Hansard, 2003-04-24

Under the provisions of clause 2(d) of Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, the following Members have been granted permission to be or to remain absent from sittings of Parliament (or any Committee of Parliament to which they have been appointed) for the periods stated: NameFromTo (2003)(2003) Mr Arthur Fong25 Mar28 Mar Dr Amy Khor25 Mar31 Mar NameFromTo (2003)(2003) Mdm Halimah Yacob25 Mar31 Mar 6 Apr10 Apr Mr Gan Kim Yong26 Mar28 Mar Mr Charles Chong27 Mar31 Mar Assoc Prof Ngiam Tee Liang27 Mar31 Mar Mr Lim Swee Say29 Mar30 Mar BG George Yeo2 Apr5 Apr 7 Apr10 Apr 27 Apr10 May Prof S Jayakumar2 Apr5 Apr 7 Apr10 Apr Mr Othman Haron Eusofe3 Apr21 Apr Mr Leong Horn Kee4 Apr18 Apr Miss Penny Low4 Apr23 Apr Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam6 Apr13 Apr A/P Koo Tsai Kee6 Apr13 Apr Mr Inderjit Singh7 Apr12 Apr 5 May8 May 13 May23 May Mr Hawazi Daipi7 Apr10 Apr Mr Goh Chok Tong8 Apr9 Apr 29 Apr- 3 May12 May Dr Teo Ho Pin12 Apr20 Apr Mr Abdullah Tarmugi14 Apr17 Apr Mr Mohamad Maidin BPM15 Apr22 Apr Mr Ahmad Md Magad15 Apr21 Apr 24 Apr26 Apr Dr Lee Boon Yang17 Apr20 Apr Mr Ng Ser Miang24 Apr- Mr K Shanmugam24 Apr- Mr Ong Kian Min24 Apr Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon24 Apr Mr Loh Meng See28 Apr2 May Mr Lee Yock Suan28 Apr30 Apr Mr Wong Kan Seng29 Apr30 Apr Mr Lim Hng Kiang1 May5 May RAdm Teo Chee Hean3 May10 May ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

The following Bills were assented to by the President of the Republic of Singapore on the dates stated:- 25 March 2003 (i) Supply Bill (ii) Supplementary Supply (FY 2002) Bill (iii) Customs (Amendment) Bill 27 March 2003 (i) The Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Bill (ii) The International Enterprise Singapore Board (Amendment) Bill ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

Order. I wish to inform hon. Members that, pursuant to Standing Order No. 1(3)(a), the commencement time of future sittings of Parliament shall be at 1.30 pm. The moment of interruption shall be at 6.00 pm. Consequent upon the change of the commencement time, I have also revised such other times specified in the Standing Orders which I will circulate to hon. Members. These times will also appear in the Official Report (Cols. 2165-2166). Appendix - Announcement by Mr Speaker Question Time will continue for up to one and a half hours from the commencement of a sitting pursuant to the resolution passed by Parliament on 2nd April 2002.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a) what progress has been made in referring the issue of Pedra Branca to the International Court of Justice; and (b) whether the Singapore and Malaysian Governments have ratified the Special Agreement.

Mr Speaker, Sir, after the signing of the Special Agreement on 6th February 2003, the next step is for the two Governments to ratify the Special Agreement and exchange the Instruments of Ratification. Only after this is done can both Governments jointly refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice. On 17th February, we informed Malaysia that Singapore Government has ratified the Special Agreement and we proposed that both Governments exchange the Instruments of Ratification on 24th February 2003 when both Foreign Ministers would be in Kuala Lumpur for the Non-Aligned Meeting. The Malaysian Government replied on 19th February stating that because of heavy commitments that month arising from their hosting of the NAM Summit in KL, it was unable to do so on that date but would propose a new date for the exchange of Instruments of Ratification in due course. That is where things stand and we have, on 11th April, reminded them again to propose dates for this formality of exchange of Instruments of Ratification.

Sir, does the Minister find it surprising that the Malaysians, who were hurrying us on the date for signing the Special Agreement earlier on, are now dragging their feet on the essential issue of instruments of ratification?

Well, in a sense, it is surprising. And I do not know why that is so. I am also as puzzled as the Member is as to why Malaysia is taking so long to ratify the Special Agreement. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar and I agreed, when we signed the Special Agreement in Putra Jaya on 6th February 2003, that ratification of the Special Agreement would be done expeditiously by both sides so that the ICJ process can begin. More than eight weeks have passed since the hosting of the Non-Aligned Summit, and Dr Ong is right that Malaysia has criticised Singapore for delaying the signing of the Special Agreement. Now that we have signed the Special Agreement, we should get on with the next step without unreasonable delay. I hope that the Malaysian government would be able to, as it had promised, propose dates for the exchange of Instruments soon. As I have said, we have reminded them recently on 11th April.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs what is the Government's contribution to international humanitarian and other efforts at rebuilding Iraq.

Mr Speaker, Sir, Singapore supports the United Nations' humanitarian relief effort along with the work carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross. On 23rd March 2003, the Singapore Red Cross Society launched a national appeal for humanitarian aid to Iraq. The Singapore Government made a contribution of S$442,000 to kick-start this national humanitarian effort. I understand that, so far, the national appeal has raised more than S$770,000. More than S$200,000 has already been pledged to the International Committee of the Red Cross to purchase basic necessities such as food parcels and wheat flour. The Singapore Government will also be contributing a medical team of 13 personnel for a three-monthly rotation, as well as material contributions such as tents, blankets and cots. The expenses of such additional contributions total S$3 million. We believe that the people of Iraq deserve the full support of the UN and international community as they rebuild their lives and their country. Singapore will do what it can in the international effort to help Iraq rebuild and return to normal. This will pave the way for its eventual reintegration into the global community.

asked the Minister for National Development, (a) whether the privatisation process for the HUDC condominium at Bedok Reservoir (now called Waterfront) was carried out in accordance with the Land Titles (Strata) Act; (b) what course of action is open to the residents of Waterfront who are unhappy about the privatisation; (c) what was the role of the pro-tem committee and whether its members carried out their work properly; and (d) whether there were $20 million worth of defects which the Housing and Development Board did not make good on.

Mr Speaker, Sir, first, let me explain the privatisation process. Privatisation converts the HDB leases into strata titles under the Land Titles (Strata) Act (LTSA). This changes the status of these flats from public to private housing. With privatisation, flat owners will no longer be subject to HDB's restrictions on the use, ownership and resale of their flats. They can sublet their flat wholly, purchase HDB resale flats and sell their flats to a wider group of potential buyers. Flat owners will own the common property as tenants-in-common and have the autonomy to manage and upgrade their estate, according to their needs and aspirations. The privatisation of the former Bedok Reservoir HUDC Estate was carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Land Titles (Strata) Act (LTSA). The relevant provisions of the LTSA allow for such a conversion if, at least 75% of the lessees of the total number of flats apply to do so, and the proprietor of the land agrees to transfer the land to them. Privatisation is therefore the choice of flat owners. HDB cannot and does not compel the flat owners to privatise their estates unless the majority wish to do so. HDB has explained its position with regard to the privatisation process in its letters of 30th April 2002 and 5th October 2002 to Waterfront View residents, and in a letter published in the Forum Page of The Straits Times on 11th May 2002. The application to convert the HDB flat leases to strata titles was submitted under the relevant provisions of the LTSA and the documents (including the written consents signed by more than 75% of the lessees of the Estate) were lodged with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) on 3rd December 2001. The written consents of the lessees were signed over a period of time prior to the submission of the documents to SLA. There is no requirement in the LTSA that the 75% mandate must be obtained in a single day. On 6th December 2001, the SLA posted a notice in The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao providing for written objections to privatisation to be lodged within six weeks. It also sent a copy of the notice by registered post to all the individual flat owners on 10th December 2001. No objections were received. As the application was in order, the SLA registered the Strata Title Plan on 1st February 2002, ie, the estate was privatised on 1st February 2002. The certificate of constitution of the Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST) Plan No. 2625 was issued by SLA on 2nd February 2002. I believe that only a small proportion of the residents of Waterfront View were not in favour of privatisation. These residents should accept that the majority of the residents had wanted privatisation. Unfortunately, some of these residents have taken the matter to court and have sued some members of the Pro-tem Committee ("PC") and the law firm that had been selected by the PC to assist them. The Court will determine if those residents who have sued have a genuine case. The Role of the Pro-tem Committee HDB had, pursuant to its procedure for privatisation, encouraged the residents of the former Bedok Reservoir HUDC Estate to form a Pro-tem Committee (PC) with the help of the Member of Parliament. This was done in 1996 by the MP of the area at that time, Mr Chew Heng Ching, under the auspices of the relevant grassroots organisation. The members of the PC were subsequently endorsed in 1997 by the Kampong Kembangan Community Centre Secretariat and by the new MP for the area, BG George Yeo. The role of the PC was to facilitate the process of privatisation. The members of the PC were all volunteers who worked as the liaison between the residents, the lawyers selected by the PC to conduct the privatisation process, HDB and the other relevant authorities on privatisation matters. I understand that the PC had kept the residents fully informed throughout the privatisation exercise. From October 1996 to April 2002, the PC issued 16 newsletters to the residents, updating them on the various issues of privatisation, such as the conversion cost, progress of the various works carried out in the estate and inviting more volunteers to serve in the PC. They consulted the residents on the fencing and re-naming of the estate after privatisation. The PC acted according to HDB's guidelines, and has, in HDB's view, discharged its roles diligently and acted bona fide in the interest of the residents. Alleged defects in the estate It is not true that there are widespread defects existing in Waterfront View which would cost $20 million to rectify. HDB has, consequent to receiving a survey report commissioned by the MCST and which purports to set out the extent of the alleged defects, made a preliminary assessment of these defects. HDB has discovered that these "defects" were generally due to fair wear and tear. This is not surprising, given that the former Bedok Reservoir HUDC estate was built more than 18 years ago. In any case, the rectification cost of $20 million for these wear and tear items is greatly exaggerated. HDB structural engineers inspected the blocks in the estate in April/May 1997 and again in April 2001. The buildings were found to be structurally sound. The competent authorities, namely, the Fire Safety and Shelter Bureau and the Building and Construction Authority, have issued the Fire Safety Certificate (on 21st January 2003) and the Certificates of Statutory Completion (on 7th March and 13th March 2003) accordingly for the estate. Prior to privatisation, the estate maintenance works were undertaken by the Aljunied Town Council. With privatisation, the MCST has taken over the unexpended funds of more than $1 million from the Town Council, being an accrual of the monthly service and conservancy charges the flat owners had paid to the Town Council. This is one of the highest amongst all the HUDC estates privatised so far. The MCST has the autonomy to decide on the types of repair and improvement works, and the amount of maintenance fees to be collected from the residents. It follows that the rectification of defects is largely the responsibility of the MCST. Let me conclude by reiterating three points with regard to the privatisation of the former Bedok Reservoir HUDC Estate. Firstly, the privatisation was carried out in accordance with the procedures set out in the LTSA. Since 1st February 2002, the estate is a private condominium under the ambit of the LTSA. Secondly, the PC acted according to HDB's guidelines on HUDC estate privatisation. It has, in HDB's view, discharged its duties diligently and acted bona fide in the interest of residents. Lastly, the $20 million cost of rectifying the said "defects" in the estate is greatly exaggerated. The blocks in the estate were certified to be structurally sound during HDB's inspections in April/May 1997 and in April 2001. With privatisation, the maintenance and management of the estate are the responsibility of the MCST.

Two supplementary questions, Sir. Some residents are concerned that their apartment values have dropped because of the bad publicity. Would the Minister agree to goodwill repairs of some of the defects? After all, in response to repeated requests by BG George Yeo and the Pro-tem Committee before privatisation, HDB did agree to carry out goodwill repairs at the end of 2001. Second question: after privatisation, some residents have been led to believe that under the HUDC Act, the residents of Waterfront View should have been required to pay only $1, instead of about $20,000 for the privatisation. Can the Minister clarify this, please?

Sir, it is correct that HDB had, arising from some strong representations made by the MP for the area, BG George Yeo, as well as the PC - this was sometime in March and April 2002 - to carry out some goodwill repairs to the aprons at some of the blocks in his estate. This was, notwithstanding the fact that, as I said earlier, the maintenance and the upkeep of the common areas and the aprons were under the responsibility of the MCST by then. However, with the commencement of the law suit by some residents on the privatisation process, it is best for HDB to wait for the outcome of the law suit before taking any further action. Any goodwill repairs would, of course, have to be considered in the light of the recent complaint of defects by the MCST. As for the MP's second query about the payment of the conversion fee, whether it should be $1 or more, let me clarify that there are two kinds of HUDC estates. The first type of HUDC estates are the estates that were built under Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the HUDC programme. The second type would be under the next phases, Phases 3 and 4. The HUDC Housing Estates Act applies to flats in HUDC Phases 1 and 2 estates. These estates were built and sold in the 1970s by the former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) Private Limited. Under this Act, the flat lessees own the common property as tenants-in-common. Waterfront View is one of the HUDC Phases 3 and 4 estates, and these estates were sold by HDB in the mid-1980s under Part IV of the Housing and Development Act (or H&D Act), which is different from the HUDC Housing Estates Act. The HUDC Housing Estates Act does not apply to Waterfront View. The residents of Waterfront View did not own the common property before privatisation. So, as part of the privatisation exercise, the residents have purchased the common property from HDB and they now own it as tenants-in-common. The cost of this transfer of common property at Waterfront View is not at the nominal sum of $1, as provided in the HUDC Act. It is $18,992.65 per flat, inclusive of stamp duty. Residents of the estates will also have to pay other costs that are associated with privatisation, such as processing fees, which will bring the total cost of conversion to about $20,000. This, I must add, is lower than the estimated cost of $25,000 which the residents were informed of at the commencement of the privatisation exercise.

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, in view of the findings by the Maritime and Port Authority that the collision involving RSS Courageous was due to several errors of judgement by Navy personnel, (a) whether young trainee officers will continue to be put on the watch of Navy vessels; and (b) whether officers are trained on international maritime regulations and the conditions under which these regulations can be broken for operational reasons.

Mr Speaker, Sir, first, I would like to clarify that a qualified Officer-of-the-Watch is always responsible for the safe navigation of an RSN ship. When there is a trainee officer undergoing training to qualify as an Officer-of-the-Watch, the trainee officer may direct the ship's movement under the direct supervision of a qualified Officer-of-the-Watch who always remains responsible for the safety of the ship. Members will appreciate that naval officers have to be trained not just in classroom-based lessons and theory but also in the practical application of the various skills required of a naval officer. This includes watchkeeping skills at sea. The training system includes regular written assessments to ensure currency on bridge watchkeeping as well as many practical sessions on ship handling simulators. A key part of the qualification process involves practical training at sea, during which the trainee Officer-of-the-Watch is allowed to handle the ship under close supervision. This is necessary so that our young officers are trained and qualified under realistic operating conditions and learn to make the judgements and decisions that are necessary. At all times, the trainee is under the close supervision of a qualified Officer-of-the-Watch, and it is the qualified Officer-of-the-Watch who is always fully responsible for the safety of the ship during his watch. On the issue of maritime regulations, RSN Officers-of-the-Watch have to study the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, and they are tested on these international regulations every six months. Thorough knowledge of these International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea is an important feature of the training syllabus which qualifies RSN Officers-of-the-Watch. RSN ships have to comply with the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, except when operational circumstances do not permit compliance. RSN officers know that if there should be an operational requirement to deviate from these collision regulations, the ship must do so with full regard for safety. Any deviation from the collision regulations must not compromise safety or jeopardise other shipping. There may be various operational conditions requiring a deviation from the collision regulations, depending on the mission and the operating environment. An example would be when an RSN ship has to respond to violations of our territorial integrity or pre-position herself in a situation which may require such a response. Military operations often do not proceed in a regulated or predictable way, and it is important that RSN officers are fully and comprehensively trained so that they can carry out their missions effectively in whatever circumstances they may find themselves in.

asked the Minister for Health (a) how such a serious breach of ethical standards in the conduct of medical research on human subjects at the National Neuroscience Institute could have taken place and remained undetected for so long; (b) what safeguards will be instituted to prevent such breaches and better protect patients from unauthorised medical tests undertaken by bio-medical researchers as well as ensure that medical records are not released for purposes other than the treatment of patients without their consent and whether these safeguards can be made public; (c) what steps will be taken to educate patients of their rights so that they too can better protect themselves when confronted with such situations; and (d) what control mechanism is in place to prevent the use of questionable research methods on human subjects for bio-medical research.

The conduct of research on human subjects in Singapore has to be carried out in accordance with rules which are internationally accepted and which are based on the Helsinki Declaration. Under these rules, the welfare of the human subjects is paramount. The research procedure must also be approved by independent Ethics Committees of Hospitals from where the research is to be conducted. In the NNI project, investigations show that Prof Shorvon and his assistant, Dr Ramachandran (who was the Project Manager), deliberately subverted the rules. They did not tell the Hospital Ethics Committees the exact tests that were going to be conducted on the human subjects. They misled the Ethics Committees into thinking that they were only going to extract blood. In fact, they carried out other tests which had not been approved. These tests were not conducted with proper safeguards and exposed the human subjects to unacceptable risks. The two doctors also did not tell the human subjects the whole truth about the tests. There was a clear and deliberate breach of the Helsinki Declaration and our own national guidelines. The unapproved testing started in May 2002. Most of the human subjects were, however, tested in the period November to December 2002. By January 2003, the unethical actions came to light and the project was suspended. There was thus a period of about 5 to 6 months where the unapproved testing was carried out. Such conduct is serious and unacceptable. We will not tolerate this. Research is important. But it has to be carried out ethically. That has to be the foundation on which we build our biomedical research capability. There is nothing seriously deficient about the systems and procedures that we had put in place. The problem was that we had two doctors in the project who very deliberately circumvented the rules. It is not easy to legislate against such conduct. Everyday research is being carried out ethically. Most people are honest. Drs Shorvon and Ramachandran are the exception. Their conduct was exposed when the human subjects and their doctors complained. We have to look carefully at what we can do. To prevent any errant researcher from attempting to beat the system by seeking out loopholes, we will look at how we can further strengthen the existing systems. The Ministry appointed a Committee of Inquiry to look into the system and procedures relating to the ethics approval and conduct of the study in question. The Committee made several recommendations to strengthen the ethics approval process in hospitals for clinical research, ensure the medical confidentiality of patient information in hospitals, and improve the standards for the conduct of clinical research. My Ministry will study the NNI Panel's report as well as its Committee of Inquiry's Report, and will do what is necessary to strengthen the components of the existing research oversight system. The hospital ethics committees and research monitoring process would be strengthened, so that any deviations from the approved stated protocols are detected and remedied early. But we do not want to put in so many rules to counter dishonesty that we end up seriously affecting honest researchers. Experience shows that such rules will not always deter dishonesty anyway. What is really needed, in addition to strengthening the existing systems, is strong leadership in the various institutions that deal with research, and a strong culture of ethics. There has to be strong leadership with a deft touch, so that the freedom to do proper research is not curbed by bureaucracy while, at the same time, errant researchers are pulled up quickly. We will look into this seriously. The Ministry will also look into the education of patients and the general public about their role in medical research.

Could the Minister comment whether the patients under the unethical medical research suffered any side effects or long-term effects as a result of unacceptable withdrawal of their long-term medication?

As I said, the tests that were conducted on the patients were done without the knowledge of their supervising doctors. So, that is a clear breach of ethics. The impact of the tests on them varies and the patients are now being watched over by their doctors.

I understand from the media that two charges have been brought against the PhD student for causing grievous hurt and cheating. I just want to seek confirmation whether that is indeed the case, and whether similar charges are being brought against the lead investigator, Dr Shorvon.

It is indeed correct that the two charges have been brought against Dr Ramachandran. He has left the country and we have put up a warrant of arrest and are seeking his extradition back to Singapore. As for Prof. Shorvon, he has accepted the findings of the Report and we are taking the findings up with the professional Medical Council to take professional action against him.

asked the Prime Minister (a) what are the recommendations of the two sub-committees formed to review the interpreters' and translators' services; and (b) whether the Government has accepted all or part of the recommendations and, if so, will the new scheme be competitive to attract talents to join the service.

Mr Speaker, Sir, two Working Groups, headed by the Subordinate Courts and MITA, were formed in May 2001 to review the Interpreters and Translators Schemes of Service respectively. I am pleased to announce that the two Working Groups have completed their review. The Working Groups have proposed to improve the structure of the existing Interpreters and Translators Schemes to provide better career development and progression opportunities for serving and non-graduate officers. In addition, a new graduate scheme of service will be introduced to recruit graduate officers with good language competencies to serve as interpretation/translation specialists. Training and professional development opportunities for officers will be enhanced, to help raise the professional standards of interpretation and translation in the Civil Service. The Government has accepted all the recommendations of the two Working Groups and details will be announced sometime in May 2003. The proposed changes should help the Civil Service better attract, retain and develop a core group of competent and dedicated interpreters and translators.

asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the philosophy and vision of the National University of Singapore (NUS) as a research and/or teaching university; and (b) how has the recent growing emphasis on converting NUS into a research university affected its ability to meet the manpower needs of the country.

Sir, the vision of the National University of Singapore is "Towards a Global Knowledge Enterprise, Building Synergies between Education, Research and Entrepreneurship." To realise its vision, the National University of Singapore's educational and research philosophy is to advance knowledge and foster innovation, educate students and nurture talent, in service of country and society. The NUS vision and philosophy articulate three key thrusts: (1) provide quality undergraduate education; (2) build up graduate education and research; (3) promote innovation, entrepreneurship and industry collaboration. These recognise the rich interplay between the creation, transfer and application of knowledge. NUS hopes to develop a community of graduates and academics who are innovative, resourceful, alert to opportunities and infused with a spirit of enterprise. NUS has and will continue to train graduates relevant to our manpower needs. NUS believes that the promotion of high impact research and enterprise will support its endeavour to train skilled manpower and nurture entrepreneurs, researchers and professionals to develop Singapore's knowledge industries.

asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be changing its remuneration policy to that of paying their academic staff for a period of nine months so as to allow them to provide consultancy services for the other three months of the year; (b) whether there is sufficient infrastructure available for such consultancy work to be made available for NUS staff; (c) how will it affect the morale of staff in NUS who are not able to secure consultancy work due to the nature of their disciplines; and (d) how will this affect the quality of teaching in NUS.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the National University of Singapore has set up a task force to review its tenure and compensation system. This review is motivated by the university's intent to recruit and retain talented local and overseas faculty. The task force will be looking at how to provide NUS faculty with more flexibility to take advantage of opportunities to engage in external activities. One of the ideas explored by the task force is the new remuneration package, as cited by the Member. The taskforce has been meeting with faculty members to gather feedback. It will continue to do so till July 2003. It will then submit its report and recommendations, incorporating the inputs of the NUS community, to NUS' management for consideration.

asked the Minister for Education (a) if the Ministry or the schools keep records of the number of school bully incidents in primary and secondary schools and, if so, (i) how many of such cases have been reported for each of the last three years for primary schools and secondary schools respectively and (ii) how have these incidents affected the performance of the students in general and interaction among them; and if not, (iii) what is the reason and (iv) whether there are any intention or plans to keep track of such cases to ensure that the problem is not escalating; (b) how are principals and teachers equipped to deal with such incidents; (c) whether the victims and the bullies are counselled by qualified counsellors and followed up; and (d) how many qualified counsellors are attached to schools on a full-time basis to help deal with incidents of school bullies and other behavioural problems.

