but facilitated by the traits inherent in the X or Y gene. 3.00 p.m. In keeping with the Government's philosophy and practice of equal treatment for both sexes, and our avowed distaste for sex discrimination, I shall be most grateful if the Hon. Minister for Finance could comment on the anomalous situation of less equal benefits for woman officers and to consider granting equal medical benefits to all officers, regardless of sex, lest we as a Government he labelled "practitioners of sex discrimination" or male chauvinists. An Hon. Member: Hear, hear!

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to refer to the question of policy in regard to payroll tax. This subject has an interesting history. In December 1965 the then Minister for Labour, presently Minister for Culture, described the tax as one (at that time) foolishly imposed when we were in Malaysia. However, it was intended to continue collecting and to set aside the revenue to form a fund for the social security of workers. It was envisaged that a committee would be set up to put up recommendations for the implementation of the scheme. Five years later in 1970 the question of this payroll tax was again raised, by the Member for Kallang. The then Finance Minister replied that to-date (1970) a total revenue of $51 million had been collected. He added that the Government had set the question of unemployment insurance and had sought advice from ILO. An ILO expert's view, it appeared, did not favour an unemployment benefits scheme and the Government decided to abandon for the time being the introduction of unemployment insurance based on payroll tax contributions. The Finance Minister stated that Government wanted to use payroll tax contributions to offset liabilities which employers incurred when they employed discharged national servicemen who were called up for their annual training exercises. The following year in 1971 the present Finance Minister announced that he had news which employers should welcome, namely, that the proceeds of the payroll tax would be used to compensate employers for the makeup pay when national servicemen are called up for annual training exercises and to allow reimbursements to industrialists for approved training or approved apprenticeship schemes. This is 1976 and we still have not got a clear idea of what we are going to do with the millions we have to-date collected, including the anticipated $57 million for this coming financial year. Could the Minister tell us what we have done specifically with the monies that we have collected, and how much has been spent for what? What is the philosophy behind the collection of this tax which actually works against the good employer who has to pay more because he pays his workers better? The idea of using the tax for incentives to develop skills is a good one because, on balance, it may be found that the inculcation of skills would make for better returns than just stashing the money away and finding as the years pass by that money value has been eroded. I think a clear explanation of policy on this subject would be advantageous. At the same time, the Minister would surely know that the Auditor-General has reported that, from a statistical sampling for the period January to June 1973, it was discovered that there was a rate of evasion of payment of this tax ranging from 5.5% to 8.8% Perhaps the Minister could care to comment on this also.

Mr Speaker, Sir, may I refer to the Minister for Finance's observation on wages policy in his Budget statement on 1st March, 1976. He said: 'The time has come for the National Wages Council to consider whether it should not include all forms of wage increases, including annual increments, incentive, allowances and bonuses, in the computation of the annual NWC wage supplement to arrive at a single total annual increase.' I would like to make reference, Mr Speaker, Sir, to the recent statement that "for Singapore workers the days of automatic increases were over." Since this statement is obviously linked with the Minister's observation it would seem, therefore, that the Minister for Finance is suggesting that we do away with annual increments for workers on the grounds that the annual increments will by augmenting the NWC wage-hike upset the national economic equilibrium. Sir, I respectfully submit that any attempt to abolish wage scales would be a retrograde step. Annual increments for workers must be viewed against the background of their introduction for the lower income group. If we disregard the rationale behind annual wage increments, we will be doing so at our own peril. It must be remembered that, generally speaking, annual increments of wages for workers are comparatively new in origin because, briefly, wage scales bring about a sense of security for the workers. Let me outline the history. In the not so recent past when the extreme left wing elements dominated the labour movement their tactic was not to have wage scales but short-term contracts with employers so that at regular intervals they could confront management with new and unreasonable wage increases so as to bring about industrial unrest. This also gave the left-wing trade union leaders a firm hold over the rank and file, because if the workers had not backed them up in creating labour unrest which could even wreck our economy they were put at the mercy of the unenlightened employer and doomed to no wage increases whatsoever. It was to remove this sense of insecurity which was often the source of labour unrest that wage scales were introduced. Thus being assured of his rice bowl the worker could devote all his efforts and energy on his work and productivity without the nagging fear that he may be Out on a limbo when the union's collective agreement with the management expires. Sir, if we do away with salary scales and annual increments, we might well bring back the old scenario and once again have a restive labour force, all waiting with agony and fear as to what would happen on expiry of their collective agreements. In regard to the NWC's recommendation for wage increases, it must be pointed out that this was a measure introduced to meet a new phenomenon that of a rising cost of living a phenomenon which has made its greatest impact in post-war years. Those of us who belong to the older generation and who were working before the war will remember that even after the Great Depression the term "inflation" was hardly ever heard of in this part of the world nor did it cause any social or economic problems. It was only after 1939 with the outbreak of war in Europe was there any appreciable rise in the cost of living for government to take cognisance of the matter. In the first few years after the end of World War II there was not really any marked upsurge in prices and in the cost of living. It was only in the last few years, in the wake of rapid industrialisation and full employment, did rising prices and the cost of living make such an impact that it has necessitated state intervention to provide remedial act on to contain rising prices since external factors and the unrestricted free enterprise could otherwise upset not only our people's livelihood but also our very economy. Sir, the recommendation of the National Wages Council must be seen in this context to meet higher prices and the rising cost of living. The wage supplement recommended by the National Wages Council is thus the extra quantum of money that has to be made available to the employee to augment his remuneration so as to redress the imbalance between his actual monetary remuneration and the purchasing power of his wages. The inflation that we have experienced during the past few years is not the making of the workers of Singapore but imported inflation due to external factors which are beyond the control of the workers. In the circumstances, it will be unfair to blame the worker for expecting a wage supplement to enable him to meet rising prices. The wage supplement of the National Wages Council can therefore be viewed as a stop-gap measure. Wage increases are only recommended when the situation warrants it. If our statistics show that there is no fall in the purchasing power of the dollar, there will undoubtedly be no wage supplement recommended by the National Wages Council. In this context. Mr Speaker, Sir, it is clear that the National Wages Council's wage supplement is thus only an adjustment to meet the rising cost of living. If, therefore, the Government envisages difficult times ahead and a slowdown in our economic growth, I have no doubt that the situation will be reflected in the National Wages Council's recommendation. But this does not mean that the annual increments provided in the worker's wage scale should be abolished. It must not be forgotten that wage scales were obtained after hard bargaining on the part of the unions, very often at times when we were fighting the communists, and to suggest that they should be scrapped on the ground that wage increases should from now on only hinge on improved effort and output is most illogical and could even be construed as a breach of faith. One does not chase the rat by burning the house down.

