Hansard, 1981-02-20

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS - Debate on the Address - (Fourth Allotted Day) Order read for Resumption of Debate on Question [17th February, 1981]. That the following Address in reply to the Speech of the President be agreed to:- "We. the Parliament of the Republic of Singapore, express our thanks to the President for the Speech which he delivered on behalf of the Government at the opening of the First Session of this Parliament.".'. - [Mr Eugene Yap Giau Cheng]. Question again proposed.

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS - Debate on the Address - (Fourth Allotted Day) Mr Speaker, Sir, the President in his Address has listed the building of a new relationship between management and labour - where both pull, and are seen to be pulling together - as one of the three major tasks for the Republic in the 1980s. Many Members have spoken in support of the need for good labour-management relations for the 80s and beyond. The need for employers, unions and workers to work as a team, the need for good management and the need for workers to adopt the right work attitudes, have been. pointed out repeatedly during the course of this debate. I wish to thank Members for their concern for good labour-management relations. My Ministry recognises the need for higher productivity if our economy is to upgrade and to grow. It also realises that crucial to this is cooperation among management, union and workers and good work attitudes. The Government's role will be one of promoting and supporting the development of good labour-management relations and good work attitudes. To this end, a number of measures have been worked out by the Ministry of Labour and the National Productivity Board. The National Productivity Board will expand its training programmes for middle management and supervisors. For example, in-depth courses will be conducted on human relations, communication, industrial relations and related topics. The Member for Mountbatten may wish to know that the National Productivity Board is already promoting the concept of QC circles. It will also assist firms to establish this form of labour-management cooperation. My Ministry will take a firm stand against unreasonable demands of unions and unreasonable actions of management which are not conducive to good labour-management relations and work attitudes. Measures against bad work attitudes, like job-hopping, are being studied. Job-hopping is a multi-faceted problem, and I wish to thank the Member for Whampoa for his lecture yesterday. I benefited from time to time from the wisdom that he imparted to me especially about "healthy labour mobility". Whilst some job mobility is necessary, too much job-hopping, especially those for frivolous reasons, will negate our effort to promote work attitudes. My Ministry is currently conducting a survey of some 6,600 CPF members who change jobs more than three times within a period of 12 months from April 1979 to March 1980 with a view to determining the causes for job-hopping. Members may wish to know also that about 85,000 CPF members changed jobs at least once during this same period. Besides the CPF Employment Record Scheme introduced in January this year to enable employers to check the job history of their prospective employees, two other measures have been proposed. One is a disincentive scheme involving the forfeiture of employers' CPF contribution if a worker changes job more than three times a year. Another is an incentive scheme to encourage workers to stay on with their employers. We have consulted both employers' organizations and the unions on these two measures and are presently studying their views and recommendations. I wish to assure Members that any measure finally adopted will be monitored to assess its effectiveness and to ensure that it does not result in undesirable social effects. Sir, a number of Members have said that we should learn from the Japanese and West German labour-management relations and work attitudes. I agree that we should do so. I should, however, add that we will learn from any country which has a good record of positive work attitudes and good labour-management relations. Although there is, as alleged, some softening in the work attitudes of some of our workers, I must say that the great majority of our workers do have positive work attitudes. With better management, they can be motivated to a higher level of productivity. Therefore, management must be convinced that wholehearted cooperation of their workers is crucial to the vitality and productivity of their companies. Management of personnel should no longer be seen as merely a function of the personnel department. Rather, it should also be the responsibility of all management and supervisory staff. They should ensure that their staff who handle workers are trained in the management of people. In this regard, employers' organizations should implement programmes which will lead to good management of personnel among their member companies. On the other hand, unions should disregard partisan interest, identify and isolate bad workers and apply group pressure on them before their bad work habits spread. Unions should realise the importance of good labour-management relations and support programmes for labour-management cooperation. There must, therefore, be tripartite cooperation if we are to evolve a new labour-management relationship. While each has its role to play, ultimately it is the management, supported by labour, that will determine whether we will succeed in the eighties and beyond. Sir, may I now turn to the points raised by the Member for Thomson. I am grateful for his concern