Sir, in answer to part (a) of the Question, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has in place a system to track and monitor the state of discipline in schools. Bullying is closely monitored as one of the offences in the tracking system. In answer to part (a) (i), in 2001, the number of bullying cases reported was 892, of which 350 were from the primary schools, 542 were from the secondary schools. In 2002, there were 880 cases, with 274 and 606 respectively from the primary and secondary schools. I do not have the data for three years. The number of cases each year, on average, works out to less than three per school. Schools investigate all incidents of bullying and work to resolve them quickly so that they would not adversely affect the performance of students and interaction among them. The answer to part (b) is Discipline Masters and Mistresses are trained to manage bullying and other forms of misbehaviour in the school. There are also proactive programmes in schools, eg, Peer Support, Peer Mediation, Conflict Management, to prevent bullying. Schools have guidelines for handling school discipline. These guidelines have been useful in helping schools to deal with bullying. Where necessary, schools may also consult Guidance Specialists in the Ministry of Education. To part (c), every school has a counselling system in place to help both pupils who are bullied and others with discipline or behavioural problems. Teachers are trained in basic counselling skills, and are able to help both the bully and the bullied. On part (d), there are also two Teacher Counsellors in each school to guide the more difficult pupils. The Teacher Counsellors are trained in more advanced counselling skills and crisis intervention. In 2001, the School Counsellor Scheme was introduced to further augment the counselling resources in the schools. Under this scheme, education officers who have retired or left the service are specially selected, trained and deployed to schools to work with the Teacher Counsellors and teachers. There are currently 50 such School Counsellors who have been trained or are undergoing training. The Ministry of Education also works closely with professional agencies and self-help groups, where necessary, to deal with incidences of bullying as well as other incidences of behavioural problems.

May I know whether boxing is one of the recognised sports in our schools?

Mr Chiam, I do not see the relevance of that question. We are talking about bullying, not boxing.

Sir, there was a school principal who was a colonial officer and I believe he was in St. Andrew's school where boxing was encouraged. Normally, any bully will be put into the boxing ring and he would let them slug it out. So I wonder whether we have boxing in our schools these days.

You can talk about boxing next time. Mr Charles Chong.

asked the Minister for Home Affairs if he will review the Fire Safety Bureau's requirements for low-rise Housing and Development Board multi-storey carparks to be fitted with fire-resistant doors with automatic self-closing devices.

Sir, staircases are escape routes during fires. Hence, they have to be adequately protected. Although multi-storey carparks are usually designed with open-sided walls that allow good ventilation, this does not preclude the possibility of smoke, heat and fire penetrating the stairwell, thus hindering safe evacuation of people. This is especially so if the fire occurs near the staircase. Therefore, as long as the staircase is located within the multi-storey carpark building, the stairwell will have to be isolated and its walls and doors will have to be fire-resistant. The doors also have to be fitted with self-closing devices to ensure that the door is kept closed all the time to isolate and protect the stairwell. This ensures that there is a safe route of evacuation for people caught in a fire in a multi-storey car park. Sir, we cannot assume that fires will not occur at multi-storey car parks or that people will not be caught in them. There have been cases of fires in multi-storey car parks causing extensive damage. A fire happened near the staircase of the multi-storey carpark of Block 931, Hougang St 11, in February 2000. Despite extensive damage to several cars which caught fire, the staircase enclosures in this case were unscathed by the fire, demonstrating the importance of fire resistant doors in ensuring a safe evacuation route for members of the public.

asked the Minister for the Environment (a) how many hawker stalls for cooked food are vacant and where are these stalls, and (b) whether his Ministry will review the allocation of these hawker stalls which has been suspended for many years in view of the severe structural unemployment.

Sir, we have 6,990 cooked food stalls in 135 hawker centres. However, the number of vacant stalls is very small, only 46 in total. After setting aside 21 of the stalls for temporary use by hawkers under the Hawker Centre Upgrading Programme (HUP), the number of vacant stalls available for allocation is only 25. These stalls are put up for tenders on a monthly basis. The tender for this month has just closed on 17th April 2003 and the next tender will be on 6th May 2003. Sir, Dr Wang asked whether we would review the allocation of stalls in view of structural unemployment. I presume he is referring to the direct allocation of stalls for hardship cases. Sir, the scheme was discontinued in 1990, about 13 years ago, because, on the supply side, we had stopped building hawker centres since 1985. There is therefore no more new supply of vacant cooked food stalls built by ENV or HDB. At the same time, on the demand side, many of the hardship cases then were not prepared to take up vacant stalls as and when these stalls became available because they prefer to wait for stalls in the more popular centres. In view of the supply and demand situations, the scheme was discontinued and interested stallholders have to tender for stalls as and when they become available. In the past three years, we have allocated 240 cooked food stalls through public tender. On average, each stall attracted about 15 applications. On the whole, the tender scheme has worked well under a market-based mechanism. Sir, even though we have no plans to re-introduce the direct allocation of stalls for hardship cases, we will continue to create opportunities for potential stallholders. Under the HUP, we are offering cash grant to enable some of the first generation stallholders to retire. This will help free up more stalls for newcomers, including the hardship cases. So far, about 16% of stallholders have opted for cash grants under the HUP. One example is Dunman Food Centre where six stalls vacated by retiring stallholders had been tendered out so far, with another 10 more stalls up for tender in the next tendering exercise. If this trend continues, we can expect that a steady stream of stalls will continue to become available for tenders under the HUP.

The following Question stood in the name of Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad - 12. To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the choice of the site identified for building a mosque at Sengkang East Road is final; and if not, (b) whether there are other alternative sites in Sengkang Estate being considered.

Question No. 12.

Sir, we have planned for a site at the junction of Sengkang East Road and Compassvale Bow to build a mosque to serve the residents of Sengkang Town. The site was chosen in consultation with MUIS and other agencies. The site will form part of a cluster of civic and community institution uses such as recreational and social facilities. The mosque is also quite close to the Buangkok MRT station and within walking distance from an LRT station which will provide easy access for worshippers.

Can I seek clarification with regard to the actual site because there were two sites that were mentioned, one near Block 205 and the other along the Sengkang East Road? So I am not sure, because both are near the same road. So which site is the Senior Parliamentary Secretary referring to?

Mr Speaker, Sir, the site is at the junction of Sengkang East Road and Compassvale Bow.

Can I take it that the Senior Parliamentary Secretary is referring to the site that was last proposed by URA and sent to the HDB's Planning Department for approval? In other words, it was not the original site near Block 205, but it was a reassigned site which URA had put up. I just want to seek confirmation that that is so.

Arising from the draft Master Plan of 2003, this new site has been selected. So it is a new site.

asked the Acting Minister for Community Development and Sports what measures are being taken at pre-school centres and childcare centres to (i) educate parents on SARS; (ii) prevent the spread of SARS; and (iii) manage children with fever or cough who are suspected of having SARS.

Sir, as the regulator of child care centres, my Ministry has worked relentlessly to put in place strict precautionary measures and procedures to minimise the spread of SARS. The children in child care centres are very young and need close supervision. My Ministry has therefore drawn up a comprehensive set of Standard Operating Procedures in consultation with the Ministry of Health and the major child care operators. All 630 child care centre operators were briefed on the procedures before the centres re-opened on 16th April 2003. The details of our procedures can be found at the MCDS websites www.mcds.gov.sg and www.childcarelink.gov.sg. Allow me just to highlight a few key points, Sir. Parents are reminded not to send their children to the centres if their children are ill. Besides the health declaration forms, parents have been issued with advisories to monitor their children's temperature and health every morning. Clear procedures have been drawn up to handle children or staff who fall sick while in the centre. We will close the centres for 10 days if sick children or staff are found to be suspected or probable SARS patients. We have advised student care operators, who provide before and after school care services for primary school children, to use the same procedures as we have for child-care centres. The People's Association, which runs playgroups and tuition classes, has adopted the procedures as well. As I have mentioned, my Ministry's procedures for child-care operators are available on our website for any pre-school service providers to use. Besides procedures, MCDS has also developed a series of public communication programmes targeted at young children, parents and caregivers. Public education messages were carried in the four languages in the various media. Young children are taught, in a fun way, about basic hygiene. Information packs were distributed to every parent when the child-care centres re-opened. Sir, I would like to conclude by reiterating that the effective control of SARS rests on individuals and parents of young children exercising social responsibility. For young children, the precautionary measures can only be effective if parents act responsibly and not allow their sick children to turn up in child-care centres or schools.

asked the Minister for Manpower in view of the highly contagious nature of the SARS virus and bearing in mind the language and other difficulties faced by foreign workers and their living conditions, some of which may not have proper sanitation facilities (a) what measures are being taken including screening and education programmes to prevent the spread of SARS among foreign workers who are already working in Singapore; (b) will the intake of foreign workers from SARS-affected areas be tightened; and (c) if there is an outbreak of SARS among foreign workers what measures are in place to contain the spread of the disease.

Mr Speaker, Sir, my Ministry has adopted a 2-pronged strategy to deal with the outbreak of SARS amongst the foreign worker population. The first approach is to minimise the risk of infection by raising awareness within the existing foreign worker population in Singapore. My Ministry has been working with the Ministry of Health to prepare customised advisories to employers of foreign workers and to the foreign workers themselves, including the foreign domestic workers. Advisories to the foreign workers will be made available in their own languages. In addition, officers from my Ministry have been briefing employers of foreign workers on the threat posed by SARS and some practical early detection in collaboration with the various employer and industry associations. Sir, the fight against SARS requires the total involvement of employers and employees. Both employers and employees, whether they are Singaporeans or foreigners, must take proactive steps to minimise the chances of an outbreak of SARS at the workplace. The Ministerial Committee on SARS has also studied and prepared contingency plans to deal with an outbreak of SARS among large numbers of foreign workers. So far, this has not happened. The plan would include setting up quarantine facilities to isolate affected workers in designated areas. Sir, the second approach is aimed at minimising the import of new SARS cases via the intake of foreign workers from SARS-affected areas. In this regard, companies have been strongly urged to defer bringing in new work pass holders from SARS-affected areas, and to refrain from sending existing work pass holders or their other employees to SARS-affected areas for the time being. Where it is absolutely necessary to do so, employers must place the work pass holders under mandatory quarantine for a minimum of 10 days immediately upon arrival in Singapore. Work permit holders will be placed under quarantine at designated dormitories while employment pass holders will be placed under home quarantine. To assist employers during this difficult time, my Ministry will exercise flexibility in renewing or extending work permits of existing workers in Singapore coming from the SARS-affected areas beyond the usual maximum period of stay. The other prevailing work permit conditions will continue to apply to such renewal or extension. This would reduce the need for employers to bring in new foreign workers from the SARS-affected areas.

Sir, since 11th April 2003, special quarantine measures have been imposed on foreign workers coming to work in Singapore. Can the Minister give us an update on those measures?

Mr Speaker, Sir, we have introduced this quarantine requirement on new arrivals on work passes, and also existing work pass holders who have been back to SARS-affected areas since 11th April 2003. Since then, we have had several batches of work permit holders and groups of employment pass holders coming into Singapore. At one of our dormitories used for quarantining the work permit holders in Tampines, we had two groups coming in since 10th April actually. A total of 93 work permit holders were quarantined at the Tampines dormitory, out of which 79 had successfully completed their quarantine. They had shown no signs of fever during the 10 days, and they were released back to their employers to start work. Eight of the second batch of 53 developed fever during their stay and had to be sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for further observation. Fortunately, to-date, none has been diagnosed as suspected SARS cases. Most of them have been released but, arising from having eight workers to be sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, we have had to make further arrangements to re-isolate those who were discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital. As of now, there is still one work permit holder who is at Tan Tock Seng Hospital under observation. At the Woodlands dormitory, we had 89 work permit holders under quarantine, mostly existing work permit holders who had been on home leave from their employers and who were coming back to Singapore. Fortunately, all of them are well; none of them has shown any sign of fever during this period. A total of 126 current Employment Pass holders had returned to Singapore from SARS-affected areas since the quarantine requirement was implemented. So far, 15 had completed their period of quarantine yesterday. Two of those who were expected to complete their quarantine period yesterday had, during that period, left Singapore. We are following up with them and will take up their cases upon their return. 33 new Employment Pass holders had also completed their home quarantine and were certified fit. The doctors gave them a medical certificate to say that they had no fever, they were certified fit to commence work. They were issued with new Employment Passes accordingly. Two of the applicants were not issued with Employment Passes and were asked to submit the required medical certificates before the Employment Passes could be issued. Their employers were also warned to comply with the quarantine requirements. Arising from this experience of running a quarantine for newly-arrived work permit or Employment Pass holders, we have to revise some of our procedures, particularly those concerning the work permit holders, as a result of which we have had to ask employers to slow down their intake of new work permit holders for the time being, especially those coming from the SARS-affected areas. We need to look for more facilities, more accommodation to put them up. In case they have to be sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for observation, upon their discharge from the hospitals, we would have to find better isolation facilities to accommodate them so that they are not mixed together with any of the other work permit holders who are under quarantine. Because, if they are mixed together, then it will complicate the quarantine for the rest of the work permit holders. They will end up having to stay for a longer period, as we have experienced in one instance in Tampines. Hence, we are seeking the cooperation of employers. We ask them to please defer bringing in new workers for a period of time. Let us look for more and better accommodation that can meet the needs of this quarantine before we can allow them to bring in the work permit holders from these SARS-affected areas. The purpose is not to prevent them from recruiting the work permit holders if they really need them, but it is just to allow us more time to set up a better system to handle the new arrivals.

Sir, the Minister spoke about language translations. I would like to know the number of languages it has been translated into and whether these are ready. What is the current capacity for quarantine?

We will prepare the advisories in all the languages of the foreign workers who are in Singapore. Of course, for Employment Pass holders, language is not a problem. They are all better educated. English is their lingua franca. For the foreign domestic workers, they would be in Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog and Thai. For the construction workers, they would be in Thai and Tamil. For those from Bangladesh, we will have them in Bangladeshi. Whatever it is, we will have them in the language that they are familiar with. As to her second question on accommodation capacity that we have today for the work permit holders, we have sufficient capacity for about 200 work permit holders in a centralised quarantine at any one time. But because of the complication that once a batch comes in and somebody has to be sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for observation and, when he is discharged, he cannot go back to the same group, he has to be kept separate for a further period of observation. So, if we have a number of such cases - as I explained earlier on, we have eight out of the second batch of 53 - then we complicate the process and we increase the demand for accommodation. That is why we are now in the process of looking for more and better-suited accommodation, and we are requesting employers to please, in the meantime, slow down the intake, to give us time to look for these facilities.

Could the Minister please let us know when these translations will be available, because the foreign workers are already at the doorsteps of hospitals?

I believe my Ministry has got the translations ready, and most of them would be in the process of being issued. The whole list of guidelines is in this folder, and all that is required to be translated would be made and released as soon as possible.

I would like to ask the Minister whether the Government would differentiate the usage of the terms "SARS-affected areas" and "SARS-affected countries", in particular, in relation to large countries like Canada and China.

Mr Speaker, Sir, SARS-affected areas are all those that are listed by the WHO. In the context of a big country like China, any work permit holder or Employment Pass holder coming from China, regardless of which point of departure, will be treated the same way.

The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo - 15. To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on employment relations in the workplace vis-a-vis terms and conditions of service such as insurance, deployment, compensation, and work segregation; (b) whether the fear of SARS as well as the drop in business have contributed to or aggravated the unemployment situation in the retail, hotel, hospital and service sectors; (c) what plans are in place to deal with any tension and hostility related to SARS at the workplace, arising from employee-employer relationships and peer to peer relationships; and (d) how many Singaporeans are making working trips to SARS infected countries and what are the Ministry's guidelines to employers and employees in this special situation.

Question No. 15, Sir.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the outbreak of SARS has affected our economy severely and, in particular, businesses in the tourism, hospitality and associated sectors. This will have an adverse impact on our employment situation. In response to this unprecedented situation, many companies have had to make quick adjustments to their employment terms and practices, such as getting their employees to take annual leave, implementing shorter work weeks, and re-deploying staff to optimise the use of manpower resources. While these changes will impose a strain on employment relationship, I am confident and also pleased to inform the House that there have been no major labour-management relations problems at the workplace since the onset of the SARS outbreak. Notwithstanding this, there have been enquiries and assistance sought as to how to manage the leave of absence of employees arising from SARS and how this leave of absence should be dealt with. In this regard, the Ministry, in consultation with the Singapore Business Federation, the Singapore National Employers Federation and the NTUC had, on 2nd April 2003, issued a set of tripartite guidelines on leave of absence relating to SARS for implementation by employers. The guidelines cover salary payment for leave of absence in various situations. Feedback received from employers and employees on the implementation of the guidelines is that the guidelines have been useful in helping them to deal with the employment issues relating to the SARS outbreak. On other issues such as staff deployment, segregation, insurance and compensation, the Singapore Business Federation, in consultation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Health, my Ministry, the Singapore National Employers Federation and NTUC had also, on 16th April 2003, released a set of advisories and Frequently Asked Questions for employers on how such issues at the workplace could be appropriately dealt with. In these advisories, employers are advised to explain to their employees the need to cover the duties of those who have been affected by SARS so that business operations will not be disrupted. On the other hand, employers should also provide training and take precautionary measures to safeguard the safety and health of workers concerned. Sir, as mentioned earlier, the outbreak of SARS has badly affected the hotels, airlines, travel agencies, restaurants and retail businesses. Hence, we expect employment in these sectors to be adversely affected as well. To deal with this situation, my Ministry, together with the Singapore Business Federation, the Singapore National Employers Federation and NTUC, had jointly announced measures on 15th April 2003 to help companies in these sectors to reduce cost and to preserve jobs. These measures include getting employees to take leave, implementing shorter work week, temporary lay-offs and/or sending workers for skills training and upgrading under the training programmes provided by my Ministry and several other such agencies. Where such measures are not sufficient to sustain business survival or preserve jobs, companies may also consider temporary wage cut in consultation with their unions and workers. To further minimise job losses in these sectors, the Government had also announced on 17th April a package of relief measures to reduce business costs. Sir, while there could be some problems and difficulties affecting employer-employee relationship, I am confident that employers, trade unions and workers will rally together and work out amicable solutions in the spirit of labour-management cooperation. On the question on how many Singaporeans have been sent on working trips to SARS-affected areas, we do not have the statistics as there is no requirement for companies to provide us with this information. However, the Ministry of Health and my Ministry had, through our advisories, strongly advised employers to defer sending their employees to these areas unless the working trips are absolutely necessary. Sir, with our strong tripartite cooperation and support among the social partners, I am confident that we will be able to overcome the disruptions caused by the SARS outbreak.

asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the situation of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Singapore; (b) whether we are doing enough to contain the spread of the disease; and (c) what other precautionary measures can be implemented.

asked the Minister for Health if he will give (i) an update on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak and (ii) an assessment of whether it has been contained.

asked the Minister for Health if he will give an update on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) situation, in particular, (a) what is currently known about the organism, its mode of transmission, period of infectivity, and fatality rate; (b) whether certain age groups are particularly susceptible; (c) what further measures the public and grassroots leaders can promote to reduce the spread of this disease; (d) what measures is the Government considering to restore public confidence in our healthcare system and environmental safety.

asked the Minister for Health if Singapore General Hospital should be closed to non-Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients, (a) what plans are in place to ensure that the remaining Government, Government restructured and community hospitals will be able to cope with the increase in patient load; (b) what specific plans ought to be in place to reduce the risk of exposure to SARS in the remaining hospitals; (c) are there any arrangements made to tap on private hospitals in the event of patient overload in the public hospitals; and (d) how will the Ministry ensure that private hospitals will not increase their medical and hospitalisation fees in the event that the public hospitals are not able to cope with the increase in patient load.

asked the Minister for Health (a) what further measures are being taken to educate the public to prevent the spread of SARS; and (b) whether these measures have been effective.

asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the precautionary measures taken at the various hospitals and polyclinics other than Tan Tock Seng Hospital to prevent their patients and health workers from being infected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; and (b) whether such measures have been effective.

asked the Minister for Health (a) what recognition has been or will be given to health workers who have demonstrated professionalism in the management of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, especially those who have been infected in the course of their duty; (b) whether there are sufficient resources to ensure that these health workers are not over-stretched; and (c) whether the welfare of infected health workers and their family members are adequately looked after.

asked the Minister for Health (a) what support has been given to healthcare workers involved in the management of SARS; and (b) how will the Ministry recognise these healthcare workers for their dedication and selflessness in looking after SARS patients.

asked the Minister for Health (a) what kind of support is available to the immediate families of the medical staff involved in the fight against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS); and (b) whether the Ministry will consider providing assistance, for instance, insurance coverage, for the families of the medical staff in the event that they contract SARS in the line of duty.

asked the Minister for Health, in view of the recent outbreak of SARS at the Orange Valley nursing home, the contagious nature of the disease and the fact that many of such homes are located in housing estates, what assurances can the Ministry and nursing home operators give to residents and the community should another outbreak or similarly contagious disease occur.

asked the Minister for Health (a) if the Ministry has plans to continue enforcing the measures that have been taken at the airport to screen passengers from countries hit by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) such as China and Vietnam given that the outbreak in these countries may take some time to contain; (b) if some other measures will also be implemented at other border control areas like the Causeway to help contain the spread of the sickness; and (c) what measures have and will be taken to ensure the well-being of Singaporeans working in SARS-infected areas like China and Vietnam.

Mr Speaker, Sir, can I have your permission to take all the Questions relating to SARS in a Ministerial Statement?

Is it from Question No. 16 onwards?

Yes, that is right. Can I begin, Sir?