Mr Speaker, Sir. just now the Member for Katong pointed out that I raised the question of payroll tax a few years ago. I am going to raise it once again. I propose, for the consideration of the Minister for Finance, that payroll tax collected should be designated and expended for the purpose of approved courses in industrial joint training centres conducted by the private sector and courses conducted by the Industrial Training Board, the National Productivity Board and the Adult Education Board. I consider it quite appropriate that the tax which has been imposed on employers, based on their payroll, should benefit both the employers and the employees. Consideration might also be given to exempt employers from paying payroll tax if their annual expenditure for their own courses designed to upgrade the skills exceeds the payroll tax they are liable to pay. Payroll tax is levied under the Finance Act (Payroll Tax) (Cap. 139) at the rate of 2% on the total payroll of a trade, business, profession or vocation carried on in Singapore. Payroll tax collected for 1975 was roughly $49 million. For 1976, payroll tax to be collected is an estimated sum of $57 million. The total amount of payroll tax collected from February 1965 to February 1976 was $263 million. If this tax is utilised for the purpose I have proposed, it should give the incentive for employers to devise and to conduct suitable training schemes. 3.15 p.m. The Minister for Finance in his Budget statement has urged the workers to upgrade their skills and the employers to improve their personnel management for the sake of improving productivity. The workers at large are normally blamed for any high cost in wages or payroll. This tax is no exception. This tax has not been used for the general good of the workers. How much opportunity and time are given to the large number of workers to improve their skills when they are limited to doing routine work? Let us create a climate where the people, like the Germans, for example, are incessantly seeking knowledge and wanting to improve their skills. In this connection, I think the Adult Education Board and such like agencies should now get out of their normal way in creating interests amongst our adult population in furthering their education. I do not believe the Minister for Finance will agree with me after he had formulated his Budget and presented it to Parliament. However, who knows, he might!