shown in the matter of industrial safety and health. Apparently, the hon. Member has benefited from his association and discussion with my officers. I do know that the hon. Member has been concerned with the promotion of safety and health for our workers even before he was elected to this House. His efforts are praiseworthy and I am grateful. My Ministry is currently carrying out a comparative study of the industrial safety and health situation in Singapore in relation to those of other countries. It is also looking into how other countries are discharging the functions of providing training, consultancy services and research in occupational safety and health and with what success. The result of these studies would help us to decide on the best way in which we can provide training, consultancy services and research on occupational safety and health in Singapore. It is imperative, indeed pertinent, for us to examine in greater detail how best such a body can serve the purpose and the needs relevant to the Singapore situation in industrial safety and health. The studies I mentioned earlier are precisely directed to this end. If the Institute, or in whatever form it will take, eventually emerges, we may even engage the services of foreign consultants, as proposed by the hon. Member, if the need requires. My Ministry is aware of the point raised by the hon. Member also on the shortage of safety and health personnel. As regards safety officers, my Ministry, taking into account the shortage of trained manpower, is reviewing the need for the employment of safety officers in certain industries which are less hazardous. Industrial hygiene, which he also mentioned in his comments yesterday, is a rare discipline. There is a world shortage of industrial hygienists. As for industrial nurses and doctors, the problem is less difficult to overcome. It is really a matter of supplementing their basic professional training, and this exercise will form part of our work programme. The Member for Thomson also touched on statutory medical examinations. These statutory medical examinations are required only for a few categories of workers. Many factories have, on the advice of the Industrial Health Division, provided periodic medical examinations for their workers exposed to specific health hazards. Results of these examinations are being monitored by the Industrial Health Division of the Ministry. The Ministry intends to extend statutory medical examinations to cover a wider range of industrial occupations. We will certainly take note of the Member's observations when this is done. As to the other points raised by various hon. Members in this House during the last three days, these points are noted and they will be looked into and studied by the Ministry. Now, Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to turn to the SBS. The SBS, like any other public company, has a right to make some profit and it should not be ashamed to say so. The SBS is answerable not only to the Stock Exchange but also to the shareholders, most of whom are men in the street who have invested in SBS with their hard-earned savings and with money from the CPF. The SBS is not subsidized by the Government and for this reason most of the profits are ploughed back into the company for replacement of old buses with newer and better ones and to buy more buses to provide a higher level of service and to meet increasing demand. The Member for Changi unfortunately has not been fair to SBS by accusing the company of profiteering. He alleged that SBS is making a huge profit. This is not true. He knows and I know that this is not true. SBS bus fares were last raised on 1st December, 1979, nearly 1 1/2 years ago. Since then, operating costs have been rising steadily and this has negated the effects of the last fare increase. In 1980 SBS spent about $36 million on diesel alone compared to about $16 million in 1979, an increase of 77%. The wage bill too has increased. It rose by about 19%. Hon. Members may wish to note that, as a matter of fact, SBS has been reporting an average operating loss of some $700,000 every month since August last year. In order to cut down costs, economies of operation have to be realized, and it is partly for this reason that the trunk and feeder concept and the OMO concept have been introduced in new towns. This is a more rational and efficient mode of operation, as it removes the need for trunk services to circulate in towns, especially in a new HDB town. In this way there is less waste. Commuters are generally happy with this new arrangement as it provides them with a reliable and efficient transport service. It may appear that the need to transfer at interchanges imposes a monetary as well as a time penalty on some of the commuters. But without the feeder concept, bus fares would generally have to be even higher and the level of services would be lower. Fares charged on feeder services are already low. If these are to be abolished, as suggested by the Member for Changi, then the cost of providing the feeder service will have to be passed on to commuters on the trunk services. Either way, someone will have to pay since, as I have mentioned earlier, SBS is not subsidized. The Member for Kebun Baru raised the point on the feeder services in Ang Mo Kio and about the reply card that he has received from SBS so far, I have taken note of the point he has raised and I shall look into it personally. Finally, Sir, on the question of concessions to senior citizens. I agree with Members that concessionary travel will encourage the aged to travel more frequently and to socialize. I have already asked the SBS to seriously look into this matter again. 2.51 p.m.