Yes.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that SARS is a serious threat to international health and could become the first severe new disease of the 21st century with global epidemic potential. So this is a very serious problem confronting Singapore and the rest of the world. Let me start by summarising what we know and what we do not know at the moment. It is now six weeks since WHO first issued its global health alert on 12th March on cases of atypical pneumonia. For the Healthcare Workers (HCW) at the frontline combating SARS, this has been a long and demanding six weeks. But six weeks is a relatively short period for a completely new disease. The WHO announced on 16th April that a newly discovered virus from the coronavirus family is the cause of SARS. Identification and characterisation of the exact causative virus will allow development of better diagnostic tests and treatment protocols. A significant step towards this was the recent sequencing of the viral genome by scientists in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore. We are learning more about the spectrum of clinical presentations. Most patients present with typical features with a sudden onset of high fever with or without muscle aches. Some patients may also have chills, shivering, cough and headache. After 3 to 7 days, patients may start to have shortness of breath, and X-ray changes to their chest reflecting pneumonia. In about 80-90% of cases, the patient gradually recovers. However, in 10-15% of cases, after about seven days, the pneumonia progresses and the patient needs treatment in the intensive care unit with most requiring a ventilator to help them breathe. About 6% of cases die despite intensive care. The majority of patients who succumb to the disease are older persons above the age of 40 years. But we have had three deaths from patients below 40 years old. We have observed a number of cases where the symptoms have not been typical. This has made the disease even more difficult to combat. This has occurred in patients with many pre-existing chronic medical conditions, such as heart disease and bacterial infections that mask the symptoms and signs of SARS. In such cases, the fever may be low-grade at the beginning and signs of lung infection occur very late in the course of illness. Such cases are very difficult to recognise early and pose a major challenge for our healthcare professionals. How is SARS transmitted? Both WHO and the US CDC believe that the main way SARS spreads is through transmission of infectious droplets, for example, when a SARS patient coughs or sneezes droplets into the air and someone else close by breathes these droplets in. Our own experience in Singapore supports this view since most of our cases have occurred either among healthcare workers caring for SARS patients in hospital, or family members and friends of the patients who had visited and come into close contact with them. Based on our experience, patients appear to be most infectious when they are ill. Most of the SARS patients in Singapore have passed on their infection to a small number of people only, and through close contact. However, we have also noted that there is a small number of SARS patients who appear to be highly infectious, infecting a large number of people. These people have been called the "super-spreaders". This may also have been due to the fact that their SARS illness had not been picked up earlier and they had infected a large number of persons in close contact with them by the time they were diagnosed with SARS. Hence, in Singapore, four SARS patients have been responsible for the transmission of the infection to the vast majority of the 182 non-imported patients that we have seen so far in Singapore. However, there may be situations where SARS may have been transmitted through other routes. For example, the outbreak involving a large number of residents in an apartment block in Hong Kong suggests that SARS may be transmitted perhaps through some common environmental route. Transmission through contaminated surfaces also cannot be ruled out. That is why we emphasise the need for a higher standard of personal and environmental hygiene. So far, three diagnostic tests have been developed for SARS. However, all the tests have limitations. There is a test for antibodies to SARS in the blood. However, this is present only from about 20 days after the onset of clinical symptoms. It therefore cannot be used to detect cases at an early stage. The second test, an immunofluorescence assay (IFA), detects antibodies reliably as of day 10 of infection, but this is a comparatively slow test that requires the growth of virus in cell culture. The third test is a molecular test for detection of the SARS virus genetic material. This is useful in the early stages of infection but at this stage of development, the test method fails to pick up many patients with SARS. WHO has stated that more work is needed to produce a robust test that is capable of rapidly and reliably detecting cases at an early stage of infection. Many laboratories, including those in Singapore, are working to achieve this. There is, as yet, no specific treatment for SARS. WHO has stated that no treatment beyond good intensive and supportive care has been shown to improve the outcome in patients with SARS. About 8-9% of our cases have died compared to the global average of 6%. The case fatality rate in Hong Kong has been about 7% but that in Canada has been about 9%. A likely reason for the slightly higher fatality rate in Singapore compared to Hong Kong is that the daily occurrence of new cases here has been much lower than that in Hong Kong. In Canada, most of the fatalities have occurred among elderly patients with co-existing chronic illnesses. Let me now touch on the current situation of SARS in Singapore. I had previously explained our strategy to contain SARS in Singapore. The main components of this strategy are to identify and isolate symptomatic cases early, to quarantine contacts who have been exposed to patients with SARS and to minimise the number of new imported cases. My Ministry decided early on to concentrate all SARS cases in TTSH and CDC. Enhanced infection controls were put in place. No TTSH staff looking after known SARS patients have caught the disease for the last six weeks. An important characteristic of SARS is that it is more infectious when the patient is sicker. Hence, it tends to be transmitted quickly among healthcare workers who are not appropriately protected when they take care of SARS patients. The lack of a rapid diagnostic test that can be applied early, the non-specific nature of SARS symptoms, ie, just fever and cough, and the possibility of the co-existence of multiple illnesses masking the presence of SARS in the same patient have made it very difficult to identify SARS patients early and reliably. The outbreak in SGH that started in early April involved a single super-spreader with multiple illnesses. The outbreak in SGH led to a cluster of SARS cases in NUH. We are still mopping up the consequences of that setback. My Ministry has implemented additional measures to contain the outbreaks in hospitals and other healthcare institutions, including nursing homes. Firstly, all healthcare workers in all hospitals are now required to wear N95 masks, gloves and gowns and to practise frequent handwashing after every patient contact. In isolation facilities, Emergency departments and ICUs, they are also required to wear goggles and hoods if there are any interventions. This is to ensure that they do not get infected by patients who have SARS but have not been diagnosed to have the disease. Secondly, all healthcare institutions are now required to monitor their staff closely through twice-daily temperature monitoring. Strict instructions have been given to disallow any staff member who has fever or is unwell to start or continue working. Thirdly, all healthcare institutions have set up special teams to prevent and control SARS. The Ministry is carrying out audits on health care institutions to ensure compliance with the infection control practices. The Ministerial SARS Combat Unit, headed by SMS Khaw Boon Wan, will give leadership and political weight to the hospital audit teams. In response to Mdm Ho Geok Choo's questions, selective closure of affected areas of SGH has been carried out instead of closing SGH completely. For example, the patients and staff in wards 57 and 58 were all transferred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital en-bloc. At the same time, staff who may have been exposed to SARS patients have all been quarantined. SGH has also changed its work practices so that teams of doctors work in only one physical site, hence limiting the potential of cross-infection. All public hospitals are closely monitoring their capacity so that they can take the necessary measures to match the need against their capacity. As for using private hospitals to supplement the public hospitals, this is being explored. One option is to refer some subsidised patients for selected treatment in private hospitals. The outbreak in SGH in early April also led to a cluster of SARS cases at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. We shut down the Centre for 10 days and imposed Home Quarantine Orders on all the stallholders and their workers in the Centre. The aim is to keep them isolated at home and prevent the infection from spreading. The regular buyers at the Wholesale Centre are closely monitored through telephone surveillance. This is a massive effort to systematically isolate and contain the spread. We have harnessed all the Government resources to this end. We need the cooperation of all those involved, in order to break the chain of infection. We have also put in place a number of measures to ensure that clusters of infection do not develop from new imported cases of SARS. To reduce the number of imported cases, we are carrying out health screening through temperature checks on incoming air and sea passengers from the SARS affected areas. This complements the checks that airlines have put in place at check-in counters. Flight crews are also on the lookout for ill passengers on board aircraft. All visitors to Singapore have been required to complete a Health Declaration Card from 9th April this year. All travellers who enter Singapore from affected countries are also given a Health Alert Notice to explain the symptoms of SARS and how they can get help if they fall ill with suspected SARS. We will continue with these measures for the long term. About 120,000 people enter Singapore from Malaysia each day and half of those travel daily. My Ministry is working closely with our Malaysian counterparts on measures to prevent and control SARS in our respective countries. A delegation of MOH and MHA officials met with their Malaysian counterparts to discuss joint measures and the regular exchange of health information. But we have to be realistic. Global travel means that new imported cases will occur in the future. Screening of travellers is limited in its effectiveness as it will not pick up persons during the incubation period. Persons can therefore be well as they pass through the screening procedures and develop SARS later. A single imported case can trigger off an outbreak involving many cases, especially if he or she is a super-spreader, even though we quickly institute the control measures to isolate and ring-fence ill persons and their contacts so as to limit disease transmission. Hence, we must all be prepared to accept that we are in this for the long haul. Let me now turn to some of the specific questions raised by Members. Dr Amy Khor asked about measures taken for Singaporeans living in SARS affected areas. My answer is that they should follow the advice given by the local health authorities where they live. They should also check on the information provided by MOH through our website on how they can reduce the risk of catching the infection. Mr Gan Kim Yong, Dr Michael Lim and Dr Chong Weng Chiew asked how we are recognising the professionalism and contributions by our healthcare workers. Let me put on record that we are proud of them and we commend them highly for their dedication and professionalism. I am pleased to inform the House that the two healthcare clusters, as employers of these healthcare workers, have already implemented a policy of covering the complete medical bills of their staff and their families should they fall ill with SARS in the line of duty. For these staff, the medical expenses and medical leave will not be deducted from their yearly entitlement. A Courage Fund has been set up by the two healthcare clusters, the Singapore Medical Association, Singapore Nurses Association and Singapore Press Holdings, to help the families of needy patients in honour of all healthcare workers in Singapore. The clusters have in place a mechanism to review the salary of our nurses and other healthcare workers regularly. Apart from the salary review, we will look into other ways to honour and recognise the exceptional contributions made by all our healthcare workers at an appropriate time. Let me now turn to what we can do. My Ministry has put in place all the measures to minimise the risk of new clusters of infection from unrecognised cases of SARS in our hospitals and from imported cases. However, I would like to caution Members that in the absence of a definitive diagnostic test, it is very difficult to identify and isolate such cases early. Right now, we only have two weapons to work with. First, the clinical symptoms, of which the onset of high fever is an important indicator. Second, the contact history which points to the possibility of being infected by a SARS patient. To win the battle against SARS, we need a change in mindset, a much higher level of social discipline and social responsibility. To make full use of the first weapon, we must encourage everyone to take their temperature daily. If you detect that you have fever and are unwell, do not go to work. If your child has a fever, do not send your child to school. See a doctor and stay at home until you are well. When you go to the doctor's clinic, wear a face mask so as to reduce the risk of spreading infection to others. If you cough, cover your mouth and nose with tissue paper or a handkerchief. Do not spit on the floor or in the open. Practise good personal hygiene and wash your hands frequently. During this difficult period, Singaporeans should also look out for one another. If your family member or colleague or neighbour is sick, advise him to see a doctor and stay at home. Next, we must be truthful about our contact history. If we suppress information about our travel history, our likely contacts with probable or suspect SARS patients, our visits to the hospitals or other venues where we may have contact with SARS patients, then we are giving false information and giving up a very important weapon in our fight against SARS. To the GP, for example, without knowing your contact history, he may arrive at the wrong diagnosis and think that your fever and cough are just the symptoms of a cold or a flu. Singaporeans must recognise that it is in their interest to work together with the Government to prevent and control SARS in our community. If you are sick and you seek medical treatment immediately, your chances of recovery are better. You are less likely to infect your family. If everyone who has fever and is unwell stays at home and away from crowds, then Singaporeans will have greater confidence that the likelihood of meeting a very infectious person in a crowd will be much reduced. In this way, we prevent the Battle against SARS from becoming a Crisis of Fear. In the Battle against SARS, if all Singaporeans work together, with our healthcare workers in the frontline in the hospitals, with all the Government resources backing them, and all Singaporeans playing their part with higher social discipline and social responsibility, then I am confident that we can contain the disease.

Mr Lim, was that your Ministerial Statement?

Yes.

In which case, I call upon the Deputy Prime Minister to make his Ministerial Statement and also address the rest of the Questions in the Order Paper.

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in the light of the difficult economic situation, whether he is willing to allow property tax to be paid by instalments rather than the full tax be paid in one lump sum.

asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is his Ministry's assessment of the impact of the Iraq war and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on the various sectors of our economy and the overall estimated economic growth rate for Singapore for 2003; and (b) what measures may be taken by the Ministry to help counter some of these negative factors.

asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) to what extent has the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome affected our economy; (b) will it have an impact on Singapore's economic growth forecast for this year; and (c) what measures are being taken to counter the adverse impact on our economy.

asked the Minister for Trade and Industry if the Ministry will take any specific interim measures to ease the burden and cushion the adverse impact on businesses in the retail sector, in the event that the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is prolonged further.

asked the Minister for Trade and Industry, in view of the statistical study which showed that the financial liabilities of Singaporeans soared from 118% of personal disposable income to 174% in 2000, (a) what are the implications on the indebtedness of Singaporeans in the present economic downturn which will be further paralysed by microbe economics, ie, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS); (b) if the economy contracts further and over a longer period, what assistance will be considered to ease the financial debt burden of these household borrowers; and (c) how will Singapore combat the perception and fears of foreigners with regard to SARS in Singapore which has already set in motion a drastic drop in tourist arrivals, students from China returning for studies and businesses holding their meetings in Singapore.

asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in view of the adverse impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak on the businesses of Housing and Development Board commercial tenants, whether the Ministry will consider providing some temporary relief such as rental reduction or rebates, especially for those directly impacted by the crisis such as student care centres, tuition centres, child care centres and kindergartens which have to be closed as a precautionary measure.

asked the Prime Minister (a) what is his assessment of the current standard of living or quality of life of Singaporeans in view of SARS and the economic situation; and (b) whether there is an immediate need to introduce measures to help Singaporeans mitigate the difficulties.

asked the Prime Minister what is the Government doing to boost the morale of Singaporeans given the current climate amidst the end of the Iraq war, the SARS outbreak and the gloomy employment forecast.

Mr Speaker, Sir, with your permission, I will answer all the Questions under my name, as well as the Minister for Trade and Industry's name, on the Order Paper, in my Ministerial Statement. With your permission, I will begin my Ministerial Statement now. Mr Speaker, Sir, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a grave threat to Singapore. It has taken a heavy toll on our public health, our economy and our society. We have to muster all our resolve and resources, in order to fight SARS. Then we can bring the SARS outbreak under control, restore confidence, boost morale, and get the economy moving. If we fail to do so, and allow the disease to overwhelm us, the consequences will be catastrophic. Tackling SARS calls for an effective and comprehensive plan, rigorously implemented, with the full support and cooperation of Singaporeans. We have mobilised the whole Government machinery for this purpose. The Ministry of Health and the hospitals are fully engaged in the medical measures to combat SARS. In addition, we have set up a Ministerial Committee, chaired by Mr Wong Kan Seng, to coordinate all the ministries and departments involved, to support the Ministry of Health and to direct the broader response. Mr Lim Hng Khiang has just presented the public health measures. Let me now explain the overall action plan. There are three battlefronts - public health, the economy and the society. Battlefront 1 - Public health Firstly, public health. Besides medically treating those who have caught the disease, we must take public health measures to stop the spread of the illness, and to minimise the number of people who fall ill. We need to set up lines of defence around three groups of people. First, those who are already infected or who might be infected; second, those who are not infected; and third, those entering Singapore who might bring in the virus. Detect, isolate and contain For those who are already infected or who might be infected, our strategy is to "detect, isolate and contain". This means sending those who are ill with SARS promptly to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, contact tracing - to identify and locate those who have had contact with SARS patients, and issuing Home Quarantine Orders (HQOs) to those who are at risk. The HQOs are to put their health under close monitoring, and also to prevent them from spreading the virus to others. This way we can break the cycle of infection and spread, and bring the outbreak under control. The most stringent precautions are taken at the hospitals. That is where most of the SARS patients are. They must be prevented from infecting other patients or healthcare workers. If doctors and nurses get infected and fall victim to the disease, our healthcare system may collapse, and SARS will spiral out of control. Hence healthcare workers are required to don protective gear and to monitor their own temperatures closely. We have also severely restricted visits by family members and friends to patients in hospital. These stringent measures are working. Because of them, since 31st March, no patients in Tan Tock Seng Hospital have fallen ill from SARS as a result of being infected in the hospital. In the community, we must trace all the contacts of SARS patients quickly and comprehensively, and place them on home quarantine. For this strategy to work, patients and their families have to cooperate with the authorities, to tell fully and truthfully where the patient has been and whom he has had contact with. And, if there is somebody or some place you have been to, and you do not want to tell us about, well, that is big trouble. Also the quarantine system has to be watertight. It takes only one undeclared contact, one irresponsible breach of an HQO, to start a whole new cluster of infections. It is therefore absolutely essential that those served with HQOs obey the orders and stay at home, and not put many others at risk. Thus we have acted firmly against HQO defaulters. We have installed electronic cameras in their homes, and implemented tougher enforcement measures such as electronic tagging. While most people on HQOs have complied and cooperated, a minority are recalcitrant and incorrigible, and I think the public understands that we have to take serious measures. I received a fax today from a member of the public who says, "When you ring them up, better make sure that they are not using call forwarding." I have asked the Minister in charge to fix that. This is why the Minister for Health is amending the Infectious Diseases Act, on a Certificate of Urgency, to give additional powers to the Ministry to take action against persons who breach HQOs, refuse to cooperate with health officers to take SARS control measures, wilfully hide medical information related to SARS control, or fail to comply with any directives or regulations related to SARS control. Violators can be levied composition fines of up to $5,000, instead of being charged in court. Furthermore, the general penalty for committing an offence under the Act will be doubled, to a maximum of $10,000 or 6 months' imprisonment for a first offence, and $20,000 or 12 months for a repeat offence. These public health measures to "detect, isolate and contain" the disease are all the more necessary because there is not yet a diagnostic test for SARS, which can tell quickly and reliably whether or not a suspected case has the disease. Scientists in A*STAR research institutes in Singapore have been working flat out as part of a worldwide effort to identify and understand the SARS virus. They have successfully mapped the genome of the SARS virus, confirming and extending the results of mappings done elsewhere. The Genome Institute of Singapore is developing new diagnostic methods, and several other diagnostic methods are becoming available from other laboratories. We will be testing these out over the next weeks and months, to identify the best methods to use, and I believe the methods will improve over time, as the scientists work at it. The ultimate goal of the scientific research is to develop a treatment and a vaccine for SARS, but this is not going to occur overnight, and may take several years or even longer. Protect and Monitor the healthy For those who are not infected, we are taking vigorous measures to prevent them from contracting SARS. We need to pay special attention to public areas with heavy human traffic, and mass institutions such as schools and military camps. The Ministry of the Environment (ENV) has taken preventive actions to raise the overall standard of public health and hygiene, to minimise the risk of environmental transmission of SARS. ENV will clean and disinfect public areas, check for and eliminate pests, ensure that waste disposal and collection is done properly, and make sure our sewerage systems are in proper working order. We will also ensure that our environmental workers are properly equipped and protected, so that they do not inadvertently become a mode of transmission. Within the next week, ENV will work with market stallholders to spring-clean all wet markets. Food handlers in all food establishments will be required to take their temperatures twice a day. The Ministry of National Development, together with HDB and Town Councils, has instituted several measures to improve the cleanliness of our housing estates. These include stepping up the general cleaning of HDB common areas and implementing an SOP to respond to complaints of sanitary pipe leaks within 24 hours. The Building Control Authority (BCA) has reminded all Management Corporations of private buildings to maintain the sanitary pipes in their buildings in good working condition. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has also introduced a series of measures. Schools are educating students about SARS, issuing every student with a personal thermometer, and teaching them to check their own temperatures daily. Students and staff are also required to regularly declare their travel history. The institutes of higher learning are segmenting their large campuses into smaller sections, to reduce movement across the campus and to facilitate contact tracing should a SARS case occur. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS) have implemented standard operating procedures for child-care centres and kindergartens, to screen and manage the children. The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) has instituted all possible precautionary measures. It has disseminated to all Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) units information on SARS, tips on personal hygiene, travel advisory, and procedures for handling suspected SARS cases. Critical units are working in shifts to ensure that operations continue seamlessly in case there is an outbreak in the units. All recruits and NSmen undergoing in-camp training will be screened for SARS daily. By the end of this month, MINDEF will issue personal thermometers to all MINDEF and SAF personnel to do twice daily temperature checks. These measures will keep the SAF SARS-free, while maintaining its operational readiness. It is a useful practice for Singaporeans to take their own temperatures daily and, if they have a fever, to stay away from work or school and see their doctor. Temperatures are already being taken at many workplaces and large gatherings, and Members had their temperatures taken before coming into Parliament House today. It reassures everyone who is there that the group is less likely to contain an infectious SARS case, and it helps to detect early anyone who is ill, before he can infect too many people. Even if this measure is only partially effective, it will still reduce the chances of SARS spreading from one person to many others, and thus help us to bring the outbreak under control. Every home should have a thermometer. Every Singaporean should know how to take his temperature, so that he can take personal responsibility for his own health, and monitor his own and his family's temperatures. It will take a month or two to obtain the supplies, distribute the thermometers to homes, and teach Singaporeans how to use them. Our first priority is to provide all pupils in schools, and SAF personnel, with thermometers. After that we will progressively supply the homes with thermometers, and each home should have one. By June, every student and every household should have a thermometer, and should use it. Safeguard borders A third major concern is to prevent fresh cases of SARS from being introduced into Singapore by travellers, and Singaporeans infected with SARS from going abroad and infecting other countries. SARS is a major problem in China and Hong Kong, and cases have been reported in nearly every country in the region, including Malaysia and Indonesia. We must expect new index cases to enter Singapore from time to time. This was, in fact, how the SARS outbreak in Singapore started. We cannot shut our borders, and stop the movement of people and businesses completely. But we must institute effective border controls, to identify people with fever so that they can be examined more thoroughly by doctors. We have built thermal scanners that enable us to scan the temperatures of large numbers of people efficiently and without intrusion. If you walk past the scanner and your face looks green on the monitor, that means you are in the pink of health. If your face looks red, the Chinese say the kuan kong face, then you better see a doctor. We have already started screening all inbound air passengers from SARS affected areas. This includes passengers coming into Changi Airport for transit. As soon as we acquire more scanners, we will extend the screening to inbound passengers from all areas. We have also started screening all passengers departing from Singapore. At the airport, when you go from the land side to the air side through the barrier, you will be screened. These measures make Changi Airport both a safe transit point for passengers from all round the world, as well as a safe place to visit. There is no reason for either locals or foreigners to avoid Changi Airport. We are also paying close attention to the Causeway and the Second Link, where more than 100,000 travellers move in and out daily. We have installed thermal scanners at both the Woodlands and Tuas land checkpoints. Singapore and Malaysian health and immigration officials have been meeting to discuss the SARS problem, and will work closely together to draw up measures to screen for SARS at the Causeway and the Second Link. Newly arrived work pass holders coming from SARS affected areas are being required to undergo a 10-day quarantine to minimise the risk of their bringing in SARS to the workplace. ASEAN leaders recognise the seriousness of the SARS problem, and the need for a collective response. They are holding a Special ASEAN Leaders' meeting in Bangkok next week, to coordinate our efforts and collectively respond to SARS as a region. We need to work out measures to manage the movement of people across ASEAN borders, so that we can stop SARS from spreading between countries while we maintain the flow of commerce. Plan for the unexpected Besides taking immediate steps to keep the SARS outbreak under control, the Ministerial Committee has also been working out contingency plans to deal with various scenarios that could arise. These include measures relating to health, the economy, transport, border control, childcare centres, kindergartens and schools, emergency housing and social support, and public communications. For example, we are working out the housing and social support plan should a large number of people need to be quarantined, all at once. We hope that we will not need these arrangements, but should any such situation develop we will be prepared. Battlefront 2 - The Economy The second battlefront is the economy. The Government is working with the Singapore Business Federation and business chambers to encourage businesses to adopt business continuity plans, so that they can continue to operate even if their staff fall ill. Special attention has been placed on essential services, such as utilities, to ensure uninterrupted services. At the industry level, firms in the tourism trade are working with the Singapore Tourism Board to devise ways to bring tourists back when the SARS situation stabilises. It is also important that investors and analysts understand the true SARS situation in Singapore, and what we are doing to get things under control. Our policy is full and transparent disclosure, so that there is no doubt of the true picture and people can trust our statements. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been briefing the heads of foreign missions here, while EDB is in contact with the multi-nationals as well as their corporate headquarters, to keep them updated on the situation. Impact of SARS on the economy At the beginning of the year, Singapore's economic outlook was mainly clouded by the impending Iraq War and its impact on oil prices. The war in Iraq has now ended, and oil prices have fallen, lifting some of these uncertainties. However, SARS is now putting a strain on our economy and creates a new and greater uncertainty for us. The tourism and transport-related industries, such as hotels, restaurants, retail, airlines, cruise ships, travel agents and taxi services, have been most severely hit. Air travel has been reduced sharply. Tourist arrivals have fallen by 61% in the first 13 days of April and are expected to fall sharply for the second quarter of 2003. A number of events, conferences and conventions scheduled for April and May this year have been cancelled or postponed. China, which is our fastest growing source of tourist arrivals before the outbreak, has banned organised travel to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Arrivals from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong have declined sharply. I was in one hotel a few days ago and I talked to a worker there, and he said, "We have five lifts. Three are closed. There is nobody to ride up and down. We are only operating two to save electricity. The workers have been put on leave. When their leave runs out, they will be asked to go on no-pay leave." Times are tough for the industry. So far, the manufacturing sector has not been affected. But if the SARS situation deteriorates in the region or in the major industrial countries, it will affect our export markets and important trading partners. It could shake global confidence, and disrupt production and new investments. Then the impact on us will be broader-based, and more severe. We cannot predict exactly how the situation will unfold, but MTI has lowered the GDP growth forecast for this year to 0.5% to 2.5%. This is on the assumption that the outbreak does not spread worldwide and become a global pandemic. The unemployment rate is expected to increase beyond the 4.2% last December. While we will try to preserve as many jobs as possible, we have to expect more retrenchments this year, especially in the tourism and transport-related sectors. Relief measures The Government recognises the economic hardship brought about by SARS. To help alleviate the immediate problems, we announced on 17th April a relief package worth $230 million. These measures were targeted at the sectors most affected by the SARS outbreak, namely, the tourism and transport-related sectors. The measures will not fully offset the impact on these businesses, but they will help them tide over the difficult period and save jobs, wherever possible. Home Quarantine Allowance Scheme There is another group who need help. People who have been placed under Home Quarantine Orders (HQOs), have so far not been given any allowance or assistance. We have left it to employers to work out their own arrangements, for instance, by putting employees on HQOs on medical leave. As the HQO cases were initially dispersed and the number manageable, this did not pose a problem. However, the closure of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre and the imposition of HQOs on about 2,400 stallholders and workers at the Centre showed that HQOs may need to be imposed on large numbers when a business establishment is ordered to shut. Furthermore, if the Government can mitigate the financial burden of the HQOs on the quarantined persons, it will reduce the incentive for people to breach the HQO in order to continue working. Also, people will be more willing to be identified and quarantined when they are traced as the contacts of a SARS case. The Government will therefore implement a Home Quarantine Order Allowance Scheme, to be administered by the CDCs. Under the scheme, the Government will pay an allowance to self-employed persons who are serving HQOs, to make up part of their income. It will also give the allowance to establishments whose employees have been affected by HQOs. In other words, if you are working for a company, then we will pay the HQO allowance to the company who is paying your salary. This will defray part of their manpower costs for the duration of the HQO. It will be especially helpful to smaller businesses, which may otherwise be unable to survive. For a small business establishment, in other words, one with fewer than 50 full-time workers, the assistance will be more generous. If the whole establishment is ordered to shut for a period on account of SARS, then the firm will receive this ex-gratia payment for all its employees, including those who are not on HQOs. Because the firm is closed, it has to carry its manpower costs; and we will help it to carry some of these. The cut-off of 50 full-time workers covers more than 90% of business establishments in Singapore. For self-employed persons, the allowance will be a flat rate of $70 per day, for the duration of the HQO. For employees, the allowance will be his daily salary, up to a maximum of $70 per day. The allowance will be paid to the employer. We will leave it to the employers to make their own financial arrangements with their employees. However, newly arrived work-pass holders who are required to undergo a 10-day quarantine will not be eligible for the HQO Allowance. This allowance will also be payable to all persons previously or currently already on home quarantine. Through the HQO Allowance Scheme, the Government will be bearing a good part of the wage cost of the businesses affected. MOF will provide full details of this scheme later on. Specific Issues Let me now address specific economic issues raised by the MPs in their questions. Rental rebates: Mr Gan Kim Yong asked about rental rebates for HDB commercial tenants. All HDB commercial tenants are already enjoying a 20% rental rebate that lasts until 31st December this year. These include operators of student care centres, tuition centres, childcare centres and kindergartens. Some are also receiving additional rebate of up to 20% to bring their rents down to the prevailing market rent. In addition, HDB will pass on to its tenants the full savings from the recently announced property tax rebates. HDB will monitor the situation closely and will consider providing additional assistance to its commercial tenants, if necessary. Giro instalments for property tax: Mr Chiam See Tong asked whether property tax could be paid by instalments. The answer is yes. Taxpayers have been able to pay their annual property tax in 12 interest-free monthly instalments since 1989, provided they do it via GIRO. More than 50% of taxpayers are already taking advantage of GIRO to pay their property tax in monthly instalments, and the Government encourages more to do so. Indebtedness of Singaporean households: Madam Ho Geok Choo asked about the indebtedness of households. A study by the Department of Statistics showed that household financial liabilities have increased from 118% of personal disposable income in 1995 to 174% in 2000. If the economic downturn continues, it could lower disposable income and further increase the ratio of household financial liabilities to income. However, we have to view this ratio in perspective. First, 72% of the liabilities are in the form of housing loans. This reflects the high housing ownership in Singapore, which is 92% compared to 60% to 70% in the developed countries. Second, residential property assets, even after accounting for the weak property prices, stood at $343 billion in 2001. Compared to housing mortgage loans of $106 billion, households still own about $237 billion of net housing assets - a huge amount. If we include other household wealth, such as bank savings and shares, the total net wealth of households represents 670% of disposable income, which is comparable to OECD countries. Furthermore, most households service their housing loans through their CPF savings and contributions. So long as they keep their jobs, the impact is manageable. This is why the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is trying its best to minimise job losses, through enhanced training grants, skills upgrading and other measures. Retail sector: Ms Olivia Lum asked about measures to help the retail sector. Domestic consumption has been affected as the initial fear of SARS has kept consumers away from all crowded places, including retail shops and restaurants. However, not all retail outlets are equally badly affected. And I believe, as confidence gradually returns, the restaurants will be filling up again. Those outlets in HDB estates fared better than those in the Central Business District which cater primarily to tourists. The property tax rebates are intended to help such establishments, and I strongly urge property owners to pass on the rebates to tenants. HDB itself will be doing so. These retail outlets can also send their workers for training and make use of the absentee payroll scheme for MOM and STB approved courses. Battlefront 3 - The Society The third battlefront against SARS is in our society, the way each Singaporean responds to the problem, and cooperates with the measures which will help us to solve it. This is the most critical battlefront. If we lose this front, we will lose all the other fronts, and lose the war. Government is doing everything possible. But for these policies and measures to succeed, every Singaporean must play his or her part. To support the public health measures, all Singaporeans should follow the daily precautions recommended by the Ministry of Health to protect ourselves and those around us. We need to be keenly aware of our social responsibility to our families, friends and fellow citizens, in containing the spread of SARS. See a doctor if you are unwell, telling him the truth, and heeding his advice. Go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital if you suspect that you have contracted SARS, and abide by the Home Quarantine Orders if you are in quarantine. Do not travel to SARS-affected areas, unless you really cannot help it. Take personal responsibility to measure your own temperature and the temperatures of your family daily. To deal with the economic problem, we also need to work together. The tripartite partners have rallied to help affected companies stay viable and preserve as many jobs as possible. The NTUC, the Singapore National Employers Federation and the Ministry of Manpower have issued a joint statement recommending temporary cost reduction measures, including a shorter work week, layoffs and wage cuts. They have also acknowledged that, despite these measures, retrenchments will be unavoidable in the tourism and transport-related sectors, and advised employers to treat fairly workers who have to be retrenched. This realistic and constructive approach will help companies to stay afloat, and help as many workers as possible to keep their jobs. One group that is bearing the heaviest burden is our doctors and healthcare workers. They are on the frontline of the fight against SARS. Despite their heavy workload, the extreme stress, and the risk that they are exposed to daily, they have not compromised on their professionalism or their dedication to duty. We can all be proud that in such a difficult situation, these doctors, nurses and hospital attendants, who include non-Singaporeans, have shown the steadfast courage and commitment to do their best to overcome this national problem. They are an inspiration to all of us. The Courage Fund is a tangible way for Singaporeans to show their support for the healthcare workers. I am sure that all Members of this House will join me in adding our gratitude and support to the sentiments that have been expressed publicly by many Singaporeans over the last few weeks. But, more importantly, the healthcare workers need our cooperation, because whether their jobs become easier or harder in the coming weeks and months, depends on whether everyone is doing his part to contain the spread of the virus. Conclusion SARS will be a long-term problem for us. Now that it has spread to so many countries, scientists believe that it is not likely to be eradicated from the world. We have instituted effective measures to contain the outbreak in Singapore. As we discover more about the virus, we will modify and improve the arrangements to minimise the risk of infection. But every Singaporean must adopt sensible precautions and socially responsible habits, while carrying on with our normal day-to-day activities. We have to learn as one society to cope with the virus. Life will not be the same as it was before SARS. We must adjust our habits and behaviour patterns so as to tackle this new threat and adapt to the changed environment. Doing this [indicating] - Nemeste, instead of a handshake - that is easy. Watching your temperature, keeping yourself healthy; sequestering yourself, if you are not - that takes more discipline. But with precautions and changes in habits which protect ourselves and especially other Singaporeans, we can continue to make a living, bring up our families, and maintain our social and community activities. SARS is a grave challenge. But we have an effective public service, a cohesive and cooperative population, and the resources to deal with the problem. We are mobilising all these to tackle SARS. I am confident that together we can overcome this problem, restore confidence, and get Singapore back to normal again. [Applause.]