Mr Speaker, Sir, I did propound the need for a Small Claims Court during the debate on the Budget statement. This needs to be elaborated on at the present juncture. Time and time again, complaints by dissatisfied consumers against retailers find difficulty in obtaining redress because of the small nature of the claims. Either consumers feel that it is not worth it to go to all the trouble to litigate or find litigation too costly. However, justified complaints like these, if accumulated, could mean consumers losing large sums of money and guilty retailers getting away with trade malpractices and ill-gotten gains, much to the detriment of their honest counterparts. The formation of a Small Claims Court could act as a deterrent to undesirable trade malpractices. Court fees would not be too costly and judgment in favour of a party would include recovery of fees. The most that can he claimed could be in the region of sums less than $500. Grievances may be stated in plain words and no legal jargon need be known. Judges would not normally insist on formal procedures or strict rules of evidence. Both parties tell their side of the story and decisions can usually be rendered immediately from the Bench or within a few days after trial. Whether a lawyer need be retained or not in a Small Claims Court can be discussed thoroughly by all parties concerned, once the idea of establishing a Small Claims Court is accepted in principle. Other matters too like possible complications arising when a case is transferred to a civil court, need to be discussed. Mr Speaker, Sir, I did also discourse at length on possible legislation for door-to-door sales during the debate on the Budget statement, but I do not propose to repeat what I have said. However. I must emphasise that complaints on high pressure sales techniques by door-to-door sales persons are becoming a trying consumer-hazard in Singapore, with apparently no control. Many a time the victim is the unprotected member of the family left at home to do household chores or too old to go to work. A "cooling-off" period is essential to make the sale effective. This will enable the consumer to discuss the proposed purchase with the rest of the family, especially the one who will bear the burden of the payment. This legislative requirement can easily be in the form of regulations to the Consumer Protection Act. Sir, I would be most grateful if the Hon. Minister could make some comments on my suggestions.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I have quite a number of questions to answer from the points made by Members. The first point was made by the Member for Telok Blangah. He spoke on the procedure for the release of funds which have been approved in the Budget Division and in Parliament, and said that there is rather a considerable delay in releasing funds. He mentioned about the community centre for Telok Blangah which apparently had difficulty in obtaining a release of funds from the Treasury. I am in general sympathy with what he says about the release of funds. I am not familiar with that particular case, but possibly there may be considerations which may not have been brought to his attention. It is quite possible that funds have been held up because the People's Association has been trying to arrange with the Treasury for larger amounts to be granted both in the way of land for community centres as well as grants for the community centre. At the moment the amounts are Iimited. But I have been receiving representations that members of Management Committees have had difficulty in raising funds and that perhaps the Government ought to bear a larger proportion of the cost of building such community centres. Of course, these matters require some time for consideration. If the request for funds is merely on the scale which has previously been approved, I can assure the Member for Telok Blangah that there will be no difficulty in approving the amount which has already been agreed for such Government expenditure. The Member for Sembawang, after paying a few well appreciated compliments on smoking and other matters, went on to speak on a considerable number of subjects. I have not taken down all the points in full but I can take his first question: "Are we prepared for recovery when the economic situation changes?" I can assure the Member that we shall have no difficulty in coping with the flow of investments, if recovery takes place in the way he expects. In the last year or so we have made considerable efforts in attracting investments and we shall continue to do so. The EDB has sent many of its most senior officers overseas and we shall make further efforts to seek out investment opportunities. We hope that when oil exploration in our region gets into high gear the industries producing oil-field equipment will want to be nearer the market and will, therefore, establish themselves in Singapore. As I have mentioned in my Budget statement, the Jurong Town Corporation has had a breather in the preparation of lands and other facilities for the investments which should be coming. We will be ready in the supply of land, facilities and utilities `and so on for any investment which should come. He has also asked what will be the growth rate this year. I think I have given the figures in the debate on my Budget statement. For what they are worth, I said that the Ministry of Finance computers gave figures of approximately 6%to 8% growth rate whereas the Monetary Authority of Singapore had a somewhat higher rate as the projected growth rate for 1 976. In my reply I said that we must take all these figures with some caution because economic forecasts have gone wrong in the past not only in Singapore but also in the most sophisticated countries in the world using the most sophisticated models and data fed into their computers. The Member for Sembawang also spoke on inflation. I made very little comment on inflation in my Budget statement because I expect the rate of inflation to subside. In fact, in the first two months of the year the inflation, if measured against prices over a year ago, is negative. Whilst there are increases, as he has said, in the prices of certain foodstuffs like pork or vegetables when there was a drought. I think generally the prices have gone down considerably. Members are certainly aware of the lower cost of rice. The Member for Sembawang also suggested that we should encourage our citizens to use locally produced goods. I cannot agree with him more. In fact, we have put some effort in this direction in the past, for example, through the "Prosperity through Quality and Reliability" campaign. We have to assure our people that the products of our industries are equal to the best and meet the most rigid standards. The Government itself encourages use of local products to the extent of 5% differential in the purchase of quality products manufactured locally and bearing the SISIR quality stamp. We have also encouraged locally manufactured goods by giving concessionary rates for advertisements over radio and television. A special discount of 12«% is given so that sales promotion can be intensified to reach local customers. Another point mentioned by the Member was the Asian Dollar Market. He has given the size of the Asian Dollar Market which nearly reached US$13 billion at the end of last year. The documentation on the Asian Dollar Market is quite voluminous and there is no lack of information on this subject. I would merely say that now we are not only a taker of funds from markets all over the world but we are also lenders of funds to the ASEAN countries, to Hong Kong, Japan and Australasia. We have also various areas of development. One of them is the Bond Market. In 1975 we successfully launched a number of bond issues, including US$15 million for the YS Line issue, US$15 million for the Keppel Shipyard issue, and US$20 million for the European Investment Bank. I think that with the development of a good primary and secondary market further issues will be floated in our Singapore market. 3.30 p.m. I will now go on to the Member for Anson's very lengthy queries on numerous subjects. First of all, he spoke of the staff vacancies. Vacancies in over 2,000 Division I posts may appear to be a high figure but among these vacancies are posts of promotional grades which are, in most instances, already filled in an acting capacity. The number of actual or physically unfilled vacancies in Division I would, of course, be much less. Apart from medical officers, there is no marked trend in the number of officers in Government service who resign to join the private sector or migrate to other countries. Steps are being taken to fill Division I vacancies substantively through regular recruitment exercises. Until these are filled, temporary appointments are made to fill vacancies but those candidates in the temporary appointments can, if they have the requisite entry requirements, of course, apply for substantive appointment in the posts which they are holding on a temporary basis. The next point the Member mentioned was the National Wages Council allowances. On this, I made some comments in my Budget statement. I do not think I should go beyond what I have said in my previous comments. We shall just have to wait for the deliberations of the National Wages Council and await also their recommendations and guidelines. The Member for Bras Basah also spoke at some length on this, especially on wage scales. I was very interested to hear him say that if there was no inflation perhaps the National Wages Council need not have to make any recommendations for wage increases. I do not want to preclude even wage increases based on economic growth. So perhaps I should leave it to the proper forum, i.e, the National Wages Council, to deal with the points which have been brought up in connection with this matter today. The Member for Anson also suggested that there should be a consolidation of allowances. I stated in Parliament in February 1973 that Government would undertake a full-scale revision of salary scales at the end of every four to five years for the purpose of consolidating NWC allowances into basic salaries. The four to five years is not quite up yet, but in the proper time I will certainly consider the implementation of this proposal which I made. The Member also made some comments on tourism, especially on occupancy rates in hotels. In the Economic Survey of Singapore 1975, it was pointed out that the tourism sector continued to enjoy favourable growth. In 1975, the number of tourists visiting Singapore rose by 8%. The hotel occupancy rate increased from 70% in 1974 to 75% in 1975, which is very good by international standards. I think we may expect the tourism sector to maintain its growth this year. With economic recovery in the developed countries, there should be more tourists from those countries this year. Of course, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board will continue its promotion programme while the Sentosa Development Corporation will provide added tourist facilities and amenities. The Member also spoke of the development of Changi Airport in place of Paya Lebar. Singapore, of course, has to prepare for expansion in the volume of air cargo as well as for the increase in passengers. The Changi site has environmental advantages over Paya Lebar. On shipping and trade, the number of ships rose from 36,200 in 1974 to 38,500 in 1975. The Member's impression that many ships do not call at Singapore is therefore not correct. The world recession in 1975 brought about a global trade slump. International trade declined by 12% in real tern-s over 1974. But we were slightly more fortunate than others to have experienced only a 5% drop in real terms. As the American, Japanese and European companies gradually recover, our trade with these countries is expected to improve. The Member for Anson asked about Singapore Airlines. I am glad to assure him that Singapore Airlines is able to compete very effectively on all the routes it serves. Its fundamental problem is that because of protectionist sentiment, it is not always able to secure the traffic rights it believes it is entitled to. Notwithstanding rising costs, SIA's profits for the financial year ending 31st March, 1975 was $40.3 million. The expectation is that profits in the current year will be no less. The Member for Anson also spoke on the resiting of Government buildings outside the Central Business District and the inconvenience it caused to the public. I think consideration has been given to move some departments outside the Central Business District but it is necessary that we group together those Government departments which provide related services, and consideration must also be given to grouping related sections of departments as a unit, wherever possible, to minimise inconvenience to the public. The Member also spoke on inflation and hawkers. I think the matter has already been debated at some length. I would say that, so far as my department is concerned, we try and see that prices are fair and reasonable. But in the final analysis, we should encourage keener competition and try to lower prices in this manner. I think it is for consumers themselves to be more discriminating and to avoid patronising hawkers who profiteer. The Member also asked about banks and banking hours. Here again, we have a lot of information which is available in our brochures and so on for the banking community. But I may say that we have encouraged flexibility in banking hours and many of them have taken advantage of this flexibility. The only stipulation is that banks must provide at least 27 hours of banking service a week and that the banks remain open between the important hours of 10a.m, to 3 p.m, on weekdays. The banks are free to extend their banking hours on weekdays and even on Saturdays in accordance with the needs at their particular branches. Finally, the Member complained of discriminatory treatment of requests which originate from MPs. I hope the Member is not correct because there are many other MPs who send requests and applications to various Government departments and I think they are given every consideration. But if he can give me instances of discrimination against his requests, investigations can be made and action will be taken if the allegations are true. The Member for Kim Seng spoke about the Government's regulations on medical benefits to civil servants and the discrimination in favour of male officers whose wives and children enjoy the privilege of medical benefits. I can only say to him that these Government regulations have a very long standing, and perhaps they may need to be looked into again. The guiding principle in giving medical benefits, of course, has been to prevent the civil servant from worrying about the state of health of his family or those who depend on him. So the criterion has been dependency upon the civil servant. Traditionally, the male civil servant was the head of the household and had to shoulder the responsibility of providing for his wife and children. In the context of our present society, while the responsibility still lies with the husband in many households, I am not quite sure that the guideline is still relevant for others. It may be that working wives should now look to their employers and should no longer be given the benefit that they have been given in the past. My Ministry certainly will have some reIuctance in extending medical benefits to husbands and children of married women officer in the Service. But, as I say, obviously we have to look into these regulations which are of historical interest rather than to meet the present situation. I think the Member already has noted in his comments that medical benefits are extended to the children of a woman officer who is a widow or divorcee or who has been granted a decree of judicial separation and is the sole supporter of her family. This is the same principle of dependency upon the civil servant. Next, comments were made by the Member for Katong on payroll tax. He spoke of the inconsistency of Government regarding payroll tax. I think there is some reason for his suggestion and it was considered, perhaps in earlier days, that from this revenue we should carry out certain activities but it was later decided that the general principle that payroll tax revenue should be paid into the Consolidated Fund amid should not be earmarked for any specific purpose was the proper way of dealing with this particular matter. At the same time the purposes for which the payroll tax was originally thought to be usable would be given the same consideration as if the money was available for it. I can assure the Member for Katong and also the Member for Kallang, who also spoke on this, that if there are schemes for training or for any other purposes which are deserving, there will be no limitation in the way of funds, or if there were budgetary difficulties I would come back to the House for supplementary funds which. I am sure, will be approved to finance any particular worthy projects. As far as this revenue pooling principle is concerned, it has the advantage that if the needs are greater than `the tax, then there is no reason to unduly restrict spending on worthwhile projects because not enough of a certain tax has been collected to meet the necessary expenditure. The Member for Katong also mentioned past inefficiency in collection of payroll tax. I am glad to inform him that a Special Payroll Tax Enforcement Unit has been formed, In 1 975 it recovered tax amounting to nearly $900,000. However, the payroll tax is mild and there is not really any problem of evasion. Field officers' reports confirmed that non-payment of payroll tax arose mainly out of ignorance or a wrong interpretation of the law. Finally, the Member for Potong Pasir made some comments on consumers' interests and so on. I am afraid I did not catch all of his suggestions. I think they will be referred to my Ministry which looks after these interests and will be equally interested in any suggestion which will foster the interests of consumers.

