Mr Speaker, Sir,I rise to give my wholehearted support to the hon. Member for Ayer Rajah who has moved the motion to thank the President for his Address on the occasion of the opening of this Parliament. Sir, the forefathers and parents and, indeed, quite a number of Singaporeans came from distant shores to this island not too long ago. They uprooted themselves from their homeland to come here because they had a vision. They had a vision of a better life for themselves and for their children. Thus, people of diverse race and culture arrived in Singapore with a common purpose. Jointly, they struggled through the colonial era. They suffered the pains and uncertainty of early nationhood and again, together, they forged a society, a prosperous society of which we are part of today. Our society, despite what the Member for Anson said, has already achieved all the fundamental needs of people everywhere. In some respects, we have done much better than many other countries. We have full employment. Many of our people own their own homes, although not quite enough. We live in a beautiful garden city. We have all the facilities that are required for a comfortable life. Recreational facilities are available. we even have a symphonic company, and pretty soon we will have an indoor sports stadium. Mr Speaker, Sir, the progress of a nation is like a journey up a series of mountain peaks where the moment we arrive at one peak we see ahead of us another peak, not too far off but a higher one, and we see in the distance the ultimate summit which is still hidden in the clouds, yet to be defined, yet to be reached. We have already arrived at the first peak. It is now necessary for us, as a nation, to strike out boldly for new objectives, to reach the second peak that we can see ahead of us. We must do so in order that the vitality and sense of accomplishment that characterize Singaporeans today is not dulled through complacency and lassitude. Mr Speaker, Sir, therefore, the vision of an affluent, vibrant and caring Singapore society, poised to enter the 21st century, is timely and a necessary beacon to light our way in the coming years. It is a vision to give purpose to what we are about to do. A government can steer the ship of state to great achievements with the support of a willing crew member, that is, the people. In the past, Mr Speaker, Sir, the force of circumstance has frequently led this Government to take quick action when people were poorly educated, jobless, homeless or living in squalid conditions. There can be no other choice. The government of the day must take prompt and decisive action. The fact that today Singaporeans are enjoying a high standard of living is a testimony to the ability and judgment of our earlier leaders. They have successfully led the people to conquer the first peak. Now, as we gather our forces to prepare ourselves to assault the second peak that we see ahead of us, we need, first of all, to strengthen the bond between the people and the Government. The effort to encourage greater participation by the people in matters and decisions that concern their life, marks a welcome change. I hope that this change is not mistaken to be merely a response of this Government to the loss of 12.6% more votes in the last general election. If it were those votes that this Government is interested in, then there are many other soft and easy options which can be used. The reality is that if we are to succeed in reaching our second peak, we need now, more than ever before, the wholehearted support and commitment of all Singaporeans. We need to convince them of the destiny facing our nation and to gain their total support so that we can complete the course together and arrive victorious on higher ground. Mr Speaker, Sir, the forces of nature work against Singapore in the struggle for success. No amount of reclamation will ever alter the fact that we are but a very tiny island on the face of this earth. Nothing is buried beneath our soil that will earn us a living, By the turn of the century, we will still be a nation of about three million people and not that we have room for many more. If we cannot keep abreast of global technological development, we will rapidly suffer the 'Consequence of neglect. There is no second line of defence for Singapore. We cannot go back to the land to eke out a living. Keeping chickens in the backyard may be a very earthy suggestion but, Mr Speaker, Sir, it is anachronistic and far from the aspirations of many Singaporeans. Mr Speaker, Sir, let me give an example which will be very easily understood because of the average Singaporean's great love for a car. Singapore is rather like a 1400 cc car, one of the ubiquitous Japanese cars we see on the road. There is only so many horsepower that you can get out of this 1400 cc engine. But if you are willing to invest in that little extra, if you are willing to pay and put in the effort of installing a turbo charger, Mr Speaker, Sir, you can make your 1400 cc car perform like a 2000 cc car. It can take you into the formula races. Mr Speaker, Sir, at this point of time, we must make this decision to put in that extra effort so that we, as a nation, can make it to the second peak. This is the message that must be emphasized to Singaporeans, to the younger generation, particularly, who, in a manner of speech, have arrived at the first peak, without too arduous a journey. They are camped there now and the option that faces them is to go on to the next peak or to go back, down to where they came from. Mr Speaker, Sir, the next task ahead of this Government is to evolve an equitable system of helping the less successful in our midst. They are less successful but