May I ask the Minister for Health whether the outbreak in SGH in the first week of April could have been averted? Could we not have prevented the in-patient in SGH spreading SARS to so many patients, causing a huge chain reaction, especially knowing that the patient had just been discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital and that SARS had been around for about two weeks at that time? Why were more stringent or precautionary measures not taken by SGH? May I ask the Minister for Health how widespread is SARS infection now? Is he having difficulty in ringfencing SARS presently? May I ask how are we coping in contact tracing of probable SARS? Why was the first case of SARS from Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre not quarantined when, in fact, his brother died from SARS? May I ask the Minister for Health whether it is right and prudent that we should follow WHO's guidelines on SARS? The reason I am asking this is because the Ministry of Health has been quoting that it is following WHO's guidelines. Sir, are we not fighting a new entity with no precedent incident? Is Singapore not one of the countries quite affected with about 189 cases today? Should we not set our own guidelines for better containment? Should we not err on the side of caution? May I also ask the Minister for Health whether his Ministry would urgently put up an epidemiological study group to go through quickly the SARS case notes we have so far, in order to map out the disease pattern so that we can control SARS better? May I also ask him whether our healthcare workers in our public hospitals are adequately protected? Are doctors and nurses over-stretched, especially in wards with quarantined personnel? Is the past shortage of junior doctors now becoming critical? Is the welfare of our medical staff well taken care of? Are our public hospitals coping with the delivery of services to our patients? Are our public hospitals in crisis? May I also ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether our Government is prioritising our healthcare urgently and sufficiently, and also through more funding? Are the public hospitals given more funds to fight SARS? And would the Deputy Prime Minister consider waiving hospital charges for patients seeking treatment for SARS?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I have two questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. The first is on the issue of public education and awareness. For unwitting breaches of the Home Quarantine Orders, how would the Government help address the issue of ignorance, especially of the older citizens who may not understand the implications of their actions or simply the substance of the matter, or of illiterate persons who can converse only in dialects? The second question relates to the economic impact on groups of people who rely on licences which are linked to the Medisave contributions. Will the renewal of licences for conducting business, for example, the vocational driving licences for taxi drivers, be linked to the Medisave contribution? And where there could be cashflow crunches in view of the SARS effect, would the Government be flexible enough to allow the renewal without insisting on a complete fulfilment of this request but by accommodating payments by instalments or even reductions in contribution?

Mr Speaker, Sir, my first question is directed to the Minister for Health. I would like to ask whether it is possible for the Home Quarantine Order, when it is issued to somebody, to be issued in the different languages. Because I understand that, right now, it is only done in the English language and I believe that many of the people who receive the HQOs are the older people who may not understand English. Looking at the HQO, I also notice that, when a HQO is issued, it is stipulated that school-going children or young siblings would not be allowed to leave the home during the period of quarantine. But, on the other hand, the spouse or any other adults in the home would be allowed to leave. Could he explain to us the difference in the treatment of the younger ones at home and the adults? There is also a condition which says that when a workman comes to the house to carry out work within the premises, they should be alerted that the person has been served with a HQO so that the workman can take the necessary precautions. I am just wondering whether, during a time like this, when someone has been served with a HQO, they should in fact allow anyone into the home or not.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I have got a few questions as well. On this fight against SARS, or the SARS war, may I ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much longer is needed to solve this problem over time. He says it is a long haul. But how long will this long haul be? All these measures that we are doing, in terms of temperature taking, checking at airports, and so on, will it be something which will stay for a few more years or it might be overcome in a few months? The reason I ask is because I think it is good to give Singaporeans a good sense of how these things are going to affect their lives in the future. Secondly, on all the measures being taken, I must first say that I do support all these measures because they are very important. But is there also a danger that we are over-reacting? It seems that Singapore takes this matter very seriously. In contrast with many other countries, some countries are quite blase about the matter and do not really seem to be taking it that seriously as compared to Singapore. Therefore, even in contrast to the number of SARS incidents in Singapore per population, we seem to have a very high incident rate in Singapore. Is there a particular reason for this? Finally, a question on temperature taking for fever. I think I have heard a lot being said about the checking of persons through the thermometer for fever. Is it a very safe measure? How sure are we that having no fever will mean that the person is not contagious, he will not carry the virus and therefore will not spread to other people?

I would also like to ask the Government whether, in implementing the various measures, we have taken human psychology into consideration. To me, Sir, it seems that all the measures depend on two factors: one, public spiritedness of the citizens, and second, by penalty, in other words, punishment. But, Sir, is it not true that there are individuals who, through self-denial, will go to all extent to say that they do not have SARS, and to be sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital seems to them to be a sentence or label that they will try to avoid at all costs? Perhaps, the Government should also have considered human psychology in this respect by going through better publicity to show the recovery rates of patients from Tan Tock Seng Hospital so that going to Tan Tock Seng Hospital is not considered a death penalty or sentence. That, I believe, is pretty important as well. May I beg your indulgence here also to express my personal tribute to the healthcare workers for their sacrifice in this battle against SARS.

Sir, I have three questions for the Health Minister. Two taxi drivers so far have been infected with SARS by their passengers. Can I ask the Minister that, since the ambulance service was introduced to transport suspect SARS patients to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, have members of the public been ready to come forward to call for this service and to use it? And how prompt is the ambulance coming to pick up the suspect SARS patients? From reading the press reports, it would seem that they take several hours to come and that is why the family of eight went to the coffeeshop to have some drinks and then went to a Chinese herbal medicine store, causing the risk of infection to the community. And, third, I share Dr Wang's concern that the public has this fear of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Can I ask the Minister to do more to allay the concerns on the ground about going to Tan Tock Seng Hospital?

I would like to join Dr Wang in asking about the treatment of patients at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. I think there are some people in Singapore who fear being sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital now because they think it is like a death sentence. So it will be good if we can inform the public about how patients are treated there. If they are not infected, they will remain uninfected if they go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and get out well. Another question I would like to ask the Minister for Health is if he could also enlighten us on the measures that have been put in place to help minimise the inconvenience of those who have been served with Home Quarantine Orders. I think so far the plight and also the sacrifice of many healthcare workers have been highlighted but not much has been reported or conveyed on the measures that have been put in place to help those who are served with Home Quarantine Orders. Finally, I would also like to take this opportunity to not only thank the healthcare workers but also all those who have been put in the frontline to help fight this battle against SARS, including the Minister, as well as all the Government officials and those who have actually contributed to the Courage Fund.

Sir, DPM Lee has said that the Government is going flat out to develop a diagnostic test kit. Sir, I am asking whether the Government is willing to give a prize or reward to the first person that develops this kit, in addition to his normal salary. I think this is an incentive needed because I think time is of the essence as far as SARS is concerned. Sir, mention also has been made of the super-infector. Now that her name has been revealed by MOH and also published in the papers, with such adverse publicity, I am certain that her life must be affected badly. I wonder whether MOH can do something to rehabilitate her socially, like counselling her, and also, if possible, seek employment for her, if she has not already got a job. Sir, as regards the compensation for persons who are issued with a Home Quarantine Order, if they are officially issued with this order, they are entitled to compensation. What about those who, on their own, voluntarily quarantine themselves, if they feel that they have been infected by the disease?

Sir, two questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. For the businesses that are quarantined, does the ex-gratia payment include the other fixed costs like rentals and disinfecting expenses, other than the labour costs? On the second question: why limit the Home Quarantine Order allowance scheme to only 50% of the person's income? Is this not a case of war against a virus when the HQO is similar to the issue of the SAF-100 calling people out for national duty and that they should be fully compensated, instead of 50% of their salary, or $70 for self-employed individuals? Can we follow the claims practice similar to the SAF when people are called up for National Service to do make-up pay claim, so that they get the full compensation rather than 50% of it?

I have three questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. First, can DPM provide an update on the vegetable supply situation and the steps taken to bring the supply back to normal? Second, what are the steps taken to safeguard the safety of workers and buyers in other food supply centres? And, third, may I ask DPM to request Power Supply to suspend the disconnection of power and water supply during this difficult time?

Mr Speaker, may I ask the DPM two questions? The first pertains to the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. The livelihood of the wholesalers and the workers there has been quite badly hit by the shutdown. I would like to know whether, in addition to the Home Quarantine Order allowance and some of the other measures, there is specific assistance available for these wholesalers and their workers. The second question pertains to the broader economic impact. The DPM has announced the revised growth estimates and there has been a package of measures that has been announced. This is obviously premised on certain assumptions of the intensity and duration of the SARS virus impact on the economy. May I ask, especially in the light of some of the announcements from Hong Kong on their measures which appear to be of far greater assistance, when or at what point would the Government deem it appropriate to revisit the issue of further Government assistance for the economy?

Sir, may I ask DPM whether consideration may be given towards providing some form of residential facility for those who are unable to take home quarantine perhaps because they are renting a room, or for those who repeatedly seem to have difficulty keeping their Home Quarantine Orders?

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister a question on the Home Quarantine Order. Presently, under the Home Quarantine Order, a person who is quarantined, the children are not allowed to go out of the home, but the spousal members are allowed to. In a situation when the Home Quarantine Orders are very limited or small in number, I think that makes sense, because we have to balance the economy and activity going on. But when the number of Home Quarantine Orders is 2,000-plus, as it is now, and we have adult members of the family going about their work, is there not quite a high possibility that there may be some cases which might lead to infection or to situations which may not be truly watertight, as mentioned by the Deputy Prime Minister just now?

Sir, I have a few questions. The first one relates to the impact that our actions have had on investors and on the business people who intend to travel to Singapore to meet up with Singapore businessmen. While we have been very effective in all the measures - and I think we have done all the right things - the signal that this is sending to the international community is that we have a very, very serious problem, compared to many others who may not be doing as much as us. So, we really need to do a PR exercise to rebuild the confidence once again for people to have confidence to do business in Singapore. My second question, Sir, is one concerning people from SARS-affected areas. Many residents have brought up the issue as to why we have not been so decisive in restricting the entry of people from countries that are severely affected, particularly from the various regions in China where we do not even know the severity of the problem. The third question, specifically for the Minister for Health, is: in case children are affected, the question that has been raised to some of us is whether parents will be allowed to visit their children, particularly the very small ones. I think this is one of the reasons why they fear going to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Sir, may I ask the Minister for Health two questions? The first is whether or not the Government has in place a policy of freeing up information on SARS patients to the community for them to take the necessary preventive measures while being mindful that information of such nature is obviously very sensitive. The second question essentially relates to whether or not the Government has a policy of naming persistent defaulters of Home Quarantine Orders publicly, in order for the public to take necessary cognisance of such defaulters.

Sir, I have a few questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. Firstly, DPM Lee mentioned that the HDB would pass on the property tax rebates to tenants. May I ask him whether he will ask GLCs, such as CapitaLand, to pass on the property tax rebates to retail and restaurant tenants? Secondly, wage cost is also an important component of business cost. I understand that the Government has given foreign worker levy rebates to hotels. So, will the Government consider giving such rebates also to retail or restaurant businesses? Thirdly, will the Government also ask Singapore Power to consider giving rebates to those businesses which are affected by SARS?

Mr Speaker, Sir, during this SARS period, I think the demand for masks, thermometers and thermo probe covers has increased. I wonder whether there is a problem with availability. Is there also a problem with price profiteering by suppliers or retailers, and what action has been taken to make sure that supplies will be available and the prices are within control?

Sir, I have three questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. DPM said in his Ministerial Statement just now that SARS would probably last for two years or so. So, what is his assessment of the economic prospects for Singapore under the prolonged SARS situation? Secondly, does he see the need to increase the quantum of financial assistance, such as rebates for utility bills, S&C charges, rentals, etc, and also to provide additional financial assistance schemes? Thirdly, would the Government defer further the intention to increase the GST rate next year, in view of the current situation?

Sir, as part of the effort to make it easier for Singaporeans to respond and help in this national effort, can I request the Government to consider using easier telephone numbers, eg, for the Ministry of Health's and the special ambulance's helpline numbers?

Sir, first, I would like to thank the Government for extending assistance to those who are on Home Quarantine Orders. I would, however, like to ask the Government to also consider extending some assistance to those who are not on Home Quarantine Orders but who have lost their jobs, who will lose their jobs, or who will suffer drastic pay cuts as a result of SARS. They also need some assistance.

Sir, I would like to ask what is the status of the people who have gone to the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre during the identified period coming forward to be screened? How many of them have come forward? And for those who have come forward and are found not to have any symptoms of fever, have they been quarantined or have they been asked to voluntarily quarantine themselves? In that sense, will they also be given compensation during their voluntary quarantine period?

Sir, on this official quarantine period, ie, 10 or 14 days, can the Minister for Health explain? I also want to reiterate the fears on the ground about Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Can the Minister explain the procedure when a person seeks help at Tan Tock Seng Hospital? I went to the market today. There is even talk that they would be locked up when they seek help there! What are the preventive actions being taken by Government agencies to ensure that there is service or business continuity if any of the staff is found to be affected?

Sir, I would like to ask more about the Home Quarantine Orders, because there seems to be some public misperceptions about what steps are taken before Home Quarantine Orders are issued. There may be some hesitancy therefore as to why they want to keep to the Home Quarantine Orders. Can the Minister explain how Home Quarantine Orders are issued and what sort of actions are required of those who are quarantined? I also understand that in all parts of Singapore you can be quarantined at home. Apparently, in Hong Kong, there were some problems about people who thought that they had SARS and then took taxis or buses on the way to the doctors, nurses and hospitals, that they are in fact spreading the infection. What steps are being taken, for example, to control this type of problem?

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister for Health how many super-spreaders have been identified in Singapore, and how this figure compares with those of other nationalities in other countries. Have there been any studies on the profile of these super-spreaders and, if so, are there any commonalities that have been found? My second question is directed to DPM and Minister for Finance. Will there be a possibility of including in the package itself or introducing a package to help individuals who are affected by SARS, eg, in their loss of income, perhaps in the form of a one-off special personal tax relief?

Sir, my question is on quarantine. But, before that, I would like to share this sentiment about a job well done by our medical providers, and we hope that they will continue with the courage and serve us well. On the question about quarantine, the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre incident has shown us the risk of mass quarantine. I gather that there are some essential services which are now trying out alternative groups, where some groups are encouraged to break up into two distinct groups, so that they do not meet each other in case one should contact SARS. To what extent is this necessary and how far do we go in determining the level of the need to break up into two groups? For example, the CDC is thinking of doing that. I was told mass media groups are also looking at dividing themselves into two groups and working differently. What about our Cabinet? I see that all the Ministers are here. What are the risks of one contracting SARS and us losing or quarantining all the Cabinet members?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister for Health what is the state of the morale of the medical staff at the hospitals. Is any emotional or counselling support given to them? Do we have sufficient medical resources at our hospitals? Could we consider mobilising military and medical resources to supplement, if necessary? My second question is with regard to Home Quarantine Orders. I share Prof. Chin's concern that there is some misconception. The public is concerned what home quarantine involves and, therefore, they are afraid to come forward. Hence, if the Minister could consider giving more explanations on what it involves and what assistance is available, whether financial or other forms of support that can help them cope with home quarantine, that would help dispel the misconception and encourage more people to come forward.

Ms Braema Mathiaparanam. I will allow one more question after this.

I have some questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. Talking about screening, will people crossing at ferry points be included? What is the rationale for giving the money to employers to give out to employees who are on home quarantine? Lastly, we are here for the long haul. What are the plans to help take off some of the load, especially of the frontline workers in the hospitals who are doubling up to help out, eg, in SARS-screening duties, etc, and whether we can work with the Ministry of Manpower to retrain retrenched workers, etc, to do them?

Sir, I have a few questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. We have noted from the Deputy Prime Minister's speech and from reports elsewhere that SARS has severely affected the travel and tourism industries, among others. My question is whether the Government is reviewing the importance that we have been attaching to the travel and tourism industries. What is the Government's assessment of the impact of SARS on the travel and tourism industries in the medium and long term?

Mr Steve Chia, you have had your chance already. Any other hon. Members? You have had your chance too, Mr Tan. If I allow you, I will have to allow Mr Steve Chia.

Mr Speaker, are we allowed to ask questions again, because I believe this is a Ministerial Statement, and we have always had the opportunity to ask questions many times?

All right. I will leave it open then! Mr Steve Chia.

Thank you, Mr Tan. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Okay, ask your question.

Sir, I have an additional question for the Deputy Prime Minister. Hong Kong just unveiled a $2.7 billion lifeline yesterday to fight SARS and create employment. Taiwan is in the midst of passing a big $2.5 billion expenditure Bill aimed at creating jobs, boosting their economic growth and lowering their unemployment figures. In Singapore, is the Government stopping at this $230 million package that it introduced last week, or is there more being planned in the pipeline that is going to be disclosed soon?

Thank you, Mr Tan Soo Khoon, for doing it for all of us.

Dr Neo, what is your question?

I would like to ask the Minister for Health whether he would consider public measures for the better containment and tracing of SARS cases by giving more public directives, eg, answering questionnaires and temperature taking for public gatherings in confined places. May I ask him what kind of treatment has been given in our public hospitals for SARS patients? Have we had cases where they were less responsive to previous treatment, suggesting maybe a more virulent or mutated virus? May I also ask him how near is Singapore in the development of a quick and reliable testing kit for SARS? Could I also ask the Minister whether it is true that Ward 55 and Ward 68 in NUH had probable and suspect cases of SARS yesterday, with a plan of removing them en bloc to Tan Tock Seng Hospital but was aborted in the evening? Could he clarify this?

Sir, I think one of the concerns of the members of the public is the survivability if the person were to be suspected of SARS. The concern is the number of deaths and mortality rate. One way of addressing it is that many get out of it but, on the other hand, a number have succumbed to it. I wonder if we have learnt from the lessons of those who have passed away. Is there a better way of treating and taking care of these patients so that we can enhance the rate of survival of our patients?