(In Mandarin): Sir, I would like to raise four supplementary questions or suggestions for the Minister to consider. For the sake of diversifying our economic development the Minister for Finance has often stressed on this I would like to suggest to the Minister the following. Firstly, encouragement should be given to family type or cottage industries such as garment industry, furniture industry and food-packaging industry, because these industries are of a low cost nature involving only a very small amount of capital, whereas they can provide housewives with employment opportunities besides cheap goods for our people. Secondly, some undeveloped hand or small islands should be allotted for large scale vegetable growing and breeding of fish and prawns to provide more job opportunities, and on the other hand, to save large sums of foreign exchange on imported food. Thirdly, the PPD should set up a research unit to study how to further develop our orchid and tropical fish industries because the products of these two industries have been enjoying international popularity. Every year the products are earning for us large sums of foreign exchange. If we can raise and improve their quality and plan for large scale production, I am sure they will bring about greater economic benefits to our country in future. Fourthly, the EDB should prepare a comprehensive report on investment statistics and quickly collect information on international market conditions so as to provide ready and satisfactory information to intending foreign investors. This will be of great help in attracting foreign investment here. According to our statistics, last year foreign investments had reduced by 65%. What is the reason? I feel the Minister should go deeper into the cause and try to seek out some remedial measures. Finally, I would like to ask the Minister about the average income per year of our nationals, whether there was an increase last year and what was the percentage rate of increase.

I would like to ask the Minister to clarify this point. The Minister has said that the time has come for the NWC to consider whether it should not include all forms of wages and wage increases, including annual increment, in the computation of the annual NWC wage supplement. This brings about fear and speculation in the labour movement that the Government may be toying with the idea of abolishing annual increment provided for in the freely negotiated collective agreement. Whether the Government has such an intention to do away with annual increment is the question I would like the Minister for Finance to clarify.

Sir, I am very glad that the Minister has conceded that the medical benefits entitlement policy was anachronistic and that he will look into the matter. He, however, expressed reluctance that, if the matter is pursued, it is unlikely that medical benefits will be extended equally to both males and females. It is my contention that his Ministry is very unanachronistic but very efficient when it comes to matters of a revenue-generating interest. May I suggest that in view of the fact that the pattern of family unit has changed and that today the male may not necessarily be the head of a household, and the fact that there are more and more females joining the Government service, these female officers in the Government service be granted the same medical benefits as the male officers. I hope he will look into the matter sympathetically and provide an early answer.