nonetheless most of them are conscientious and hardworking people, honest people, but because of age, lack of education or other personal circumstances, they are part of the low-income wage earner group, unable to keep pace with general affluence. Many are casual labourers or self-employed, without the benefit of a CPF saving. These are the people who, in another time, in another place, would have continued to live a simple life in their tiny farms or their fishing village, But, Mr Speaker, Sir, in the context of Singapore, the privilege of living off the land is a privilege that we can ill-afford. The low-income group in their rental flat is thus facing a real danger of being detached from the mainstream of society. As time goes by, it will be more and more difficult for them and for many of their children to pull themselves out of this trap. Failure to help them now would be to leave behind in our progress a weak spot, a weakness in the fabric of our society that could one day lead to the erosion of all our achievements. Therefore, Mr Speaker, Sir, I give the declaration to help the low-income wage earners become homeowners in their own right my loudest cheer. Mr Speaker, Sir, in doing so, we must also take pains to ensure that such assistance does not become a crutch and that others would be tempted to slacken in their own efforts to forge ahead. It is a paradox which will not be easily solved. It shall require some radical thinking and bold departures from our usual meritocratic approach. For a start, Mr Speaker, Sir, the 20% downpayment for HDB flats has often been cited by many rental flat tenants as a major obstacle to their purchase of their own homes. I would urge the HDB to seriously review the quantum of downpayment for selected categories of flats which rental flat tenants can be encouraged to purchase. Mr Speaker, Sir, this Government's desire to create the pre-conditions for fruitful efforts to generate wealth is most laudable. Economic well-being is a fire that stokes on nation building effort. We need to have economic well-being and growth to be able to achieve our society of excellence. In recent years we have achieved good economic growth. However, our present targets are set at a more modest pace of 5-7%. Mr Speaker, Sir, recently we have witnessed several examples of difficulties in our economy. Even large multi-national companies are suffering some setbacks. Several had to retrench staff. We also read regularly between the pages of our newspapers of the difficulties faced by the other sectors of our economy. Such setbacks serve to highlight the sensitivity and delicate balance of our economic structure in relation to the larger economy of the Western nations and Japan. Mr Speaker, Sir, I suggest that these are also reasons for us to examine carefully how our projected 5-7% growth in the coming year will be distributed among the various sectors of our economy. In this way, we may be able to avoid the danger that may come from a skewed growth in our economy. We do have a large number of medium-sized companies, numbering around 61,000. These include supporting industries which offer goods and services to consumers, to large national and multi-national enterprises. These companies are home-grown. They have their roots sunk deeply ,into Singapore. They are not able, like the multi-nationals, to shift their operations to new theatres when economic conditions are unfavourable. The survival of these companies is dependent on their willingness and ability to absorb new methods and technology. Under the present circumstances, Mr Speaker, Sir, these companies are in great need of assistance if they are to survive a harsh cycle. Assistance to help them in upgrading, in assimilating new technologies is needed and yet, Mr Speaker, Sir, I note the paradox that, in the 1983 and 1984 Report of the Skills Development Fund, out of this group of small and medium-sized companies of 430,000 or so, only 7.2% of their total pool of employees received training. On the other hand, the larger companies which, in times of economic stress retrench their workers or shift their operation elsewhere, receive in the same period training for 26% of their staff of 500-odd thousand. In the light of the difficulties being experienced by the small and the medium industries, I urge this Government to review the training spread of workers in the various sectors. Greater emphasis should be made to balance out the apparent gap between contributions from the small and medium industries and the benefits that they are deriving under the Skills Development Fund. Mr Speaker, Sir, a further step which needs to be taken at this time is a thorough review of the system of tax overheads that has been built into our economy. During the good years nobody will dispute the need for contributing to the Skills Development Fund levy of 4%, contribution to the payroll tax of 2%, and several other Government taxes for utility and services. However, when economic adjustment needs to be made, in face of adverse market conditions, there is a need to ensure that such overheads do not artificially phase out otherwise worthwhile and viable enterprises. The presence of a broad spectrum of business enterprises, from small, medium to large, gives us an added degree of resilience to our economy. It creates opportunity to cultivate entrepreneurship and business acumen in our people. Mr Speaker, Sir, just as we wish to promote excellence in sports, music and literary art, where individual endeavours are the yardstick of success, we must give the individual entrepreneurs a fair opportunity to contribute to our economy. I fully support the motion of the Member for Ayer Rajah. 12.20 pm