Sir, I have two questions for the Deputy Prime Minister. My first question concerns the nation's rice stockpile. In view of what has happened in the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, I would like to know whether we should take steps to relocate our stockpile of rice to different locations, because I understand that all our rice is situated in one locality. Would it be prudent for us to take some steps to ensure that, in case there is a repetition of what has happened in the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, our supply of rice would not be affected? The second question I have relates to a report which I read in the newspapers a few days ago. It quoted the Minister for Trade and Industry as having said that some headway has been made in the progress in negotiations with the Chinese authorities to allow Chinese tour groups to come to Singapore again. Sir, I know we are in a dilemma over this. On the one hand, we need to do something to boost the tourism sector to fill our hotel rooms and to allow our retail shops to have more business but, on the other hand, I am just wondering whether this is really the right time to push for more Chinese tourist arrivals, in view of the fact that China is accounting for more than half of the SARS cases around the world. And here, we are talking about quarantining newly-arrived foreign workers. So, are we, in fact, doing the right thing?

Mr Speaker, first, I want to express my personal appreciation and admiration to our medical and healthcare workers for their good work and sacrifices. I have two questions for the DPM. Firstly, I must say that my Malaysian friends and many other foreigners have a very dim view of what we are doing here in Singapore, especially when they thought that we are in a very gloomy and dooming state. I would like to ask whether we should carry this psychological PR war to the international media so that we present ourselves as doing everything we can and keeping the situation under control. Secondly, we all know that PRC is a very significant source of infection. I would like to know whether the Singapore Government, as well as the international community, can do more to impress upon the PRC authorities to take extraordinary efforts to control and contain this spread. Because whatever we do here, if more come from overseas, particularly from China, we have this going on and on, we will have great difficulties. I would like to ask whether we could share whatever we know in Singapore with the PRC authorities as well as other ASEAN countries which we intend to do soon.

Sir, DPM has mentioned that if the situation does not improve, the unemployment situation will get worse. At this point in time, for those industries that have been affected, besides looking at the cost-cutting measures, would we also want to urge the Government and the employers to do more to see how we can actually enhance the employability of this group of workers? So, if the worse situation happens, they will not just end up with nowhere to go and cannot find a job.

First, I would like to commend the Minister for Health and our Government for having taken a very transparent approach in managing the SARS issue. I have a question for DPM Lee, and that is, in view of the downturn, especially in the service sector, is there any consideration for us to re-look at the CPF contributions by employers, perhaps a reduction during this period? This is because I remember an old lady telling me once that if you do not have fresh vegetables to eat daily, why think of drying and preserving vegetables. Once the economy turns around, we can perhaps look into a restoration again. This will work towards helping to save jobs for the workers.

In view of the incident at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Bowen Secondary School, I am just a bit concerned about the places for mass gathering. Are the schools and the institutions of higher learning (IHL) equipped to handle these operational changes of this crisis? Would there be more resources given to the schools and the IHL to handle these issues?

Sir, I would like to refer to the societal battlefront that the DPM and Finance Minister mentioned. In trying to boost our psychological defence in this area, I agree with some of the hon. Members about the public perception and the kind of information that they are receiving regarding two very important critical aspects of our containment and isolation policies, ie, the Home Quarantine Orders. We get a glimpse of some of the SOPs that have been put in place, but to the lay person and the neighbours, it is still not very clear what home quarantine actually means. What we understand is that not everybody is actually put under quarantine at home, but only certain categories. Then, would there be a danger of cross-contamination for those who are allowed to leave the home? But if you were to ringfence everybody in, there is a question of daily living. It is not very clear how this is going to be maintained. The other aspect would be those who have to go for treatment in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. We have been told that the earlier you go and seek treatment, the better it is. But after that, it is blank. Nobody really knows what happens in it. And again, as hon. Members have mentioned, there are the misperception and all kinds of rumours and exaggerated horror stories about what happens. So, we also need to know what would the progress of the illness be like, so that it is in the interest of a potential victim to say that, "The earlier I go for treatment, my survival chances are better." We do not get the idea because there is no profiling of what it means to be a patient and if your treatment is too late, what happens. I know that there are variations but in a general sense, it is to assure the public that these two aspects ---

You are making a long speech, Prof. Ngiam. What is your question?

My question is that we need more information and better explanation as far as the lay person is concerned.

Sir, we have received feedback from our healthcare unions that the healthcare personnel in the public sector is actually facing tremendous pressure because there are a lot of healthcare personnel themselves, ie, healthcare workers, who are affected. I would like to ask the Minister what more can be done to rope in support from the private healthcare sector, ie, the private hospitals and private healthcare personnel, to support the work of the public sector healthcare personnel.

Sir, we are going to carry out temperature checking for all the stallholders in the markets and food centres. In the whole of Singapore, we have more than 100 market centres. Currently, this job is carried out by the volunteers, ie, the CCC or CCMC members. I would like to know how long this would carry on and whether the committee can mobilise some of the medical staff to help to do the job.

I would like to ask the Minister of Health. I understand from Today newspaper that Ribavirin is the most preferred oral medicine for SARS but it has long-term effects on the foetus. In other words, if pregnant ladies ever consume it, it might lead to negative consequences on the baby. What could be done to help protect our healthcare workers who are currently pregnant and are in the SARS battlefield? Should leave be given to them or should they be reassigned to jobs where they are not exposed to SARS?

I would like to ask the Minister for Health if he could help clarify two matters that arose in the Sembawang area. I wonder whether the Minister could clarify the arrangements made for families who are under Home Quarantine Orders. Is it clear that groceries would be delivered and, if so, what types of groceries would be delivered to them? Would they be expected to ask their friends and relatives to help provide for their daily necessities? I think there is some confusion on the ground regarding the facilities being given. The other issue is the prominent space given in the newspapers one or two days ago regarding a person who came back from China and refused screening at the airport and a check-up. I understand that legislation may be introduced in this regard. But currently, can a person refuse screening? And if he or she has been screened somewhere else and has been given a clean bill of health, how much credence will be given to that clean bill of health?

I have got a question actually for the Inter-Ministerial Committee about foreign students in the various institutions. When they return for their studies, is there anything here where quarantining them is concerned? The other question is: healthcare workers sometimes do get into their own habits and since we are here with SARS for some time, what can be done now, where the medical students at NUS are concerned, such that the component on infection control is revved up?

Are there any more questions? If none, I am afraid Members will have to wait for their answers because I propose to take the break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 3.40 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 3.13 pm until 3.40 pm.

Sitting resumed at 3.40 pm

Resolved, That the proceedings on the business set down on the Order Paper for today be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No. 1. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan].

Mr Speaker, Sir, please allow me to respond to two of the questions that were raised just now by Members concerning the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. Sir, as Members are aware, the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre has been closed for a period of 10 days, from 20th April, and this is due to the discovery of probable SARS infection there. This was a sudden closure and the Government recognises that because of its suddenness it has affected the business of tenants in the wholesale centre. Of course, the closure is necessary and justified to safeguard public health and also the safety of Singaporeans but, nevertheless, it has caused the tenants financial loss, not to mention inconvenience and disruption. We have to recognise that it is not possible to adequately compensate for such loss and disruption. However, the Government will provide some financial assistance to the affected tenants and workers. First of all, HDB will waive the rentals for 10 days, in other words, for the full period of the closure. Second, the Government will provide an ex gratia payment of $1,600 to each tenant, and this is to cover part of the loss arising from the goods that were destroyed. When the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre was closed suddenly, tenants were not allowed to enter the premises to retrieve their goods. As a result of that, and as a result of the disinfection that was carried out, most of the vegetables stored there had to be destroyed. Finally, of course, tenants and workers whose incomes have been affected will be eligible for the HQO allowance which the Deputy Prime Minister announced earlier. This allowance provides for up to $70 per day per person. Dr Teo Ho Pin asked for an update on the vegetable supply situation. Again, as a result of the closure of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, which accounted for something like 70% of the total vegetable supply in Singapore, from Malaysia, there was considerable disruption in the first day or so. Since then, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has been working closely with the six major supermarkets, as well as other distributors, which import vegetables directly, without going through Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, to increase their imports in order to compensate for the loss. At the same time, AVA has facilitated importers, who have been placed under HQO following the closure, to make alternative arrangements for their vegetables to be brought in and to be delivered directly to their customers, without routing them through Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. AVA has also worked with Immigration and Customs Authority (ICA) to put in place procedures to facilitate faster clearance of consignments at the Causeway. In addition to that, AVA has approved additional suppliers from Malaysia who can export vegetables to Singapore. Now, there are over 100 such suppliers. And imports of vegetables from other countries have also been stepped up. All these measures, the re-routing of supplies through supermarkets, opening up of secondary wholesale centres, facilitation of imports from Malaysia, additional suppliers, imports from other countries and so on, have resulted and contributed to an increase in the supply that is available in the market today. This morning, I have been told that the supplies have actually gone up above the levels seen before Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre was closed. So, there is now ample supply of vegetables available in the market and I would like to urge members of the public not to rush or to hoard vegetables because more supply will be coming in regularly. On the question of the safety of the workers engaged in transporting and selling vegetables, as far as the drivers and delivery workers are concerned, at the Causeway, the AVA has now instituted special measures to screen all such workers coming in from Malaysia. They will ask for a health declaration. They will ask them whether they have been to the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre from the 5th to 19th April. On top of that, they will take their temperatures. All these measures have been explained to the importers, and also to my Malaysian counterpart, the Minister for Agriculture. They have been accepted. We need to do this to safeguard the safety of our workers and the buyers involved in the vegetable trade and also those involved in other food centres. We are doing similar screening in the secondary wholesale centres which have been set up - the ones in Toa Payoh, Eunos Estate and Sin Ming. All these will help to ensure that the people who are working there as well as the supplies that are coming through are safe. Finally, as a result of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre's experience, we have also started to screen the temperature of users and visitors to the Jurong and Senoko Fishing Ports and Markets, because a similar situation in the fish market prevails. In other words, most of our fish flows through these two markets. So we are also taking additional safety measures in these two areas.

Mr Speaker, Sir, let me answer some of the questions belonging to MTI. First, on the question of rice stockpile, I am glad to report to Mr Tan Soo Khoon that, in fact, we have a distributed network, and there are three stockpiles in three separate locations, precisely to ensure resilience. On electricity, we have switched to monthly adjustment. Because oil prices have come down, and the Iraqi oilfields have not been destroyed, from next month, the electricity prices should come down by over 10%. As for water, it can be a health hazard if the water supply is cut off. PUB's policy has been to thimble it down. But, if after six months, the household would not pay and would not agree to instalment payments, then it is cut off. This policy is being reviewed in the light of the SARS crisis. In fact, PUB moved in immediately to restore supply to 60 households to which water supply has been cut off. So we are very mindful of the importance of water to maintain hygiene at a time like this. Mr Ahmad Khalis asked about the impact of the SARS crisis on travel and tourism, and whether we have not become overly dependent on this sector. In fact, tourism revenue in the last 10 years has been steady, which means that, as a proportion of our GDP, the importance of tourism to our economy has come down. This does not mean that we do not want it to go up. In fact, our objective is to try and jack it up under the Economic Review Committee recently. It is too early to say what the long-term impact of the tourism industry will be. After September 11, we thought that the industry would die. It recovered soon enough. After the Bali bombing last October, tourism fell to almost zero. But within a few months, it recovered. So human beings adjust. They do their own risk assessments, precautions are taken and the flow may come back. And this is the approach we are taking with respect to our travel and tourism related industry - that we are down now, so we have got the emergency package, but keep the workforce as much as we can, retrain them, build safety hygiene into our products, so that amidst the choices that are available in the region, we represent a superior and a safer product. So, in this regard, I had a meeting with some of the top hoteliers in Singapore just last week, and we are working on many things together to see how we can gradually restore foreigner confidence in our travel and tourism industry. From the time you board SIA through Changi Airport, taxi service into our hotels and shopping centres, special precautions are taken to ensure a high level of precaution and safety. All these things we will do. Mr Tan Soo Khoon asked whether we should, in fact, welcome Chinese tourists back into Singapore. What has happened is this. Because Malaysia quite suddenly banned Chinese tour groups, it created a lot of inconvenience for Chinese tour groups already in Singapore. In fact, we had to help make alternative arrangements for them. Since then, we have been in discussion with the Chinese National Tourism Authority to see whether we can address the specific problems. They are thinking of resuming either Singapore tours or Singapore-Thailand tours. But the Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand tours are no longer possible because of the actions the Malaysian government has taken. They also told us that they are very mindful - and this was before the sacking of the Health Minister - of the healthcare risk that they pose to us. So it is important that throughout Asia, in the affected areas, we talk to each other and we check outbound travellers and they check outbound travellers. We check inbound travellers and they check inbound travellers. And in this way, we do not stop cross-border travel but protect ourselves, and reduce the risks which are involved. It is very crucial at a time like this that while we should over-react on the side of caution and safety, we should not do unnecessary damage to our economy. It is to be expected that because of reporting in the newspapers and on television, because of the repetition of certain images, people who are not so familiar with Singapore get a distorted picture. So, from the beginning, MTI took the position that it is crucial for our economic agencies to put out accurate information to all our clients, and EDB and IE Singapore have been doing this on a daily basis. And this has created a certain level of trust. Not only have we been in contact with the people here, the Chairman of EDB has also been writing letters directly to the CEOs in the headquarters. As a result of this, among the important account holders, there remains a high level of trust in Singapore. Last night, as I was going through my e-mail, I received a note from EDB saying that the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore will soon be issuing a statement praising us for the efforts that we have made and expressing their full confidence in the precautions that we have taken to safeguard the health and safety of Americans in Singapore, and affirming their commitment to continue to do business here. In fact, tomorrow night, Stanchart will be carrying on with the celebrations of its 150th anniversary. The Chairman, Sir Patrick Gillman, and other top executives will be here, and Senior Minister will be speaking. So, these things are continuing, and that is because when we say something, they believe us. Last night, Members would have heard that Toronto has now gone on to the same list as Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing, and that is very serious. The Mayor is hopping mad. But WHO sees Singapore as a very important demonstration of what can be done and what should be done. German Chancellor Schroeder is continuing with his visit to Singapore and other countries in South East Asia next month. So, if bit by bit, we restore confidence by what we are doing, then the tourists and travellers will come here. Just before I came here, I received a fax message from the Chairman of EDB of a letter just written to him by an American company. Because I have not cleared it with him in advance, I should not mention the name of the company, but it is an electro-chemical company based in New York. Mr Teo Ming Kian had sent him a letter updating him on the SARS situation, and he wrote back saying: "Thank you for the update. We understand that it is extremely difficult but we are very encouraged by the response of the Singapore Government to this crisis." The last paragraph of his letter is something that we should think about. He said: "By the way, it occurred to me that Singapore's decisive and effective handling of this serious crisis may ultimately result in significant economic opportunities for Singapore in the future." At a time like this when we are in an emergency, he tells us this. He said: "I believe that many US companies will hesitate before investing serious money in countries which are either unwilling or unable to properly deal with a crisis of this nature, that investment may instead go to Singapore where there is a high degree of confidence in the Government and its willingness and ability to protect its citizens as well as many major foreign investments. I, for one, will think more than twice about investing millions of dollars of my shareholders' money in countries where the government is either unwilling or unable to protect the investment. I would have absolutely no hesitation in investing significant amounts of additional money in Singapore. As a matter of fact, we are in the process of doing just that right now as we speak." That cheered me up. I showed it to Mah Bow Tan and Yeo Cheow Tong who were sitting next to me just now. And since Inderjit Singh raised this issue a moment ago, I thought I should read the last paragraph to remind ourselves that we should pull out all stops to solve this crisis, and if we do not lose our nerves, if we concentrate on what we have got to do and have an eye on the medium and long term, then I think we will come out of it ahead.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to address a point that Ms Braema raised regarding foreign students. Foreign students who come to our institutions from SARS affected countries and travelled recently are asked to take leave of absence for 10 days, after their return before they are allowed to join the institutions. This happens in our schools, universities and polytechnics. As regards hostels, what happens is this. If a foreign student arrives from a SARS affected country, he will undergo a medical check-up and we will house him in an outside facility for 10 days and he has another medical check-up before he is allowed to join the other hostelites in the hostel. And within the hostels, there is a daily temperature taking regime, and those who are unwell are asked to see a doctor. There is a sick bay where they can rest separately from the rest of the hostelites. If there is a need for a Home Quarantine Order for one of the hostelites, because he went to some other place and as a result of that he is subject to a Home Quarantine Order, then we have outside facilities where we can house these hostelites separately from the others in the hostel. Mr Zainudin asked about the measures in schools and institutes of higher learning. As Members know, the schools have taken a number of measures after they have reopened over the last few weeks to try to ensure that as far as possible, only those students who are well are in school. So there is temperature screening routine. The students have to make declarations of their travel history and they should declare whether they have had any occasion to go to some of these places where they may have come into contact with SARS patients. In the event that any student does become sick outside of school, he should not come to school and therefore the chances of getting ill as a result of coming into contact with someone who is ill in school is minimal. And with the twice daily temperature taking routine with the thermometer that is issued to every student, teacher and staff member, as soon as a student has a fever, he will be picked up very quickly and he will be isolated, and the chances of any infection will be minimised. For the institutes of higher learning, the polytechnics and universities are now in the reading period before the examinations. So there are no mass classes going on. But in any case, the universities and polytechnics will take precautions for the examinations. And as the Deputy Prime Minister has indicated just now, they have developed plans to zone the universities and polytechnics and to try and minimise cross-movement between the different zones. The universities and the polytechnics will also be looking at various procedures to see how they can do daily temperature taking when the institutions reopen. Sir, I should stress also that social responsibility is one of the most important features as well. What we have done is that we have asked parents and students to check themselves every day before coming to the institutions, so that they will not come to the institutions if they are not feeling well. I am glad that there is high confidence among parents. Attendance rate in schools has been very high, but the attendance rate is slightly lower than normal. And I am happy about that because it shows that parents and students are taking their responsibilities seriously. Previously, when they had been slightly ill with a sniffle, slight sore throat or cough, they would go to school. Now, they are staying at home. I think that is a sensible and socially responsible thing to do. In the approach that we are taking in the schools with regard to SARS, we take it really as a public education exercise. We take the opportunity to educate the students about social responsibilities, health issues, and how to look after themselves. And we hope that these messages will also flow from the students into the homes and help to educate Singaporeans at large.