Sir, I have not very much to add to the comments I have made. The Member for Sembawang made a number of suggestions. Some of these should be considered, but maybe more by other Ministries. For example, vegetable growing, development of orchids and tropical fish industries should, I think, be referred to my colleague, the Minister for National Development, as he is more concerned with those matters, although I am interested in economic development as a whole. As for encouragement of cottage industries, we have certainly in the past tried to help small businesses. We have some financing schemes here for small factories built in Housing Board estates and Jurong Town Corporation estates, and we certainly think that out of these small industries will come our entrepreneurs of the future. I think that particular suggestion is welcome and will be given some attention. He also suggested that perhaps we should have investment statistics ready for investors. I think we have quite a lot of them already. The problem in investment is not the lack of statistics but that there has been a slump overseas in their own countries and, therefore, they are not keen on coming to Singapore. But if there are any particular statistics that we still are deficient in, perhaps he will give me some information on them. He has asked what is the average family income today, if I understand him aright. It was said to be somewhere around $800 a few years ago. The figure was $590 per month in 1972. It is now about $900 in November 1975. The Member for Bras Basah wanted clarification on the statement that all forms of wages, wage increment and so on, should be considered together by the National Wages Council. All we want to know is the cost of labour so that there can be some way of estimating what the cost will be to some investors. Of course, some of the fringe benefits have got out of hand. This has been made quite clear in the examples which we have given to the National Wages Council or will be providing to them. As to what is going to happen to the annual increments, this is one of the matters for consideration. It can form part of the scheme which is suggested by the National Wages Council or, in fact, it can be that the National Wages Council's increases should take into account the kind of annual increments which can be given. 4.00 p.m. Finally, the Member for Kim Seng speaks of an anachronistic Ministry of Finance. This is a matter of opinion. Of course, we try to keep up with the times. As for being ready when it comes to collecting money, I think this is an expected function of the Ministry of Finance and it will continue to be a characteristic.

(In Mandarin): Sir, just now the Minister mentioned the figure of $800 with regard to income. I would like to ask him whether this sum is in terms of Singapore dollars or other currencies,

Sir, if we do not mention US dollars, it will be Singapore dollars.

Sir, the Minister has not replied to my question on whether or not the 13th month allowance will be continued.

The answer is yes.

Sir, in the hope that the Ministry of Finance will release the funds required for the Telok Blangah community centre within the next six months, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The following amendment stood in the name of Mr J F. Conceicao (2) That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BAA 1105.

Mr Conceicao is not moving. Amendment (3). Mr Hwang.

Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BBA 1109*. (* The same amendment also stood in the name of Mr J. F. Conceicao.) Second perhaps only to the complaints of discourtesy and rudeness against civil servants is their habit of passing the buck. Indeed, in his recent speech to the House, the Hon, Prime Minister mentioned that even some of his Cabinet colleagues were at times guilty of buck-passing. We have had some evidence of that during the last few days' debate. In answer to various complaints of inadequacies in services, some Hon. Ministers were only too happy to pass the buck on to the Finance Minister by saying that there was not enough money, whereas in certain instances, I have had my doubts as to whether money alone is the problem. I believe it was Harry Truman when he was unexpectedly called to be the President of the United States of America. He reportedly had installed on his desk a sign which reads "The Buck Ends Here" to serve as a constant reminder to him that he was the No. 1 boss. We are fortunate to have in Singapore a Prime Minister who does not have to be reminded that he is the chief executive and acts as one. Had this not been the case, I dread to think what would have happened to Singapore with the rather prevalent habit of buck-passing. As far as our Hon. Ministers are concerned; to be fair, I would like to think that they are rather overloaded with the day-to-day work of an administrative nature which should more rightly be done by civil servants. Consequently when these Hon. Ministers' plates are too full, they have no alternative but to pass on the buck to somebody else. Sir, you may think that I am being flippant but I seriously think that the Civil Service Staff Development Institute should include in its syllabus a practical course on "How Not to Pass the Buck", and preferably the course should be conducted in a really down-to-earth manner with plenty of practical examples. Sir, behind the habit of buck-passing I suspect are the rather more serious problems of communications breakdown, lack of proper guidance and job descriptions within our entire civil service structure. If a junior officer is put on counter service without adequate training and without being told what exactly is the extent of his authority and function, who is to be blamed for buck-passing? In such circumstances, the convenient way out for the junior officer is obviously to say "You write to us" or "You see your M P'. At times, I wish I can pass the buck too but when the answer is obviously "No", I would rather say "No" and face the consequences of being cursed and sworn at, and in extreme cases, accompanied by acts of spitting on my office floor than to waste people's time and money on a wild goose chase. I believe this is the general attitude adopted by all my colleagues at the Backbench. Our life could be made a little more tolerable if the civil servants could follow our example.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not think I can express as eloquently the points made as the Member for Jalan Kayu. So that I am not accused of passing the buck, I would like to say that I support him in everything that he has said.

Sir, both the Members for Jalan Kayu and Katong have been very helpful. In fact, I have been reading the interviews which our Management Development people have had with them, and I think they are full of sound commonsense. Maybe we should incorporate these comments into courses for civil servants so that they will learn how not to pass the buck. But in some cases even the M Ps have learned that it is not always best to say "no" to members of the public. In fact, when they do say "no", sometimes the public go to their MPs to complain of rudeness on the part of civil servants. I accept the suggestion that the Civil Service Staff Development Institute should have more practical training programmes and that they should be geared to meet the needs of the Civil Service. If Members are interested they should look at the courses which are being run by the Staff Development Institute. Of course, we try to tailor our courses to public needs and if there are any deficiencies in them we will always be happy to accept suggestions for their improvement.

Sir, by far, this must be one of the most satisfactory answers that we have got out of so many days of debate. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead BCA 1111. Sir, the Central Supplies Department is supposed to be responsible for the supply of all the necessary items which Government departments require. It is a standing rule that Government departments are not permitted to purchase anything from outside suppliers. Yet quite often when a requisition is made for certain items, the reply is "Out of stock". Sometimes, even common items like batteries, duplicating papers, etc., are out of stock. This Department which is supposed to cater for the needs of all Government departments should keep their stocks of all items up-to-date.

Sir, the Central Supplies Department caters for 574 institutions and establishments comprising Government departments, ministries, schools, hospitals and certain statutory boards. The Department cannot possibly carry stocks of all items that may be required by them from time to time. Currently, it carries stocks of 1.560 items which are commonly in use. Other items are purchased as and when required.

Sir, I think the Minister did not answer my question. Should the Government departments purchase the items from outside or obtain them from the Central Supplies Department?

Sir, if the requirement can be bought from outside, I think the Central Supplies Department will buy and put them in its stock and supply from this stock to the Government departments concerned. I do not quite understand what difficulty there is. It is like any other central purchasing department.

Sir, the duty of the Central Supplies Department is to buy the things and keep them in stock for supply to Government departments. However, sometimes the Central Supplies Department does not even keep a stock of duplicating paper and the Government departments have to purchase them from outside. They should keep a stock of all these items.

Sir, I accept the fact that the Central Supplies Department must try and keep in stock all the requirements that Government departments will need from time to time. In fact, they do keep most of the items which are in common use. Occasionally, they may be out of stock, in which case, they may have to replenish them by purchasing from outside. I think that is still the system.

Sir, in view of the explanation by the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn, The following amendment stood in the name of Mr J F Conceicao (5) That the sum to he allocated for Head W he reduced by $10 in respect of subhead DAA 1105.

Mr Conceicao is not here. Amendment (6), Mr P. Govindaswamy.

Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead DEC 1111 Sir, in order to claim tax relief for aged parents, one has to satisfy the following conditions: (1) They are living in the same household as the taxpayer; (2) They are 55 years old or more or physically or mentally handicapped; (3) They do not each have an income exceeding $750 in the year preceding the year of assessment: and (4) They are not the subject of claim made by anyone under any other provisions of the Income Tax Act. 4.15 p.m. With these conditions, it appears that some genuine cases of claims have not been granted tax relief. I would like to seek clarification from the Minister on this particular case of a girl who has to pay income tax for the first time last year. She has a widowed mother whose identity card shows the date of birth as 1920. All these years this girl has been supporting her mother by giving her a monthly allowance. Last year, when she claimed for tax relief, the Income Tax Department rejected her claim on the ground that the mother was only 54 years. She was told that she would be eligible for tax relief this year. I wonder whether this is fair. If the girl is not supporting her mother, will the Social Welfare Department give aid to the old lady? In exceptional cases why not allow children to claim relief for maintenance of their parents who are not working because of some reasons. Another condition for relief is that the dependent parent must be living at the same address as the claimant. Many of our citizens are living in HDB flats and look after their family. But often their aged parents do not stay with them for they live in another house or probably in one of the other children's houses because of the lack of rooms, Parents need not have to stay together with the claimants. They could stay in another house. Nevertheless, claimants should be allowed tax relief so long as they support their parents. I hope the Minister would relax this regulation. Sir, the income tax form has been modified over the last two years. I must thank the Income Tax Department for simplifying it. However, there is still a snag. The present system of a joint declaration in a single form may at times be impossible. There may be cases where husbands and wives have been separated because of some personal problems. Thus, the verification of the returns by one party may not he possible. I suggest the form should be further modified and, if possible, the ticking system should be adopted. Finally, the relief granted for a wife is only $1,000 per annum. This relief is completely out of proportion. Since inflation has brought so much hardship, the $1,000 relief, which was introduced a long time ago, is chicken feed. It is time the relief for the wife be increased and, if possible, the personal relief for the taxpayer too.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson has complained about the conditions regarding the implementation of tax relief for dependent parents, c ting the case of a 54 year-old mother who could not qualify for relief because the stipulated qualifying age is 55 years. I am afraid this is the inevitable result where the definite cutoff point is specified, as in this case. If we allow a 54 year-old dependant to qualify, then we shall have next to consider the 53 year-old dependant, there will be no end to claims for special treatment. Of course, if the dependant is handicapped, relief is already available even if the dependant is below 55 years old. On the requirement that the dependent parents must stay with the claimants before relief is granted, I have explained the reason for requiring this when I introduced the relief in 1973. One of the purposes of granting such `relief is to encourage taxpayers to have parents living with them and not left out in dismal isolation, especially in some Social Welfare Home for the Aged. Our Housing Board flats are no longer small. More and more four or five-room flats are being built, and it should not be difficult for parents to stay with their children, This would be in the tradition of the extended family common to Asian societies. This tradition has far-reaching and beneficial social effects and we must do all we can to encourage it. The Member also commented on the income tax return form. I am glad that he has found some improvement in the form. He has, however, objected to the joint declaration by husband and wife on the same form. I assure the Member that a joint return is riot compulsory. Should any taxpaying couple find it more convenient to file separate returns, they may do so by writing to the Comptroller of Income Tax for separate forms. Finally, he has raised the question of increasing the various personal tax reliefs. I have given reasons why this was not possible during the Budget debate last week. I do not propose to take much time repeating them.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Amendment (7)'.Mr Ivan Baptist is not here. Mr P. Govindaswamy.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, `That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead DEF 1201. Sir, there has been a wide speculation for a long time that TV licence fees will be increased very soon and that the rate for the black and white TV set would be double and that the rate for the colour TV set will be increased two to four times the present rate. So far there has been no official comment made by the department concerned. Can I seek clarification from the Minister on this point? However, before any increase is made, I appeal to the Minister to reconsider the position and hope that the TV licence fees will not be increased. Sir, no doubt this subject was discussed during the debate in the Committee of Supply under the head of the Ministry of Culture. The Minister for Culture has given a favourable reply. However. I would like a reply from the Minister for Finance himself in order to clear any doubt because he is the person who plays a major role in any increase in taxes and other financial matters. Otherwise, as in the past, we would find that the rates would be raised within the fiscal year. There must be a certain amount of truth for the press to have reported on the subject. But then, if the press reports were misleading. I feel that the Minister should rectify the mistake rather than mislead or keep the people in suspense. Can the Minister explain and guarantee that such increases will not take place? The various forms of entertainment are too expensive for members of the public. Some theatres are considering increasing the prices of their tickets. Many other forms of entertainment are far beyond the reach of the ordinary worker. The cost of living in the past few years has gone up so much so the people prefer to stay at home. The TV is quite often the only source of entertainment in many homes. If there are TV5 at home, the people will not go outside. They will enjoy the TV programmes and thus help family planning. If the rate is increased then we are just adding a heavier burden on the family. This will be an unpopular move. No doubt costs of production, etc, have gone lip and I am sure TV Singapore is not lacking in ideas in finding ways and means to increase revenue, other than to increase the rate of the TV licence fees.