Mr Speaker, thank you for allowing me to respond to a couple of points. There are three points here which I thought I should respond to. First, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua traced the plight of the self-employed who, because of this outbreak of SARS, would suffer, not that they have become victims of the disease but that their income would be affected, particularly those who would need a licence to carry on with their livelihood. And if their income goes down, they would have cash flow difficulty, and cannot make their contribution to Medisave, thereby they cannot renew their licence. Let me assure hon. Members that we would consider such cases very sympathetically. Their contribution to Medisave is actually based on their income. So if their income indeed goes down, their contribution will obviously go down. But even then, if they have special difficulty trying to meet this lower contribution rate, we would be very happy to make arrangement to ensure that their licence will be renewed and they can continue to earn a living and support their families. Dr John Chen asked why was the foreign worker levy rebate that was announced as part of the package of measures to help businesses affected by the outbreak of SARS limited to foreign workers in the gazetted hotels, and not extended to all foreign workers. In that instance, the package was tailored, as DPM had explained when he announced the package, to the sector that was most directly hit, and this was the tourism sector, ie, hotels, travel industry, restaurants and such like. When we looked at that group, we found that the group of foreign workers who were paying higher levy, most of them were actually in the hotel sector. As hon. Members know, there are two tiers of levy for work permit holders. Those who have higher skills pay the lower levy of $30. So the levy in itself is not a major cost factor for those at the lower levy. Those who are at the higher levy of $240, most of them are actually in the hotel sector. Therefore, we decided that this is where we can make a difference. This is where by reducing the levy by half, we can make a contribution to help the employers to weather this crisis. The other point that I want to address was made by Mdm Halimah and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang. Both of them were concerned about those people who either lost their jobs or suffered wage cuts as a result of the outbreak of SARS which affects the economy. In the case of Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, he asked what we can do to help to enhance the employability of those workers who were retrenched as a result of the business downturn. We would like to help these workers to be re-deployed wherever there are jobs. We would be prepared to retrain them for new jobs, and there are many schemes under the Ministry of Manpower's skills upgrading and retraining programme. So, I would offer this retraining programme to them. In fact, this weekend, there is a job fair organised by the North West CDC, and they have brought together many employers offering nearly 1,000 jobs, packaged together with appropriate training programme, so that anybody who is unemployed can have a chance to be retrained for the jobs that are available. Even during this period when we have high unemployment and redundancy, my officers, when they talked to the companies which are in the process of bringing workers from the SARS affected areas, were told that, notwithstanding the present situation, they have great difficulty recruiting workers. That is why some companies still resort to bringing in new work permit holders from SARS affected areas. They know the danger. They know the risk, and they know that they have to go through this additional step of putting the workers through a 10-day quarantine which costs the company. They have to pay for the costs of the quarantine. They have to pay for the medical staff that supervise the workers under quarantine. But they are willing to do it, and they tell my officers that the reason is that, despite this present situation, Singaporeans are still not prepared to take these jobs. So I want to take this opportunity to urge all our people - if you need a job, there are jobs available, the Ministry will be there to help you, we will find opportunity for you, but you must be prepared to make the adjustment, you must be prepared to undergo training, if necessary, so that you can take on these jobs. I think that is the most viable solution. Just giving out more financial support can only last so long. It is not a permanent solution. Yes, in the case of those who are victims of SARS, we have this special Home Quarantine Order allowance to assist them to tide over the period of home quarantine when they lose their income. But over the longer term, the only way to support yourself and your family is to get a job, and that is where we are here to help you. To retrain you for the job, if you do not have the skills. To help you to find a job, if you do not know how to go about doing so.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to start off by responding to Dr Lily Neo's question about how the SGH outbreak started and whether it could have been averted, and also how did that lead to the outbreak in the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. I hope in explaining how these got started, Members can appreciate the difficulties that we are dealing with. We do not have a reliable and quick diagnostic test system now. We have to depend on clinical symptoms and we have to depend on very rapid contact tracing in order to ringfence the contacts to prevent the spread from widening, which is also the second question which Dr Lily Neo presented. This index case in SGH that caused this cluster was an ex-patient in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He had a multitude of problems and he was discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 20th March. He recovered from some of his problems, and this was a regular discharge on 20th March. On 22nd March, we decided that Tan Tock Seng Hospital would be a hospital dedicated for SARS. So this was in the middle of the problems that we were having in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was discharged on a regular basis because he recovered. Because of that decision to make Tan Tock Seng Hospital the dedicated hospital for SARS, when this man had gastrointestinal bleeding on 24th March, he had to go to SGH because Tan Tock Seng Hospital was only admitting patients for SARS. He went to SGH. SGH took all the necessary precautions - screened the person. He had gastrointestinal bleeding. He also had a foot ulcer and a low grade fever. SGH took a chest X-ray, which was done on the date of admission on 24th March. The chest X-ray was clear. Because of the symptoms he presented, SGH did not consider him to be a suspect SARS case, and treated him for his problems and put him in an open general ward (Ward 57). On the 5th day of admission, on 28th March, he developed high fever. So SGH took note and gave him a repeat chest X-ray. The repeat chest X-ray was normal again. He was treated with antibiotics on 29th March and the temperature came down, indicating that this could be a bacterial infection and not a viral infection. A blood culture showed that he had infection of the blood by a bacteria, E. Coli. A third chest X-ray was done on 30th March, and this was again normal. He was given a stronger antibiotic on 4th April, and he did not have fever anymore. But his chest X-ray on 4th April showed signs of pneumonia, and SGH did the right thing, which was to send him to TTSH, because with a chest manifestation, he was considered as a suspect SARS case. At that time, SGH management also began to notice a group of their staff and healthcare workers coming down with fever, and they went into alert. A cluster of potential problems was growing. So on 5th April, they decided to transfer Wards 57 and 58 to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The process took some time and the transfer was completed. The transfer started on 6th April, and it was completed on 7th April. In transferring two wards, we had to move all the patients, many of whom were fairly sick, and the staff together with them. We initiated contact tracing, involving 120 people - the patients and the staff - to find out whom they were in contact with. Because if they were infected, we did not know who else could be infected in the two wards. So the contact traced everybody. From the 120, we have to contact trace a few hundreds to see who they are. By the time we detected his brother who had visited him in SGH, that was already 8th April, one day later. By then, his brother who caused this cluster of problems in Pasir Panjang had onset of fever on 4th April. He still went to work at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre on 5th April. He was unwell on 6th April; so he did not work on 6th April. But he went back on 7th April, and again on the 8th. By the 8th of April, he was quite unwell; he was sent to NUH. So by the time we realised he was a contact of his brother in SGH, he had already been admitted to NUH on the 8th. So this illustrates the difficulties we face. When a patient is presented with all kinds of chronic problems, it masks the typical symptoms that we associate with SARS - high fever and all the other symptoms, plus pneumonia and chest problem. In this case, they did three X-rays, they did a blood test, and this did not manifest itself till much later. We have to do contact tracing very quickly, but it still takes us 24 hours. We set a target of completing contact tracing within 48 hours. So in this case, even if we meet the limit of 48 hours, by that time the onset was on the 5th of April, he was very sick, and on the 8th he was already in NUH. On hindsight, could we have done better? The problem is a significant one. Obviously we could have done better. I think SGH management could be on greater alert when it comes to staff coming down unwell, which is now the new standard that we impose. Any two healthcare workers having fever in the same department now sends out a red flag. But having set the standard of two healthcare workers having fever sending out a red flag, I hope Members realise now a lot of red flags are showing because it is not unusual to have fever. And we set our fever threshold now at 37.5oC, which is not a very high grade fever. So, everybody is on very high alert. And contact tracing is not 100% foolproof. We need people to be very truthful about their contact history. Otherwise, if they give us half a story, we miss out some of the contacts and we cannot ringfence these people. So I would like to say that this SARS challenge is a tremendous challenge for us. We are flying blind. We only have two instruments which are the clinical symptoms - fever, chills, cough, muscle aches - and then only much later, ie, three days, five days, or seven days later, you get the chest manifestations. The second instrument we have is contact history so that we know that, even if you have got fever and cough, but, because of your contact history, we must suspect that you have SARS. And that is why I said in my statement that we have to depend on people taking temperature, and we have to depend on people being truthful to us in their contact history. Dr Lily Neo asked about WHO guidelines, why we have to follow them and why do we not set our own guidelines. We have to follow a certain set of international guidelines because we have to report to WHO. This is a global problem. We cannot have a different set of guidelines. Then WHO would not have a true picture of our situation. But for the clinical guidelines set by WHO where we can be more conservative, we have done so, for example, WHO guidelines on what is deemed a recovery. When a person is deemed to have recovered from SARS, WHO says he must have no fever for 48 hours. In Singapore, we set it at 72 hours. Then they insist on a series of blood tests to see the white blood count. We do that too. They insist on X-rays. We do that. They say you need 10 days' medical leave at home. Our rule is 14 days' home quarantine, that means, not just 10 days' medical leave at home, but we insist that the person stays at home for 14 days on Home Quarantine Order, and he has to come back to TTSH regularly through the ambulance for his blood tests and chest X-ray. So we follow WHO guidelines, in terms of reporting of statistics, otherwise, there would not be sensible comparisons across the countries. When it comes to clinical guidelines, our staff here always try to be more conservative, as I have illustrated on the criteria for recovery. Dr Lily Neo asked about epidemiological study group. We are doing this constantly, trying to piece this together and trying to get a picture of the disease pattern. We also have two WHO consultants with us and one consultant from US CDC helping us to track this pattern. They of course provide the link to their parent organisations, and whatever we do is completely transparent to them and audited by them. And so they have high confidence in their parent headquarters that whatever we report is the truth and not something which we are doctoring to give a different picture to the world. Dr Lily Neo also asked about the healthcare workers. Are they adequately protected? We try to have as stringent a level of protection as possible. But a lot depends on correct usage of this protection. For example, if any of you have used the N95 mask, you will find that it is very, very uncomfortable. It is very hard to breathe. When I put it on, I find that I was being suffocated. And I cannot imagine how I could ever be a nurse. But the nurse has it on for eight hours, 10 hours, 12 hours. And it is very uncomfortable. In the open wards, it is very warm with the gown and the mask. These are not easy conditions. It has to be very tight-fitting, so it is hard to breathe and if it is not tight-fitting, then it does not work. So it requires a lot of vigilance and a lot of discipline. Day in and day out, keeping this protection on because you know that if you make a slip-up, it will be a very costly slip-up. So for the healthcare workers, it is a lot of stress, and they are over-stretched in the wards. But the situation varies. When we have a big cluster like in SGH and in the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, then of course the workload increases. But if you look at the situation across the public hospitals today, Tan Tock Seng Hospital is well protected. As we mentioned in our statements, we have not had any of our healthcare worker being infected for the last six weeks. So the morale is high. They know that if they are diligent and they take good care of themselves through the protection, they will continue to be protected. But once there is a slip-up, it will be a real setback. The resources in Tan Tock Seng Hospital are bearing up. Our critical resources are the ICU and the isolation rooms. In the ICU, we are doing okay because we have nearly 40 ICU rooms and we are using about 20 each time. So we still have some capacity. Our isolation rooms are now very stretched because, with the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre cluster, we encourage people to come forward for screening. Because we do not have a diagnostic kit, we have to keep them in individual isolation suites to watch over them for some time. And therefore the isolation rooms are filling up very quickly. The other hospitals are bearing up reasonably well. As I have said, KK Hospital is also clean of SARS and I think they are managing very well. Alexandra Hospital has not had an episode of SARS. As a result, the public goes there and they are now feeling the strain because Alexandra Hospital is a very small hospital and it is not used to this load. So a lot of the load that used to go to TTSH and SGH now goes to Alexandra Hospital. Changi Hospital, after their episode in end-March, has not had another episode. So they are again gearing up. So, today, I would say TTSH, KK, Changi and AH are bearing up well. We have the problems in SGH. They were doing okay until the recent episode with Dr Alex Chao. And in NUH, we still have the cluster that was started by the brother of the index case in SGH which created a cluster there. That one, we are still trying to keep it under control. So we have the Ministerial Combat Team under SMS Khaw Boon Wan. He and his team have gone down to the hospitals to button down the protection guidelines, the execution of those protection guidelines, to raise the standards and the morale and the capabilities of the hospitals. I think they are doing a great job and we should be able to see the situation improving day by day. Sir, our hospitals are coping fairly well with the public services. As to hospital charges, we have explained this before. Screening is free. So if you come forward for screening in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, it is free. If you are kept for observation, then you are charged C class rates. So it is heavily subsidised. And if you have financial problems, then our medical social worker would apply Medifund for you. So I do not think Singaporeans should be concerned about the medical costs of coming forward for screening or treatment. The other group of questions which Members raised and which I thought it is worthwhile for me to go through, in some detail, is the Home Quarantine Order. When we detect a probable SARS or a high suspect SARS case, we start contact tracing and the people whom we determine to have contact with this patient, a probable SARS or a high suspect SARS, we will then issue the Home Quarantine Order. As far as this contact is concerned, he is still healthy, he is still well, but because of his contact history with a probable SARS or a suspect SARS case, he is given a Home Quarantine Order. And the reason why we do so is that we want him to stay at home, monitor his health constantly and the minute he has a high fever or other symptoms, he will call us and we will dispatch an ambulance to fetch him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital straightaway. So in that way, we minimise the likelihood of him infecting other people in his family as well as in the community. But the other family members are not contacts of a probable SARS or a suspect SARS patient. So if they are not contacts, they will not be issued a Home Quarantine Order. But if the other family members are contacts, they will also be issued a Home Quarantine Order accordingly. Then how do we treat the children? Because we felt that as schools are very sensitive institutions, we took the extra care of asking the children to also be quarantined even though the children will not be infected until the adult is infected. Let me go through this again. If we detect a probable or a suspect SARS case, we determine the contacts. Let us say, there are 20 contacts. Then we issue a Home Quarantine Order on each of these 20 contacts. These 20 contacts will have an incubation period before they become infectious. The incubation period is between three and 10 days. But we insist that he stays at home so that, whenever he has a fever or he shows symptoms and becomes infectious, we will pull him out to TTSH. The adult family members will not get infected until the contact gets infected. Then they themselves will take another incubation period of three to 10 days before they become infectious. So the other family members can continue with their work and their life, because they are not infectious and they will not be infectious until the contact becomes infectious himself. Why do we not do the same for children? Medically, we should do the same for children. But knowing the sensitivity of parents over the children in the schools, we decided that, for children of a contact, we will be extra kiasu and we also issue a Home Quarantine Order on them. When we started, of course, we stipulated it as a requirement in the Home Quarantine Order, as Mr Tan Soo Khoon raised. This has caused some confusion in the public's mind. Recently, we decided that we would actually issue an individual Home Quarantine Order on each of these children. There is another situation where a family member is a probable or a suspect SARS case, in which case all the family members are contacts and all the family members would be issued Home Quarantine Orders, including the children. So to minimise this confusion, nowadays, when a child is asked to stay at home, we will issue a Home Quarantine Order and there would not be any confusion among the public. Some Members asked what about financial support for this group. If the contact is given a Home Quarantine Order and the other family members are not at risk until the contact becomes infectious, then the other family members can go about with their life as usual, go and buy grocery, etc. But we do have a situation where the entire family is served with the Home Quarantine Order. Then of course we will come in to provide support to them, in case they need grocery, etc. But if they can make their own arrangements, ie, if their relatives can bring the food to them and leave it outside their door, it is all right. This is just to be extra safe because, if they follow the rules that we set for them, they are not infectious until they exhibit the symptoms. So the workman can go to their house and do the repair as long as these people are responsible. If they do not exhibit any symptoms, they are not infectious and life goes on. But the minute they have a fever and they have symptoms, then they will call us and we will bring them to TTSH for screening. When we serve the Home Quarantine Order on a person, the CISCO police who serves the order will set up the camera and give the instructions. I accept Mr Tan Soo Khoon's point that we should give it in four languages. We will do that. But the CISCO police will explain to the person, who is served with the Home Quarantine Order, what he has to do and how he reports through the camera whenever we call him up. At the same time, we will send a nurse to visit the person under Home Quarantine Order and the nurse will have a kit with a thermometer, a face mask and also instructions, so that he knows how to take his temperature on his own and, if he is sick, then he puts on the surgical mask and wait for the ambulance to come. So, this is the way we explain to the person what he has to do and, of course, it would help if we put it in four languages, and we will do so. The third group of questions which I thought is important for me to elaborate on is the situation in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and why Singaporeans fear going there. We have come out several times to explain the very high level of infection control in Tan Tock Seng Hospital and that it has been screening hundreds of people since the beginning of the SARS outbreak, and people have been discharged, they go on with life as usual. So, cross-infection in Tan Tock Seng Hospital has not taken place. If, after screening, the Tan Tock Seng clinicians feel that you should be warded for further observation, then you are kept in an isolation room. You will not infect others and others will not infect you. And the healthcare workers who come to look after you will all be fully gowned and fully protected. So, again, a very high level of infection control. If you are down with SARS, as I explained in my statement, the main treatment is to give you medical support and allow your body's immune system to combat the virus itself. The problem is when you have other complications. Then you need the full medical support system to address these medical complications. But the actual combating of the SARS virus would really be done by the person's own immune system. Of course, if you ask yourself, logically the earlier you come forward for treatment, the better your chances of recovery, because if you do not have the full medical support, especially in the ICU, when you have congestion in your lungs and you cannot breathe, then no oxygen gets into your blood stream and your chances of survival are very low. But if you are in the ICU, then they can intubate you, they can force oxygen into your lungs and cause your body to continue to absorb the oxygen, and so you have a fighting chance. So, people can stay in the ICU, intubated, ventilated, and then the body will have a chance to fight the virus. So, the earlier Singaporeans who are down with SARS present themselves for treatment and for this full medical support to help them fight the SARS, the higher the chances of survival. If you track the kind of cases that come to our hospitals, when they come in very, very sick and very, very late, and they have to go to ICU almost immediately, then I think the chances are all very, very slim. If you have been following stories, those who come very late and very sick and go to ICU straightaway, they have much lower chances of recovery. Overall, our recovery rate is still very good. 85% fully recover. Those who go to ICU, more than half recover too. So, again, I urge Singaporeans to come forward if you have SARS. Seek early treatment and you will have better chances of recovery, you do not infect your family, and you do not cause infection in the community. Dr Warren Lee asked whether we need special accommodation for the people on Home Quarantine Orders. As I explained, it is not necessary, because these people are not infectious. We just want them to be isolated in their own homes and, if they have a fever or other symptoms, then they present themselves immediately for treatment. The next set of issues is really the level of information that we give out, ie, whether we should publicise the names of patients and people on Home Quarantine Orders. Generally, we are reluctant to do so, because I think we should try to preserve medical confidentiality as much as possible. But where there is a public health need, then we will do it. If we need an accelerated contact tracing because the way we go about it through detective work takes 24 or 48 hours and that takes too long and the risk is too high, then, of course, we will publish the names in the media. But for recalcitrants and defaulters, I think we should publish their names and shame them because, otherwise, such Singaporeans will continue not to do what is necessary of them. So, although we try to preserve medical confidentiality, people who default and wantonly break the rules, we will definitely name them so that we can shame them. On the supply of equipment, eg, masks, gowns, goggles, thermometers, etc, there is a shortage of masks worldwide. But we are using all our resources that we have in Singapore, eg, from MINDEF, MTI, IE Singapore, ST Logistics, to get ourselves the necessary supplies to keep our healthcare workers protected. So, our commitment to our healthcare workers is that we will leave no stones unturned to get this equipment for them. Thermometers are less of a problem. We have ordered more than a million. I think these will be available over the next few months. Mdm Cynthia Phua asked whether there is a difference in the minimum number of days in the Home Quarantine Orders. We have used 10 days because that is the incubation period. But some employers, for example, impose a voluntary quarantine of 14 days to make it even safer. I think there is nothing to lose if you want to extend it to 14 days. But, for us, we use a minimum of 10 days because that is the incubation period. Next is the sort of resources that we have. As you have heard from the DPM, the full resources of the Government are behind the Ministry of Health to combat this problem. We have used resources from every agency. From MINDEF, we have used the medics; we have people from the People's Association to help us in contact tracing; we have used detectives from the CID to help us in contact tracing; we have used all resources in the Government to tackle this problem. And as you would have heard from the responses of the various Ministers, all the Ministries are gearing up to tackle the different aspects of how to deal with SARS. Some Members asked about the treatment regime. When we started off, as I said, there is no specific treatment regime. The Hong Kong experience, they tried to use Ribavirin, the anti-viral regime. But as we all know, it has toxic side effects and so we have to use it very carefully. The American clinicians are more conservative, and they prefer not to use this very aggressive approach. So, our clinicians have to make professional judgments, ie, when to use the full array of antibiotics and anti-viral regimes. Dr Lily Neo asked about the situation in NUH Wards 55 and 68. These are the kinds of problem that we are confronted with nowadays, because our threshold of alert is now set very, very low. When you have two staff with high fever and patients with high fever, everybody gets very excited. So, in SGH, on Good Friday, we transferred Ward 74 to TTSH because of this combination of staff and patients having fever. It was a precautionary measure. We transferred lock, stock and barrel, ie, one whole ward across - a lot of resources and effort. As it turned out, it was, thankfully, a false alarm. The fever of the staff came down, and the patients in that ward, because of their other medical problems, were showing this fever. But we would rather be safe than sorry. Similarly, for NUH Wards 55 and 68, we had been tracking the situation, and it is a combination of staff and patients having fever. Some days the fever is up, on other days the fever is down. The patients there are diabetic and kidney patients and, according to what the doctors tell me, fevers in such situations are not uncommon. But, at the same time, we are always on very high alert, and we have to make a professional decision when a combination of red flags comes up. Do we just ringfence them in NUH or do we physically move them across to Tan Tock Seng Hospital? So the Director of Medical Services and the Chairman of the Medical Board in each hospital are confronted with such professional decisions every time they are faced with situations like this. I think I have answered most of the questions. I am sure there will be many other questions which I have not answered, in which case, I will respond later on. I do not want to hold up the others.

Mr Speaker, Sir, sorry to disappoint you with more answers. May I just focus on four or five main points which the other Ministers have not yet covered before Mr Wong Kan Seng tells us what he has been doing in the Ex-Co. Most of my issues have to do with our policy measures, our response and commitment of resources and effort to this task. Dr Lily Neo asked whether we have enough resources. We will have enough resources. Speaking as Minister for Finance, what is needed will be given. Do not waste it, but if you need it, it will be given. If you need drugs, masks, gowns, thermometers, treatment facilities, they shall be provided. We can afford it. This is the national priority. But it must be properly used and we must get the problem under control. Of course, there is never enough, and Members have asked for more. I would have been disappointed had they not asked for more. Mr Steve Chia asked why not go all the way to the limit, ie, do it like reservists' allowance or make-up pay - whatever your salary, make up 100%. We are not quite making up 100%, but we are not doing 50%, which is what Mr Steve Chia said. I think he may have misheard me. We are doing 100%, up to a cap. The cap is $70 a day. But, below that, whatever your pay is, you get it. And if you are self-employed, we will just give you a flat rate of $70 a day. We will give you the benefit of the doubt. What is our philosophy? I think we are in a situation where the economy is going to hurt, many Singaporeans are going to hurt, many businesses are going to hurt. The Government cannot take it upon itself to make good everybody's loss. Because from 4% growth we will go down to 1% or 0% growth. Where does the Government find $6 billion, which is equal to 4% of GDP, to make good? It is not possible. But, at the same time, where the Government's action directly impacts somebody - I shut your company, I put you out of work, I ask you to stay at home, or I close the company and, therefore, you also have to stay at home - we will provide assistance. If we do not do something to mitigate the pain, to help you out, then you are going to try your best to escape quarantine. And that is going to make our public health problem worse. So where we act and there is hurt, we will try to make good. I cannot always compensate fully, but I can extend some allowance or some gestures to address the hurt. In the case of the PPWC, we are going to waive rentals for 10 days and we are going to give them another ex-gratia payment of $1,600 per stall, more or less covering up the cost of the vegetables which became spoilt. Is it dollar-for-dollar? I think that is not possible, because this is a situation where there would be ups and downs, but to the extent that we can help, we will. So when it comes to the HQO allowance, if you are in the lower income group, I will give you up to 100%. In fact, if you are self-employed and a hawker, you may not earn $70, but I am going to gloss that over. I do not want to have to examine your income tax returns, your employer's records, or whatever the records there are, and audit them. What I have suggested to my staff to do is that when you are served with a HQO, you will be given a form. If you are an employee, give the form to your company. Your company will deal with the CDC and make a claim. If you are self-employed, you submit the form. We will process it quickly and if we can, we might be able to give you part of the allowance early and then the other part after you have completed your HQO, just in case you do not complete your HQO. So, what we can do to alleviate the hurt we will do it, but we cannot say that we will compensate everybody 100%, because that is not realistic. On economic assistance, this is an issue where, like Oliver Twist in the musical, he would ask, "Can I have more?" The question is: what is the solution to our problem? Will we solve our economic problem or SARS problem by having an economic stimulus package? Is it that kind of a problem? Is it because our wages are out of line, our market has disappeared, our costs are not competitive, or there is insufficient demand? So what happens if the Government spends $1-$3 billion? Well, we will all have a warm feeling - we buy each other's things, sell each other's things. But we do not solve the problem. The fundamental problem is a public health one. To get the economy going, you have got to get the medical, public health part solved. And that is not a question of money, but of the organisation, the social responsibility, the discipline and the commitment we put to it to fix the SARS problem and restore confidence. Then the economy can pick up again. The Asian Wall Street Journal coincidentally today has an editorial on this subject. The title is "SARS Bailouts are a Bad Idea" and the editorial explains why it is a bad idea. It says that if you have an earthquake or typhoon, you compensate everybody. They rebuild their shops and stores. Then you go back to business as usual again. But this is not an earthquake or typhoon. This is a change of the landscape. Will the businesses be the same at the end of this? What kind of businesses will come back? How should you adapt and move your people and your capital and your workers, and find new jobs? You do not know yet. So, if you help people stay in the tourism industry, even though hotel occupancy is 10-20%, what if the tourists do not come back for quite a long time? You cannot afford it. Supposing we give tax rebates. Will that solve the SARS problem? Will that get people spending again? As the editorial says, they are more likely to stash their money away to get them through the difficult times ahead. The editorial noted that various countries are looking at budget packages. Hong Kong announced a big package yesterday, which prompted this editorial. Singapore had a small package. So, at least, (according to the editorial) it could be said that Singapore has the wisdom to resist micro-managing the economy through this crisis and it is hanging back in order to allow the market mechanisms to work. In other words, we have to adjust. We do not know where, but we would have to see how the epidemic goes, what happens to the regional economy and the global economy, and then we adapt. To pour money out now does not solve the problem. It is premature. I think their conclusion is worth reading. They say: "Life is full of risks, and disease is one of them. ... When things go badly, especially all at once as with SARS, there is a natural temptation for government to step in. But that means that the next round of choices are distorted by the expectation that there will be a safety net. In a crisis which is ongoing like SARS, that changed perception could be particularly damaging.

The true role of government is in protecting against dangers to society as a whole which the market isn't capable of addressing. SARS is just such a danger."

To fight SARS, to get people quarantined, to change people's attitudes, to persuade them, is what the Government has to do. The economic cost will continue to grow as long as the virus is on the loose but if it is contained, recovery should soon be coming. So, the best way to solve the economic problem is to concentrate the maximum possible resources on the medical problem and that is exactly what we are doing. Of course, a request will arise. I fully expected Mr Low Thia Khiang to ask about the GST. He would be remiss if he did not do so at every opportunity. But is that our problem? The GST increase is for the end of the year, something to be dealt with then. And I hold out no promises that that will change. Dr Wang Kai Yuen pointed out that this is a problem of human psychology. He is absolutely right. We are dealing with people. We are dealing with human beings. They are frightened. They are worried for themselves and for their children. They do not know how to react and they are looking for leadership and guidance. There is fear. There is denial. And as the Chinese and the Hongkongers point out, the fear of SARS is more damaging to the economy than SARS itself. Because when you fear, you stay at home, you do not go out, you do not spend, you do not do anything, and everything grinds to a halt. We have to overcome this, and understand that these are human problems. We are all afraid of getting sick. Nobody welcomes illness. Your fever goes up a little bit, you say, "Something has gone wrong. Better take the temperature again." We have been taking temperatures daily in MTI and MOF. The first day, I was 37.