Mr Speaker, Sir, since I have not included any increase in TV licence fees in my Budget statement, the Member for Anson may rest assured that I have no plans at this moment or indeed in the near future to increase the existing TV licence fee of $36 per annum which applies to both black and white TV and colour TV sets. As the Member has stated, the Minister for Culture has also made the same statement to the same effect. As regards his suggestion that perhaps I should deny the speculation on taxes which appeared in the press, I would like to say that generally I would not reply to such speculation because by a process of elimination, if anyone makes enough speculations and I reply to enough of them, then he would know exactly what taxes remain to he imposed.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank the Minister for the explanation. I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head W be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CAA 8201. Sir, in moving this amendment, I merely war-it to raise a few questions in relation to the Jurong Town Corporation. First, does the Minister not think that the setup of the Jurong Town Corporation is now over expanded to the extent that it has diverted from its original objectives? Can the JTC run its multiple functions, such as preparing lands for industries, keeping up with development of gardens and parks, the maintenance of housing estates, markets, food centres, etc? Secondly, will the JTC raise the fees charged for schools and sports associations using the Jurong Stadium for practice purposes? Thirdly, will the ground floors of the JTC flats to be built in future be left vacant so that the residents can hold special functions or for children to play about just as in the Housing Board flats? Lastly. Boon Lay Gardens is a new housing estate which has thousands of people staying there. But surprisingly there is not a single eating house, commonly known as a coffee house, in the estate. The residents find t very difficult to find a place where they can drink a cup of coffee or chit-chat with their friends. I wonder whether the JTC can convert some of the existing shophouses into eating houses.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the provision and management of markets, hawker centres, food centres are a very minor part of the Jurong Town Corporation's functions and should not in any way prevent the effective discharge of its primary responsibilities. Markets and hawker centres are desirable social amenities which must form an integral part of the housing environment created by the Corporation for workers in the industrial estates. Since its inception the Corporation has been developing and managing canteens and other food centres in its estates to supplement markets and hawker centres provided by the Ministry of the Environment. From 1973 the Corporation became solely responsible for the development and management of markets and hawker centres in new Jurong Town Corporation estates. This arrangement is similar to that of Housing Board estates. 4.30 p.m. The Member's second question is whether the Jurong Stadium will be opened free of charge to schools and sports associations for practice purposes. This is a matter of administration and, while I do not have the information and I am not really family am with the details of the Jurong Town Corporation, I believe the answer should be in the negative. The charges for use of the Jurong Stadium facilities are already very reasonable. They are about the same as those set by the Singapore Sports Council. The Stadium is being heavily used at the moment for athletic meets and soccer games by the factory workers in Jurong, the Ministry of Defence, and occasionally the schools. This heavy demand makes it desirable, if not necessary, to confine the use of the Stadium to those who are prepared to hire the facilities. The Member's third question was whether the JTC would build flats like the Housing Board where the ground floor could be used by residents for various public functions. I am given to understand by the JTC that the open deck on the ground floor which is similar in design to that provided by the HDB has been incorporated by the Corporation in the 14 blocks of flats now under construction in the Pandan Housing Estate, A similar design will also be adopted in the additional eight blocks of 800 units proposed to be built at Kampong Java Teban. Finally, on the Member's question on coffee houses for Boon Lay Gardens, I understand from the Jurong Town Corporation that the hawker centre at Boon Lay Gardens has now been completed and that the allocation of 65 stalls in the Centre was made last month. In addition, the Corporation is now in the process of obtaining the necessary approval for the conversion of four shophouses into coffee shops or coffee houses which should be ready within the next three to four months.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I do agree that markets and food centres are essential amenities in a housing estate. But is the Minister aware that due to wrong choice of sites, some hawker centres are not very well patronised. In fact, they have become "white elephants". The other point is in regard to the rent charged for the use of the Jurong Stadium for practices by the schools. I cannot agree with the Minister because I think schools are nonprofit making organisations and the students are required to practise everyday. If the schools have to pay a fee for the use of the Stadium, then the schools will be heavily burdened. I do not mind if the schools are charged a nominal sum for the holding of functions like the annual athletic meets. but not for daily practices. I wonder whether the Minister can answer my points.

Sir, I have no doubt that the Jurong Town Corporation from time to time may make some mistakes in the choice of sites for hawker centres. I hope they will do better in the Member's eyes in future, but I cannot guarantee that. As regards schools using the Jurong Stadium, I think the principle is that there should be some way of allocating use and I cannot think of a better way than to charge a certain small sum of money in order to make quite sure that when people make use of certain facilities they value this use. There is no reason why the Ministry of Education cannot afford to give the schools enough money to pay for the rent of this Stadium.

Sir, I was given to understand that for each practice session, the schools have to pay $80 for the use of the Jurong Stadium. If they practise, say, six days a week, it works out to $480 and this is quite an exorbitant sum of money to the schools. Anyway, as the Minister has given me replies to other questions, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by !eave, withdrawn. The sum of $786,687,370 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $792,563,000 for Head W ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. Head X --

Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head X be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead AAA 1004. Sir, under this Ministry we have a new Department of Scientific Services which was formerly known as the Department of Chemistry. I want to know the functions of this Department. What sort of scientific services is this Department offering to the various organisations in Singapore? Sometime ago, the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Singapore conducted a research on the feasibility of using solar energy as an alternative or extra source of energy. They have collected information on how much sunlight Singapore has for a whole year. This information has been obtained to formulate ways and means by which solar energy could be used. I wonder what has happened to the research. Is it feasible to use solar energy as ar-i extra source of energy for Singapore? Besides this, have there been any other studies made on the use of monsoon winds as an additional source of energy? I feel that as our population and services grow, we also require the much needed energy in the various fields of activities. There was a threat to our oil supply sometime ago. Now, the position has improved. But we would not know what would happen in the future. Therefore, in this respect, the Department of Scientific Services should conduct studies and find ways and means of creating extra sources of energy in the Republic. Sometime ago there was a move in making Singapore the brain centre in this region. I wonder how much have we achieved in this aim. Do we have enough facilities and manpower to fulfil the concept? I would also like to know how best have foreigners used our scientific services. In the budget allocation, we note that a revote of $3.41 million is provided for the Science Centre Building in Jurong. When will this building be finally completed so that it could be suitably used for scientific purposes?

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Member for Anson has touched on four different areas. The first point concerns the Department of Scientific Services which was formerly known as the Department of Chemistry. Prior to 1 972, the Department was mainly concerned with providing routine analytical chemical services for items such as food, water, alcohol, medicines, drugs, industrial pollution and related services on toxicology and forensic science. These services were mainly provided to Government departments to enable them to administer the various Acts and Regulations. In the last few years, the range of services provided has been considerably expanded to include other branches of science, which now include services in areas such as micro-biology, food technology, radiation protection and chemical engineering. It also provides services to the commercial and industrial sectors as and when required. The Member raised a few related questions on energy. The research at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the University of Singapore on solar energy is still in progress. They have identified a few areas where they would profitably carry out the research and we hope to be able to receive some preliminary reports soon. The Member also inquired about the proposal to use wind as a source of energy. This again is in the preliminary stage of study. I am not quite sure whether we would come out with anything concrete from this particular area. Of course, we are also interested in other sources of energy supply such as the use of animal waste, and recently there has been a proposal to use tidal waves as well. The Member for Anson will appreciate that energy research is an extremely expensive undertaking. I think the best strategy s for us to adopt whatever development that is carried out elsewhere and provide our own innovations to it. The third question the Member asked is how successful we have been in developing Singapore into a brain and service centre, Sir, it is a bit difficult to quantify. Perhaps a good indicator is revealed in a survey in 1974 on engineering manpower where it is revealed that just over 40% of the engineers in the private sector are doing consultancy work outside Singapore. I think this is an indicator of how well they are doing. The Ministry is currently conducting a survey on the consultancy work undertaken by our professional and scientific manpower and we hope to publish a directory of consultancy services available in Singapore to help our professionals sell Singapore's expertise in this area. Finally, on the question of the Science Centre, the building will be ready towards the end of this year and I hope it will be open to, the public sometime in the middle of next year.

Sir, I am very glad to hear the Hon. Minister's reply, and I beg leave to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

(In Mandarin): Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head X be reduced by $10 in respect of subhead CAA 1201*. (* The same amendment also stood in the name of Mr Yeo Toon Chia.) Sir, under this amendment I would like to ask the Minister a few questions. Firstly, up to now, what success has been achieved in the promotion of the metric system? Is the Minister happy with the achievements so far? I remember last year the Ministry launched the metrication exhibition and there was such an exhibition in the community centre in my constituency. I would like to ask the Minister whether the Ministry is going to continue with such exhibitions or campaigns to promote metrication, so that more and more people will be better informed on how to use the metric system. 4.45 p.m. Secondly, with regard to metrication education in schools, are students positively taught the use of metric system and whether the teaching of metrication in the schools has achieved good results? Thirdly, the introduction of the metric system to retail traders seems to have stopped this year. Why is this so? Does it mean that there has been some setback in the campaign to promote the use of metric system in our shops? Fourthly, I wonder whether the Minister has seen on our TV an advertisement showing two apples weighing 100 grams. The viewers could not quite comprehend this, wondering whether it means any two apples together must weigh 100 grams? How can they say that every apple weighs 50 grams, because there are big and small apples as there are big and small pears. Not only the public do not get the intended message on metrication but they are misled into believing that each and every apple weighs 50 grams. I would like the Minister to pay attention to such TV advertisements.

(In Mandarin): Mr Speaker, Sir. with regard to the promotion of the metric system, the results so far have been quite satisfactory. Last year we conducted a survey among housewives and found that most of them are aware of the metric system. However, not every housewife is well-versed with the use of the metric system. In view of this, we will strengthen our campaign. For similar reasons we will not compel traders to use the metric system this year. The Member also mentioned about the teaching of metric system in the schools. At present all the textbooks use the metric system. The exceptions are certain geography textbooks which are published in other countries, and we cannot change it. He mentioned about a TV advertisement. I regret to say that I do not watch TV very often; so I missed this publicity. But I think probably the allegation is true. The purpose of the programme is to encourage people to think iii metric, thus two apples weigh about 100 grams. I also agree with the reasoning of the Member for Sembawang and so I will remind the Metrication Board to pay more attention to this, so as not to mislead the people into a wrong understanding of the metric system.

(In Mandarin): In view of the Minister's detailed reply, I would like to withdraw my amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. The sum of $20,847,690 for Head X ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates. The sum of $28,885,750 for Head X ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates. 4.52 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 C, E, F, G, H and I. 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 page 43 of Paper Cmd 3 of 1976 stand part of the Main Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1976 to 31st March, 1977," put, and agreed to.

The remaining head of expenditure in the Development Estimates is Head H, Attorney-General's Chambers.

Question, "That the sum of $174,000 for Head H stand part of the Development Estimates for the financial year 1st April, 1976 to 31st March, 1977," put, and agreed to. Question, "That the sum of $2,611,229,810 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, 1976 to 31st March, 1977, contained in Paper Cmd 3 of 1976," put, and agreed to. Question, "That the sum of $2,610,312,050 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, 1976 to 31st March, 1977, contained in Paper Cmd 3 of 1976," put, and agreed to. Resolutions to be reported. Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to certain resolutions. First Resolution reported - "That the sum of $2,611,229,810 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, 1976 to 31st March, 1977, contained in Paper Cmd 3 of 1976." Second Resolution reported - "That the sum of $2,610,312,050 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, 1976 to 31st March, 1977, contained in Paper Cmd 3 of 1976."

Mr 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. 4.54 p.m.

Mr 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 a 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, 1976 to 31st March, 1977. The heads of expenditure and the sums that may be incurred in respect of each head are shown in the Schedule to the Bill. These have been approved by the House in the Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April, 1976 to 31st March, 1977 and appear on page 41 of Command Paper No. 3 of 1976. 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?

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. 4.55 p.m.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time," 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, 1975. These additional sums have been scheduled as Supplementary Estimates which have been considered and approved by the House as Command Paper 2 of 1976. 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 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 Four minutes to Five o'clock p.m.