1. My PA said, "You are the champion." I thought that was bad news but I still passed. The next day, it was 37.3, stuck in the right ear. So I said, "No, no. Let's check my left ear." The left ear was lower. It is human psychology. You wish not to believe. Today, it went back down to 36.8, so I am standing here. That is just a small example of how frightened people can be. Do I have SARS? I wish I did not have. Maybe I am mistaken. It is not really a fever. If I see the sinseh, he may give me some banlangen or some magic potion. Or take some garlic and vinegar and then all will be well. So, you have people who go from sinseh to sinseh and GP to GP, anything but confronting the truth, the awful possibility that maybe you do have SARS and need to go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. And that psychological hurdle to, firstly, acknowledge that you may have SARS, and, secondly, if you do have SARS, to go to Tan Tock Seng Hospital before you infect your family. Each one of those is a very big psychological hurdle for people to take. So we have got to make it easy for people to make these steps. And it means explaining, showing them Tan Tock Seng Hospital. I hear all sorts of Hokkien meanings that have been attributed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, but it is a perfectly safe place and we have to get people to understand that. If you have SARS, going in early is your best chance of coming out. You also have to help people to be willing to take proper measurements of their temperatures. And we have got to get people to watch out for each other - at work, in their families. So even if you are in denial, which is a natural human reaction, your spouse, your parents or your children would say, "No, I think you are sick. You better go." And they will badger you, harangue you and nag you until you go and see a doctor - not a sinseh, a doctor. Through this community support, we can hold together and overcome this problem. There is no medical cure for SARS. We are not absolutely sure if the treatments will work except that they will help to support you through the very difficult stage of the illness. But there is a public health solution which can keep the disease down as low as possible and keep the transmission under control. We will give everybody a thermometer. I do not truly expect that 100% of Singaporeans would take their temperature every day. But if I can get 90% of Singaporeans to do that, and if a super-spreader can be detected after spreading to 2-3 people instead of 50, then we have a chance to bring the whole epidemic under control. SARS may still be in the population, but the infection level is something that we can live with. Human beings have lived with such illnesses for generations. Until this post-war generation, when there were antibiotics, people lived with it - plague, diphtheria, polio. It is quite common that you will get ill, you will die at quite young ages, 30s or 40s - it is part of life and death. After the Second World War, with antibiotics, suddenly people felt that they have conquered all diseases. They are eradicated, they are safe. If you are sick, you go to a doctor. The doctor gives you medicine. Take the injection, and you will be well. And it was good for about one generation. Then, you had antibiotic resistance. You had malaria which is resistant. Now, you have tuberculosis which is resistant. You have Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), something which is terrible, if the hospital is not careful, you can get it. You have got AIDS, which is also a viral disease like this one. After 20 years, it is still around. There are treatments but no vaccine. It is a shock for this generation. But for the older people, life used to be like that, and so life goes on, even with these problems. And I think we have to have that attitude. After a while, the reality will sink in. We can deal with it. We can cope with it. We can fight SARS and we can have life going on normally, fully and we will be able to come out on top of it. So I think that is the approach that we have to take and I will ask Mr Wong Kan Seng to explain to you some of the specific things that he has been doing in his ExCo. 5.00 pm

Mr Speaker, Sir, I know many Members have raised some issues which, as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee, I will try to answer them. The SARS problem we face today is the most serious threat to our healthcare system, economy and society. As far as my experience goes, it is unprecedented. It is here to stay for some time. The Government has marshalled all its resources to deal with it and will spare no effort in containing and controlling the problem. We have to continue to function and to carry on with our lives, or we will come to a standstill. The focus of the Ministerial Committee has thus been to put in place all the possible measures to return life in Singapore as near to normalcy as possible, with some changes to the way we do things. At the same time, we have also been thinking through and working out plans to address all the possible scenarios that could arise, to prevent them from occurring if we can, and if not, ensure that we are well prepared to deal with them if they occur. The Minister for Health has dealt in depth on the measures that have been taken on the medical front and in our hospitals to help contain SARS. The Deputy Prime Minister himself has outlined the many precautionary measures that the Ministerial Committee has put in place at our airports and land checkpoints, workplaces, markets and hawker centres, to allay public concern and to prevent the spread of SARS. He has also outlined some of the scenarios that we have made plans for, if they should occur. I will not repeat them. The one point that I want to emphasise is that the Government is going all out to contain the spread of SARS, to protect you and your family's health. For us to succeed in containing the SARS problem and to restore life in Singapore to an even keel, we need every Singaporean to play his part. Everyone must adopt socially responsible behaviour. As the Deputy Prime Minister has pointed out, the entire Government machinery has been mobilised to tackle this problem. We cannot allow all these efforts to be undone by some irresponsible individuals. On a personal note, I find the behaviour of some of these Singaporeans on Home Quarantine Orders very disappointing, eg, the well-publicised case of the irresponsible and cavalier attitude of the family of eight who are related to the 70-year old SARS case in Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market. This kind of behaviour is something that should not be condoned, as people like them are putting many others at risk. These individuals either clearly do not understand the seriousness of the situation or simply do not care about the dangers that their actions could pose to others. We will come down hard on such irresponsible individuals from now on. So, we have decided that we would no longer issue a mere warning when an individual is found to have breached his Home Quarantine Order. We would immediately electronically tag anyone who breaches the Home Quarantine Order. All individuals on Home Quarantine Orders are checked regularly via the electronic camera that is installed in their homes. The camera is on only when they are told to switch it on and, therefore, would not invade the privacy of their homes. The CISCO officers will then call these people on the telephone and ask them to turn on their camera. Earlier on, the Deputy Prime Minister said that he received a letter from somebody who said that some smart alec may do call-forwarding on his mobile phone, so that he can be roaming around, while pretending to be on Home Quarantine Order. Let me tell them: Do not try! Anyone who is on Home Quarantine Order and uses call-forwarding will have that facility cut off. In other words, he cannot do call-forwarding. That is what we have asked SingTel to do. In any case, when a person is asked to appear before the camera, he or his other family members who are on home quarantine will also appear. At the other end, which is the CISCO office, CISCO officers will be able to match the faces and background with what they have taken at the time the electronic camera was installed. So, unless a person can put a big picture of his home background and pretend to be there, it is purely impossible. Whatever it is, he cannot try that any more because he will have no call-forwarding facility during the period of his home quarantine. So, when CISCO calls the person, he will be asked to turn on the camera and that is how he will be checked. There are people who thought that they can pretend not to be around. So when CISCO calls, the telephone was not answered. That was one of the things that my officers have experienced. Let me tell them about this too. The moment he does not answer the telephone after three calls, and they will call three times, CISCO officers would be at his home and he will be tagged electronically. So do not try that too. Also, do not pretend not to be at home when you do not want to be bothered. There were people who were being called and said that they did not want to be bothered. Do not try that also. I do not think that all this is worth the effort, because once a person is on electronic tag, the moment he leaves the home he will be noticed at the CISCO operation centre. He "chao buay lat". So far, we have put nine such persons on electronic tag after they refused to answer after three calls. With the amendments to the Infectious Diseases Act to allow for composition fines to be imposed, we will also not hesitate to impose fines on these individuals. If such measures still do not work, we will charge the recalcitrant type in court and have them thrown in jail. If you read the newspapers today, we have prepared one of our prisons for this purpose. I do not think it is very comfortable to stay in prison during this period of home quarantine. Sir, it is unfortunate that we have to resort to such tough measures to ensure that Singaporeans obey their Home Quarantine Orders. But this is a serious issue. We are also making it an offence for any individual who lies to the doctor when the doctor asks him some basic questions provided by the Director of Medical Services, eg, whether he has a fever, whether he has come into contact with any suspect or any SARS patient, whether he has been to a SARS affected country - other than Singapore - of course, in the last 14 days, whether he has been doctor-hopping, and so on. If his answers are: "no", "no", "no" to these questions, but if found out later that he has done all those things, then he will be committing an offence under the Infectious Diseases Act. Sir, we do not want to implement such measures lightly, as we recognise the emotional anxiety and fear of some of these people who are on home quarantine. They face anxiety and fear because they do not know whether they will become a candidate for SARS. But to win this battle against SARS, we cannot afford any kinks in our armour, otherwise we put the whole community at risk, and the consequential impact will be very disastrous. Sir, Singapore is an open economy. Our borders must remain open and we want to continue to welcome tourists, visitors and businessmen to our shores. However, we must also put precautionary measures in place to isolate and contain the SARS problem at our entry points. Thus, while all incoming air passengers from SARS-affected areas and all points in China are subject to temperature screening, health advisories and health declaration cards have also been implemented at the other checkpoints. Since yesterday, we have deployed three thermal imaging scanners at the land checkpoints. One each has been deployed at Woodlands Checkpoints and Tuas to check the temperatures of those coming in by bus and those walking in by the Causeway or the Second Link. Another has been deployed at Woodlands Checkpoint to check outgoing passengers. We will deploy more of these thermal imaging scanners over the next two weeks at the airport and the land checkpoints. In addition, manual temperature checks will also be implemented within the next two weeks for passengers coming in by car or motorcycles at the two land checkpoints. It is simply not practical to deploy the current thermal imaging scanners in the outdoor area because the temperature will fluctuate. These checks will be done at the secondary check area where 100% security checks are now in place. As a responsible member of the international community, Sir, we have also taken steps to ensure that we do not inadvertently "export" SARS to the rest of the world. Temperature checks have thus been instituted for all outgoing passengers at Changi Airport and bus and foot passengers at the Woodlands Checkpoint. This will be extended to Tuas Checkpoint in the next two weeks. In addition, we will ensure that SARS patients and those on HQOs are not allowed to leave Singapore. So, do not think that they can just run away and go to another country because it will also be noted. When they are discovered checking out from our immigration checkpoints they will be picked up and the law will come down very hard on them. We have also taken similar precautionary measures at the ferry terminals, a point which one of the Members raised. We are also working very closely with the Malaysian government to exchange information on SARS patients and minimise cross-border infection. The Joint Border Working Group, comprising health and immigration officials from both countries, has been working to establish the agreed protocols and procedures to enable SARS cases to be detected at our land checkpoints. We are also keen to share information with the Malaysians on suspected and probable SARS cases that have claimed travel history to Singapore. We read about that from time to time that they have been to Singapore. We need such information because it would tell us when that person came to Singapore, where he went to and whom he met. All this information is useful and important in doing contact tracing and containing the spread of SARS. Since 11th April 2003, new work permit and Employment Pass holders from SARS-affected areas are placed on a 10-day quarantine upon arrival. Similarly, by next week, once all the necessary logistical arrangements are settled, we will also place all new and returning foreign students who are attending private schools, and Professional Visit Pass (PVP) holders coming in for a month or more from SARS-affected areas, on a 10-day quarantine upon their arrival. Family members accompanying the foreign students and workers will be subject to the 10-day quarantine requirement too. The private schools and sponsors of the PVP applicants will be required to arrange suitable accommodation where the student or PVP holder can be quarantined. These foreign students, PVP applicants and family members will be subject to daily temperature checks. The private schools and sponsors of the PVPs will also be required to hire doctors to conduct pre- and post-quarantine medical check-ups for them. The student pass or Professional Visit Pass will only be issued at the end of the quarantine period, and upon presentation of a medical report to certify a clean bill of health. With these measures, we will minimise the possibility of transmission of SARS in the workplace, private schools and living quarters of foreign workers. We have to take special measures to quarantine these groups of foreigners as they are more likely to live and mix with the wider Singaporean community. We are also beefing up all our contact tracing capability by seconding more officers from other Ministries and statutory boards to assist the Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency colleagues. This will allow quicker and better contact tracing to be done so that cases that have come in close contact with probable SARS patients can be quickly isolated for further observation. A public communication campaign is already underway to educate people about SARS. Pamphlets have been distributed and new ones would be printed and issued. We have also put out messages through the television and radio to inform the public about SARS and what they themselves can do to prevent the spread of SARS. The radio will also be used to put across such messages in dialect to reach out to senior citizens. We are also organising dialogue sessions to be held by the Advisors for all the grassroots leaders and residents. I know some Members have already done this and many have planned to do this in the next one to two weeks. The Prime Minister himself will chair a dialogue on 2nd May to talk to community and religious leaders, shopkeepers, stallholders and so on. To help the public to remember the hotline numbers for SARS - I know that some say that it is quite a mouthful and they cannot remember the present number - the general inquiry hotline will be changed to 1800-3339999, which is a toll free line. I think Members will like this number. And the hotline number to call for an ambulance to send somebody to Tan Tock Seng Hospital should that person need to check if he has got SARS or not will be changed to 993. This is a three digit number. It is very easy to remember. Members know 999 for Police; 995 for Civil Defence ambulance for emergency, but for suspected SARS cases going to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, please dial 993, and not 995. These two numbers will be effective from midnight this Sunday. One Member asked how Cabinet Members ensure that the Cabinet can function. This is of greatest interest to us, as Cabinet Members. So, for a few of our colleagues like Mr Khaw Boon Wan and the three doctors, Vivian Balakrishnan, Ng Eng Hen and Balaji, we have set up video conference facilities for them - for ourselves in the Cabinet room, and for them in a separate room. Should they decide to come to attend Cabinet meetings, but not inside the Cabinet room, they can go to this room and talk to us and we can see them just as Members are looking at me on the screen now. Even though the MOS says that they do not have a problem because they are fully garbed, gowned, masked, etc, when they walk around in hospitals, they decided to take this extraordinary step not to attend the Cabinet meetings while they are on this combat team, because if there is a minor possibility that we can get infected, the consequences will be quite bad for Singapore. This same isolate and contain strategy must also apply at the organisational level. I just described how the Cabinet is trying to do this, and how individual Ministries are also doing it. The Ministry of Trade and Industry has been working very closely with the businesses to advise and help them on the precautionary measures that they should put in place to prevent the spread of SARS in the workplace, such as temperature taking every day to check the staff and the visitors, segregation of their staff into two teams and not allowing cross-contamination and so on. They have also been asked to develop business continuity plans should something happen. Similarly, such precautionary measures have also been put in place for all Government agencies. For example, we take the temperature of ourselves every day. Every Government officer is now given a thermometer and he is required to take his temperature and he will be supervised by his supervisor. All Government agencies have also developed detailed operating procedures to safeguard the health of their front-line staff who may be exposed to SARS patients in the course of their work. These include the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority officers, and my Immigration officers were quite aghast when they found incoming travellers at the Airport pulling two hand trolleys and then putting their passport in between their teeth. So, we decided to take precautions so that they do not inadvertently get infected. We are also taking precautions for our Police officers, paramedics, soldiers and so on. The consequences of a SARS infection spreading through the public service will be a serious one and we cannot afford to shut down a Government department or a Ministry. The same applies to the others, particularly those that provide essential services, because essential services such as water, electricity and public transport must continue to be provided, even during an emergency. This is a very serious problem for us and we must continue to run these services in order to have life carry on as per normal. We have also identified a temporary office site that can be used for a Government department in the event that the whole department has to be vacated and we need to do some cleaning. Back-up information technology infrastructure has also been put in place to service this. Remote access and telecommuting work solutions are also being developed for the public service. The public are also being encouraged to make greater use of the various electronic services that Government agencies have launched over the years, so that they can minimise the level of physical interaction at the public counters. While we take all the necessary precautions to prevent the spread of SARS, we also plan for various scenarios for which quickness of response and the ability to muster resources at extremely short notice is absolutely crucial. Even when reacting to a situation, we have to be very fast. Let me just quote the example of the closure of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market. Mr Lim Hng Kiang called me on Saturday at about 8 o'clock, and we discussed what to do about the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market in view of the number of cases there. After we assessed the situation, we thought that we should close the Wholesale Market, so that we can contain the spread of SARS, and that is the best course of action we thought we should implement immediately. So, I directed the Director of Operations, Police HQ, to marshall the Police officers to get to the ground with Environment, MOH and AVA officers to immediately quarantine the place; in other words, totally enclose the place. And then we cleared people out and registered them. We had to find about 3,000-4,000 people who were, in one way or another, involved, connected or doing business in the Wholesale Market, and it is a very large number of people to be contacted. So, to do that, the following day we again got together a group of officers, this time from the Peoples' Association, because they have a wide network on the ground, all the 84 constituency officers plus their staff were gathered together and they were given a list of names to do the contact tracing. While people are being traced with the names and once we know where they are and are actually in, CISCO officers, together with another 100 Civil Defence officers, went to the homes to serve them with Home Quarantine Orders and to fix the electronic cameras. And we also had Civil Defence officers to volunteer to become interpreters, because the people we contact may not speak Mandarin or English. So we had to have interpreters. This is just the immediate action that we took to trace, contact, to serve the Home Quarantine Orders and to put in the electronic cameras. But there are many regular retailers who go to the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market and we thought it would be a useful measure if we were also to do temperature taking at all our markets, and that is how we activated the PA network again with our community leaders, merchant and hawker associations, with Town Council staff and many others, to quickly help conduct temperature taking. And the briefing was done on Monday afternoon. Monday evening, they went back to discuss with their own people together with the hawkers themselves and the following day, some were ready to roll, and by now they have covered many of the markets and hawker centres. Because this is an effort that depends on the community, and we know that community leaders are volunteers, unless they are housewives or retirees. So it is not possible to make this a sustained effort in taking body temperature of every hawker or hawker assistant. From tomorrow onwards, National Environment Agency officers - although they were also involved in the earlier task - will take over the task of temperature-taking for about 20,000 stallholders and their stall assistants. This will then make it a sustainable effort. While the Ministry of the Environment and the Town Councils have done thorough checks and taken extra measures to ensure that the Hong Kong Amoy Gardens scenario should not occur here, we take no chances. We have identified and prepared two HDB blocks to be used as emergency housing in the event that we have to move a whole block of residents to another block should the need arise. I hope that this will not come about, but should it happen or has to happen, then at least we are prepared for this eventuality. This is to protect the residents. I know that they will be inconvenienced but that cannot be helped because investigations have to be carried out smoothly and without hindrance for us to identify whether there are other causes that could lead to, say, several cases of unconnected residents living in the same block having SARS. We hope that there would not be such a case. But should that be the situation, then we may have to activate a plan like that. The logistics and utilities as well as the operational plan to effect such a mass evacuation have already been worked out. So, while we take all precautionary measures, we cannot afford to be complacent thinking that everything is fine with all these measures in place. We still have got to think through and review and refine as we gain experience. However, the actions at the individual and national levels are not enough, because SARS is a global problem - in Asia, America, Europe. To fully contain SARS, international cooperation is essential. Such cooperation is already happening on the medical front where medical professions share information; they share the research that they have done and so on. The significant strides made on this within a short time in the fight against SARS shows what could be achieved if nations are prepared to work together to overcome this problem, provided we all work on it together. Hence, the ASEAN Leaders will be meeting in Bangkok next Tuesday together with their Health Ministers and Ministers in charge of immigration matters, to discuss the measures that ASEAN member nations could take as a collective group to keep our borders open and to contain the spread of SARS. Ideally, we should also get to a position where we can assure the rest of the world that it is safe to travel in and out of ASEAN. Furthermore, it is encouraging to note that China and Hong Kong also recognise the importance of global cooperation and they may also be joining the meeting. Mr Speaker, Sir, whether we like it or not, SARS will be with us for some time. It is important that we do not allow ourselves to be defeated and continue with our normal life with suitable adjustments. As long as the necessary precautionary measures are taken, all activities can and should continue. I am happy to note that the majority of Singaporeans have already made the adjustments and are carrying on with their normal lives. This is evident from the many mass community events that are going on as planned as well as the crowds at hawker centres and food courts. I myself was at a restaurant last Saturday and it was full. In summary, Sir, the Government is treating this threat very seriously. Attention is paid at the highest level, and the Government will not let up on its efforts to contain and overcome the SARS situation. If all Singaporeans cooperate and stay united, we will weather this crisis like many others before.

Two supplementary questions, Mr Speaker, Sir. For the Minister for Health - if people are afraid of going to TTSH because of the irrational fear that TTSH is highly contagious, will the Ministry consider setting up an intermediate testing or holding centre at a different location for suspect and probable cases? This will actually alleviate the public's concern and encourage more people to be more willing to approach this intermediate medical centre for SARS testing, rather than to avoid it totally. This is human psychology at work. Another question for the Minister for Home Affairs - how much is one thermal imaging scanner? If private corporations are interested to install one at their business premises to check for SARS, will it be possible and allowed?

Sir, I was a bit interrupted there. But as I understand it, Mr Chia is asking how much does each thermal scanner cost. Is that his question?

Yes, and whether it would be allowed for private companies and corporations that want to install it at their premises to test for SARS.

Sir, this thermal imaging scanner is a scarce resource. Right now, we do not have many of them, and we have to depend on the company to produce this. But because of the urgency of this matter, we have decided to take from them first and started to deploy them at our airports and land checkpoints. How much does it cost? I was told it is more than $100,000 or thereabouts. So it shows that we are sparing no efforts, including the price of this scanner, to install as many as we can, because we have to deal with this immediately.

When the supply is more in the future, and because SARS is going to stay with us for quite some time, if private companies request to install it at their premises, will that be allowed?

Sir, we have to see how we want to maximise this scarce resource. Since we do not have many of these around, we have to put them in places where we can create the most effect. So the idea now is not to deploy this in the companies. Just now I mentioned that I am encouraged that China and Hong Kong are attending the meeting. Well, that was my impression, but I do not think that has been confirmed yet. So I would withdraw that part of my statement.

Point of clarification, Sir. Just now I think Mr Lim Hng Kiang was under the impression that I questioned the validity of the home as a suitable place for home quarantine. I fully agree with that as a medical practitioner. I was actually trying to refer to people who were recalcitrant in trying to break quarantine, and Mr Wong Kan Seng has told us what he would be doing for that group of people. But, perhaps, he might want to address the group who is given a Home Quarantine Order because of a contact at work, and then because they are living with maybe distant relatives or actually renting a room, find that the relative or landlord saying, "Look. Please, I don't want you to be in the same household." What do they do then?

Could I seek clarifications, Sir? The Minister for Health earlier mentioned that we have had this epidemiological study group all this while. May I ask him what kind of study results have been obtained so far and could he share that with us? The Minister for Health also said earlier that all the medical staff in our public hospitals are protected with face masks. Could I ask him whether face masks are sufficient? Or should they don space suit outfits as well? Is the conjunctiva of the eyes not an entry route for viruses? Could I also ask him whether Tan Tock Seng Hospital could share their good practices with other hospitals? The Minister for Health also said earlier that anti-viral drugs are being used by our doctors in our public hospitals. Can I ask him whether it is correct to say that there is no medicine that can combat SARS coronavirus? Why then are our doctors using the available anti-viral drugs now that they have many side effects? The Minister also did not answer my earlier question on public directives for better containment and contact tracing of SARS. The Deputy Prime Minister said earlier that those under quarantine can claim $70 a day. But it has also been mentioned that they can claim $70 from the Courage Fund. Does it mean that now they can claim $140 a day?

Mr Steve Chia asked whether we can have a different facility as intermediate care. In fact, that is possible by going to the polyclinic. But, of course, if you know that you have contact with a SARS patient, then I think you should go directly to TTSH. Dr Warren Lee asked whether we can have alternative home arrangements. As I have tried to explain painstakingly, the person who is on home quarantine is well and is not infectious until he has the symptoms. So he can continue renting a room or staying at home. It would be very difficult for us to make alternative arrangements for accommodation for all people serving HQOs. Dr Lily Neo asked about the epidemiological study. I am no expert. I will get my staff to give her whatever they have found out. For the staff who are in direct contact with unknown or potential SARS patients, like people in the A&E, ICU and emergency departments where they have to deal with potential SARS patients, then they put on the full suit, together with the goggles. For those who have to do actual interventions, then they put on the hoods. That is how I have explained in my statement. There is no cure for SARS. In the early stages, Hong Kong thought that Ribavirin would be useful. The clinicians in Singapore are not as aggressive in their approach as the Hongkongers. I think we are closer to the American clinicians and, therefore, we have used Ribavirin very, very conservatively, because we realise the toxic side effects of this anti-viral regime. Public directives - we are building up the contact tracing setup, organisation, data collection, as Mr Wong Kan Seng explained. And when these things are more systematic, of course, we will then be able to issue these out in proper public directives. There is some confusion on the Courage Fund. The Courage Fund offers up to $70 per day for people who come forward for screening and who are then held for observation. Because we felt that for some of these people in the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, especially the casual workers, if they are served with a Home Quarantine Order, then what DPM announced today will kick in, and they will be given the financial support. But even just to come forward for screening, and you have a temperature and you are held in Tan Tock Seng Hospital for observation for a few days, there may be a loss of income for these people. So the Courage Fund has come forward to say that for screening and observation, they will also provide the financial support for up to $70 per day. So there is no double payment for the Home Quarantine Order people.

I hope Members have exhausted all questions. Introduction of Government Bills. Mr Yeo.

"to amend the Street Works Act (Chapter 320A of the 1996 Revised Edition) and to make consequential amendments to certain other written laws", presented by the Minister for Transport (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.

First Reading

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to introduce a Bill intituled "An Act to amend the Infectious Diseases Act (Chapter 137 of the 1999 Revised Edition)". Bill read the First time.

Second Reading, what day?

Tomorrow, Sir. Certificate of Urgency signed by the President in respect of the Bill, laid upon the Table by the Minister.

The Certificate is in order. Are typed or printed copies of the Bill available for the use of Members?

Yes, Sir. [Copies of the Bill distributed to hon.

Members.]

Order for Second Reading read.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, the Companies Act was last amended in July 2002. At that time, I informed the House that a private sector-led committee, called the Company Legislation and Regulatory Framework Committee, was doing a comprehensive review of our company law. The Committee was chaired by Dr Philip Pillai, Senior Partner of Shook Lin & Bok, and comprised lawyers, businessmen, academics and Government officials. After extensive deliberations, including two rounds of public consultation, the Committee submitted its final report to the Government in October 2002 with a set of 77 recommendations. All the recommendations have been accepted for implementation. These recommendations will help to simplify business regulations, create a more conducive business environment, and lower the costs of capital raising and maintenance in Singapore. They also improve Singapore's corporate governance and regulatory framework, and align our practices with the leading jurisdictions.

5.42 pm The implementation of the Committee's recommendations will require amendments to the Companies Act, the Securities and Futures Act, and the SGX listing rules. It will also require the enactment of new legislation, such as the Limited Partnerships Act and the Limited Liability Partnerships Act. The amendments to the Companies Act will be done in two phases. This Bill, which seeks to implement 20 of the Committee's recommendations, is the first phase. The other recommendations require more complex amendments to the Companies Act, and will be implemented later. Sir, I shall now highlight the main amendments proposed in the Bill. Reducing Business Costs To promote entrepreneurship, our company law must not impose unnecessary regulatory burden on start-ups and small private companies. Unlike public companies where there are greater public interests to protect, for private companies we need to strike a different balance, in order to maintain acceptable standards while keeping business costs low. I shall now highlight some of the Committee's recommendations that will help to reduce business costs for small and private companies in Singapore. Removing the Statutory Audit Requirement Currently, all companies in Singapore are required by law to have their accounts audited by an external auditor. Clause 35 amends section 205 to remove the statutory audit requirement for dormant companies, as statutory audit serves no public purpose and imposes unnecessary costs for such companies. A dormant company is defined in the Companies Act as a company with no significant accounting transactions during the financial year. The removal of statutory audit for dormant companies is in line with the practices in UK and Hong Kong. Clause 35 further amends section 205 to remove the statutory audit requirement for small exempt private companies. An exempt private company is a private company with not more than 20 shareholders who are all natural persons. More than 75% of companies in Singapore are exempt private companies. Most of them are owner-managed. This means that all the shareholders are also directors of the company. For such companies, audit will be left as a business decision, instead of being imposed as a legal requirement. The Committee had initially considered removing the statutory audit requirement for all exempt private companies. However, after receiving feedback from businesses and auditors, the Committee decided to adopt the approach in UK and Australia, where statutory audit is removed only for small private companies. The threshold for defining small companies will be based on turnover, which could be raised over time. After much deliberation, the Committee recommended removing the statutory audit requirement for exempt private companies with annual turnover below $5 million. The Government has accepted the Committee's recommendation, but decided to implement it in two steps, to give the business community and the audit firms some time to adjust to the new arrangement. The prescribed revenue threshold will first be set at $2.5 million when this Bill becomes law, and raised to $5 million one year later. During the public consultation, there were some concerns that the removal of statutory audit would lead to a deterioration in corporate governance standards. This should not happen. For public companies and large private companies, audit would remain a statutory requirement. For small exempt private companies, it makes sense to leave audit as a business decision. There is no public interest at stake. In addition, adequate safeguards will be put in place. For example, shareholders representing at least 5% of the company's shares can compel the company to prepare audited accounts. All companies must also maintain proper accounting records and prepare "true and fair" financial statements that comply with prescribed accounting standards. Professionally Qualified Company Secretaries Next, professionally qualified company secretaries. Another move to reduce business cost is to remove the statutory requirement for private companies to appoint professionally qualified company secretaries. The private company must still appoint a company secretary, but this person need not be a lawyer, accountant or professional company secretary. Currently, all companies in Singapore are required to appoint a professionally qualified company secretary. In contrast, in Australia, Hong Kong and UK, there is no such requirement for private companies. The requirement in Singapore was instituted in 1987 as a means to improve the quality of corporate records of Singapore companies. While the requirement is a useful safeguard for public companies, it is not necessary to impose this on private companies. Such companies can choose to have an employee or director to perform the company secretarial functions. Alternatively, they can outsource to firms which provide company secretarial support. Some company secretaries and accountants have expressed concerns that the Committee's recommendations would lead to job losses for company secretarial firms and audit firms. The Government is mindful of these concerns. However, we do not think that the demand for services provided by audit firms and company secretaries would disappear as a result of these changes. According to a survey conducted by the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, more than 50% of the companies surveyed indicated that they would continue to engage professionally qualified company secretaries, even if the law does not require them to do so. In addition, 78% of the companies said they would continue to have their accounts audited, as their shareholders or external parties, such as banks and finance companies, would require audited accounts. Simpler Business Regulations Let me now highlight some of the amendments that will help to simplify the regulations faced by companies. Written Resolutions Currently, the shareholders of a private company can pass a resolution without having to meet face-to-face. However, the passing of the resolution requires the approval of all shareholders. This is not consistent with the approval thresholds for resolutions passed at face-to-face meetings, where ordinary resolutions and special resolutions would require 50% and 75% approval respectively. Clause 29 amends section 184 to allow private companies to pass ordinary and special resolutions with 50% and 75% approval, regardless of whether the resolutions are passed at a face-to-face meeting or via written means. The amendment will also allow written resolutions to be passed through the use of electronic communication channels, such as email. This will enable private companies to make decisions more expeditiously and conveniently. As a safeguard, a shareholder or a group of shareholders representing at least 5% of the total voting rights can require the company to hold a face-to-face meeting to discuss and vote on the resolution. This is to ensure that the company does not use written resolutions as a means to deprive dissenting shareholders of the opportunity to be heard at a face-to-face meeting. Annual General Meetings Currently, private companies are required to hold annual general meetings every year. Clause 26 amends section 175 to allow a private company to dispense with its annual general meeting if all its shareholders agree. This change is consistent with the practice in the UK. It will benefit private companies, especially those where all the shareholders are also directors. Conclusion Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, company law reform is an on-going process. The review by the Company Legislation and Regulatory Framework Committee marks a significant step forward, but it is not the end. We need to regularly review our laws and regulations to ensure they remain business-friendly and keep up with the practices in the leading jurisdictions. Such reviews will require the collaboration of the private sector and the Government, and the active interest of all stakeholders. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the provisions in the Companies (Amendment) Bill. I welcome the various moves which are undertaken in the spirit of ensuring that the company law and regulatory framework for Singapore is modern, accords with global standards and one which will promote a competitive economy. Sir, it is in this same spirit that I will focus on the issue of definition of substantial shareholding for compliance purposes. The interpretation of the new section 83, as described in clause 10, like the old section 83, will continue to have far-reaching effects on capital markets here, not least of all, our stock market. Any over-zealousness, witting or unwitting, to apply a more conservative interpretation than necessary, will serve to stifle our own stock market growth, and ultimately to limit the ability of our listed companies to raise capital. Sir, allow me to elaborate. Clause 10 of the Bill repeals and re-enacts section 83 to require the reporting of changes in substantial shareholding where the shareholding exceeds discrete 1% threshold, above the minimum 5% threshold, the 5% level being defined as what would constitute a substantial shareholding. This is an improvement from the present position, which is, I believe, similar to that being done in the UK. But, Sir, this does not address the dilemma being faced by funds, particularly big funds, investing in Singapore. The underlying challenge is one of the need for international fund managers to aggregate the interests of the various funds which they operate. Hitherto, the approach has been, like in the UK, to aggregate shareholdings across all associated entities, including funds, within a corporate group. This approach requires review, especially in the context of our circumstances where our companies are relatively smaller in terms of market capitalisation and where there is insufficient breadth of investible companies. Sir, international fund managers manage a variety of funds, comprising typically mutual funds and institutional funds for which they serve as investment advisors. These funds are developed for investors with varying needs and requirements subject to different investment objectives, time horizon guidelines and restrictions. The funds also invest in a wide range of investments, such as equities, bonds and money market instruments. No two funds within the same group are identical. The real test of control, which is essentially the underlying focus, is in the voting of shares. Within a corporate group, there may be a number of entities, including companies, funds and managed investment schemes which hold voting shares in the same listed company. In deciding how to vote their shares, the entity, for example, a fund, must act in the best interests of its members. This may not necessarily be aligned with the interest of the corporate group as a whole nor of the other entities within the group. Sir, in light of the differing nature of the funds, shareholdings should not be aggregated across the funds for the purposes of complying with the disclosure requirement of substantial shareholding interests. Let me highlight this unsatisfactory treatment in real operating terms, to bring home the extent to which we are imposing unduly high compliance costs on international fund managers investing in Singapore. One major fund manager recounted how his group's filings for Singapore accounted for 17% of the total, when the group's holdings represented a mere 1% of the total exposure. Another fund manager has a department of four individuals dedicated to ensuring such compliance, but with no clear idea of what the value-add is. Of course, it can be argued that a similar trend can be drawn from the UK investments. However, the practical question is: can these fund managers ignore the UK market? The answer is no. Can they ignore the Singapore market? I do not think we should be deluded into thinking that they have to be invested in Singapore. But, Sir, this is not the only cost. The real cost is in the consequential curtailing of the liquidity of our own listed companies and their ability to tap capital from a wider shareholding base. Investors of Singapore equities fight shy of raising exposure in the fear that they may breach the law as a group even though the decisions are frequently undertaken independently. I therefore propose that, in instances where international fund managers acquire listed shares not for purposes of control and where the funds are managed separately, they be allowed to apply for an exemption from aggregating the interests in respect of funds. This can be done on a case-by-case basis. It is essential that we keep pace with changing market practices. My proposal should reduce the compliance burden of the international fund managers and result in more meaningful disclosure. It will also go a long way towards enhancing Singapore's position as a wealth management centre. On that note, Sir, I support the Companies (Amendment) Bill.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill. The present first instalment of amendments to the Companies Act comes not long after the Government's announcement of its adoption of all 77 recommendations of the Companies Legislation and Regulatory Framework Review Committee (CLRFC). That it comes so quickly demonstrates, to many in the business community, the seriousness of intent on the part of the Government in trying to reform and review the companies regulatory and legislative framework in Singapore, just to make it relevant and to help enhance the value proposition of Singapore as a place to do business. Indeed, Sir, the focus on reducing the cost of business in Singapore could not have come at a more appropriate time. Against the backdrop of an already weakened economy, businesses in Singapore are presently bracing themselves for tougher times ahead. The effects of the deadly SARS virus are beginning to bite hard into our economy. Already, we are seeing how people have been laid off in the airline industry because of poor business prospects and taxi drivers having to take home less, because of a general public fear of contracting the virus while riding in a taxi. At a time like this, any move by the Government to reduce cost, and in particular business cost, is welcome news indeed. In this regard, the move to change the legislative and regulatory framework for companies in order to keep business cost low is a positive step in the right direction. For too many years, businessmen, especially those running small and medium enterprises, have been suffering under the weight of rising business cost and becoming uncompetitive in the process. It is indeed true that every regulatory hurdle that is put in the way of businessman is a cost to him. Streamlining our rules and regulations would not only simplify our compliance procedures but would also help to bring down our costs and hence increase our competitiveness. While I applaud, Sir, the present initiative by the Government in moving to change our company law framework and regulatory regime to make us more efficient and competitive, I do wonder whether we are doing enough by just focusing on the subject so narrowly. Can we do better? Sir, we should remember that the issue of the cost of business, even from a company law perspective, goes beyond the subject matter of company law. A review should also cover other similar regulatory regimes as well. For instance, we should review the SFA and the listing rules of the Singapore Exchange with the specific view of reducing our cost, if that is the intent of the Government. In this regard, you will recall, Sir, that at the last Committee of Supply sitting, I did mention that the listing rules in Singapore, while they seek to create greater transparency in the market place, have in some ways contributed to the cost of doing business here. I am referring in particular to quarterly reporting requirements which listed companies in Singapore must comply with over time. I may have mentioned then that many listed companies here find quarterly reporting to be unduly burdensome and may not be entirely appropriate in some cases. Recently, I did a survey amongst my firm's existing clients to determine whether they agree with the sentiments as expressed. In this regard, Sir, I would like to express my interest in the matter as a solicitor and may have an interest in the outcome of this legislation. All who replied were unanimous in telling me that they find quarterly reporting to be burdensome. In some cases, there is very little variation in information provided from quarter to quarter. This applies especially to property investment holding companies. I understand that not all stock exchanges around the world require quarterly reporting from their companies. It is significant to note that the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange does not require quarterly reporting. I did also mention earlier that imposing quarterly reporting requirement may affect our ability to sell listings in Singapore as a value proposition. In this regard, I would like to ask the Minister whether the Government has come to any decision on quarterly reporting requirements. Sir, quarterly reporting is just one example of how, in our effort to be transparent, we may have gone overboard. I will cite another example. The present practice in the industry requires companies that depart from the Code of Corporate Governance to give detailed explanations for its departure. In the present regulatory climate in Singapore, and being afraid of the rap on the knuckle, companies have gone to great lengths to explain every instance of departure from the corporate governance code. Such an undertaking is also thought to be unduly burdensome. This, unfortunately, demonstrates the carrying out of the desire to be transparent and accountable to the extreme. You will appreciate, Sir, that every endeavour to comply with the regulations will come with a price. In this regard, I would also like to ask the Minister whether the MAS could issue a further directive to specify the extent to which explanation is required for not complying with the Code of Corporate Governance. It is, therefore, necessary that if we are to undertake a review of the Companies Act to help reduce business costs, we should also at the same time undertake the review of other relevant legislation and regulations with the same view in mind. With that, Sir, I support the Bill.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I thank Mrs Lim Hwee Hua and also Mr Sin Boon Ann for their contributions. I have a lot of sympathy for their approach and priorities, and let me explain our position and what we can do. On the definition of substantive shareholding which Mrs Lim raised, currently, an investor holding 5% or more of the voting shares of a listed company has to notify the company and the SGX of any changes in shareholding within two calendar days. For example, if it moves from 5.3% to 5.5%, he has to tell the company and SGX about this 0.2% change. The aim is to make sure that the company and SGX are aware of who the substantial shareholders are and what are the movements in their shareholdings. In a takeover situation, this is important information for everybody. In computing this shareholding, the investor must include both his direct interest and his deemed interest. In other words, he has to aggregate several items together - very likely. Direct interest is what he holds himself. But, if he is in a corporation, deemed interest will include shares held by related corporations, eg, subsidiaries and associates. This requirement to aggregate their direct and deemed interests is similar to the practices in the US, UK, Australia and Hong Kong. So, it is not just the Commonwealth jurisdictions. And there is a rationale, which is to improve the level of transparency by allowing the company and SGX to know who exercises effective control over the company's shares. Otherwise, you will have a front, a dummy, and then you operate a wayang kulit from behind, and that causes problems. While we need proper disclosure, we also recognise it is important to reduce the reporting burden for fund managers and investors. That is why we accepted the recommendation to make the changes which are in the Bill today: first, to require notification only when your shareholding changes by one percentage point, a discrete 1% threshold above the minimum 5%. So, if you go from 5.3% to 5.5%, you do not have to report. But if you cross the next threshold, which is 6%, then you will have to report, which is like what Hong Kong and the UK are doing. And instead of two calendar days, you will have two business days. So, over the weekend, you do not count those days. These are minor improvements. But, as Mrs Lim pointed out, there will still be reporting requirements that may still be onerous. So, we will study her suggestion to see whether it is feasible for us to exempt certain categories of investors and fund managers from the requirement to report their direct and deemed interests. We will have to study it, because it is a grey area. There are reasons why we want to know who the substantial shareholders are. For sensitive companies, there may be a double reason. But even for other companies, we must have an effective definition and one that is not too difficult and whose reporting requirements are not too burdensome. But we will study this.

one, on quarterly reporting, whether we have made any decision on amending this. He had raised this in the Committee of Supply and I had promised to look into the matter, which I have done, and he has kindly given me the response from his survey of his own clients. Quarterly reporting will enhance Singapore's transparency and standing as a world-class business and financial centre. As we move to a disclosure-based regime, it becomes more important for investors to be informed more frequently of the progress of publicly-listed companies. Developed economies like the EU, Canada, US and Japan, and also some developing Asian economies like China, India, Malaysia and Thailand, have all implemented quarterly reporting for their listed companies. We introduced mandatory quarterly reporting for listed companies from 1st January this year to further improve Singapore's transparency and disclosure standards. But quarterly reporting does impose cost on companies, particularly the smaller ones. And it is not just the financial aspects, but also a significant amount of management attention is required to prepare the quarterly statements to the necessary standards for public release. And these can be burdensome, especially when business conditions are difficult and profits are down. Considering the current conditions, it makes sense to defer quarterly reporting for some smaller companies to help them reduce their business cost. Currently, listed companies with a market capitalisation above $20 million are required to do quarterly reporting for financial years starting after 1st January 2003. Companies that fall below this threshold have been given a 1-year deferment. They will start quarterly reporting for financial years starting 1st January 2004. We have decided to make the following changes to the quarterly reporting requirement. The market capitalisation threshold will be raised from $20 million to $75 million, based on the 31st March 2003 market capitalisation data published by SGX. This will defer quarterly reporting for about half the mainboard companies and nearly all the Sesdaq companies. Secondly, quarterly reporting will also be deferred for a newly-listed company, if its IPO market capitalisation is $75 million or below. Thirdly, we will review the quarterly reporting requirement for these smaller companies in mid-2005. We will review it and we will decide at that point what to do. Thus, quarterly reporting for these companies will be deferred by at least three years, compared to the larger companies. SGX will be implementing these changes with immediate effect. On the Code of Corporate Governance, Mr Sin asked whether the requirement for listed companies to provide an extensive explanation in their annual reports for any deviation from the Code is unduly burdensome. The Code contains 15 principles and 55 guidelines. The guidelines serve to illustrate and elaborate on the principles. The companies are encouraged to comply with the guidelines, as they are good corporate governance practices. But these are guidelines, not requirements. Nor do we intend companies to publish pages of detailed legalistic explanations of their corporate governance practices, as some listed companies have done in their annual reports this year. So, to explain why you did not comply, you would have another long turgid small-print document. In fact, in their annual reports, companies should focus on how they have applied the principles of the Code which embody its spirit, rather than the many individual guidelines. They should, however, disclose and explain any deviation from the guidelines, which is similar to the disclosure obligations in jurisdictions like the UK and Australia. But it is up to the companies to decide how detailed their corporate governance statements need to be. The market will judge the quality of each company's disclosures. Under this approach, SGX will not routinely review and query the contents of corporate governance disclosures in their companies' annual reports, but it may act, if it receives a complaint, a tip-off, or if it has cause to suspect that a company has not complied with the listing rules or if there is a false or misleading disclosure. This approach is consistent with the move to a disclosure-based regime. Sir, if companies understand that this is a guide, and they put into their annual report a statement which they judge appropriate as to how they have complied with it and where they have not complied with it, that is sufficient. We will not, for example, go and ask them why the explanation for item No. 53 out of 55 items is not long and detailed enough. I hope that makes it clear. I think the SGX also would be very relieved not to have to burden itself with these detailed supervisions, and these moves should make it easier. I should say that, in order for the regulators to be able to supervise the system sensitively, we need to have good feedback from people and from companies for us to know what is working and what is not, what is tiresome without serving a purpose, and what is just form without substance. It is very difficult for the regulator on his own to get this feel. We will try our best, but we are not ourselves practising. We are regulating or supervising. So, unless the participants are willing to speak up effectively and forcefully and press their point, and if they are not heard the first time, to try again, then sometimes we may not get their message and we may end up with an outcome which does not really work. In these two cases, the matters have been discussed. There has been feedback, the matters were debated, some adjustments were made but, actually, further adjustments were necessary because I think the situation was changing, and the business conditions change. When this happens, it is incumbent on the participants, the people who are affected, to speak up and let us know. And, as we have said many times in Parliament and elsewhere, you have to have the confidence to speak up and not worry that if you speak up you may be blackmarked or knocked down or some other thing may befall you. Because if you do not speak up, then we would not know and it would not be fixed. So, we have to have that mutual confidence and rapport and, if one avenue does not work, to try different avenues. Finally, we may or may not agree, but I think it is important that the issues have a full airing and the decision is a considered one, taking all views and all facts into account.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister for hearing out the people in industry and making the necessary changes. Coming back to the other point about explanations for departures from the corporate governance code, would the Deputy Prime Minister not agree with me that part of the reason why people have gone to the other extreme of giving detailed explanation is because they fear the heavy hand of the regulator? What the Deputy Prime Minister has just said earlier was that you leave it to people to form their own judgment as to the appropriate level of disclosure and explanation and they will have to justify afterwards. I think it will take a while in the engagement between the regulator and the people concerned to find the appropriate level that they are comfortable with. In the interim, until such a comfort level is established, can the MAS give the assurance that there will be a light-handed and light-touch approach in enforcing the regulations?

We have said so many times, but I will underline it heavily.

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Lee Hsien Loong]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second Reading read.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, this Bill collates a number of minor amendments to several Acts. They are mostly technical amendments but let me highlight the key ones. Amendment to the Arbitration Act First, clause 3 amends the Arbitration Act to empower the High Court of Singapore to enforce an arbitral award irrespective of whether the place of arbitration is Singapore or elsewhere. This amendment was recommended by the Legal Services Working Group under the Economic Review Sub-Committee on Service Industries and is modelled after the UK and Hong Kong legislation. Sir, as part of our drive to make Singapore an international arbitration hub, we want to attract people to conduct their arbitrations in Singapore. For this to happen, it is important that arbitration awards made in Singapore are enforceable in whatever country assets in question are found. This is not a problem for countries that are parties to the New York Convention, where any signatory country's awards can be enforced in any other signatory country. Singapore is a signatory country, as are most other countries. The problem arises when awards from Singapore are to be enforced in a non-New York Convention country. In such cases, there is no automatic recognition of a Singapore award by that country. However, many of these countries have laws that allow recognition of foreign arbitral awards on a reciprocal basis. Thus, if Singapore is able to recognise awards from these countries, they will likewise recognise awards from Singapore. Hence, this amendment to make it possible for foreign awards that cannot currently be enforced in Singapore to be enforced here. There will not be an automatic right to enforcement, as the leave of our High Court will be required. Of course, this does not mean that the Court will automatically grant leave to enforce foreign awards in all cases. The award must first be subject to the requirements in section 46(1), namely, that there must be an agreement by the parties to submit the dispute to arbitration and the award must be a decision on the substance of the dispute made by an arbitral tribunal. For example, the Courts have developed rules for the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards, and similar principles would be considered by a Court in deciding whether to grant leave. Thus, leave to enforce an award may not be granted if the person against whom it is sought to be enforced shows that the arbitral tribunal lacked substantive jurisdiction to make the award, or that the enforcement of the award would be contrary to public policy. Also, if the composition of the arbitral tribunal is not in accordance with the agreement of the parties or the applicable arbitration law, the Court may decline to enforce the award. Amendment to the Business Registration Act Next, the Business Registration Act. Section 22 of the Act currently makes it an offence for an undischarged bankrupt to take part in or be concerned in the management of any business required to be registered under that Act without the leave of the High Court or the written permission of the Official Assignee. Clause 5 amends the Act by extending the existing law to cover persons who are adjudicated bankrupt in another jurisdiction. Such a person will also have to seek the leave of the High Court or permission from the Official Assignee before he can take part in the management of any business required to be registered under the Business Registration Act. Sir, this amendment was proposed following a case where the Attorney-General's Chambers was unable to prosecute a person as he was adjudicated bankrupt in another jurisdiction. This amendment will bring the Business Registration Act in line with section 148 of the Companies Act. Amendment to the Prisons Act Next, clause 12 amends the Prisons Act to address an existing uncertainty. Prisons Department has always given one-third remission for sentences for prisoners serving imprisonment in default of payment of fine, although it is not clear from section 224 of the Criminal Procedure Code that such prisoners are entitled to remission. This amendment will make it clear that the Minister for Home Affairs can make regulations relating to the granting of remission in respect of sentences of imprisonment and imprisonment in default of payment of fine. Amendments to enhance District Court's sentencing power Next, clause 16, read with the Schedule, amends the Acts listed in the first column of the Schedule to empower the District Courts to impose the full penalty prescribed under these Acts. Such empowering is not new. It is already found in many other Acts. In the past, there have been cases where the District Courts have found that the merits of the case warranted the maximum punishment provided under the Acts. However, they were unable to mete out the punishment beyond that provided under the Criminal Procedure Code (or CPC). In particular, under the CPC, the District Court can only impose a fine of up to $10,000 while the maximum fines provided in many of the Acts range between $20,000 and $250,000. This amendment will therefore give the District Courts the flexibility to impose the appropriate punishment up to the maximum allowable under the Acts. Amendment to the Land Acquisition Act Next, clause 8 amends the Land Acquisition Act to allow the Collector of Land Revenue to waive, in suitable cases, the need for appellants to deposit security for costs. Sir, such deposits are required whenever appeals are made to the Appeals Board against a compensation award. The deposits will be used to satisfy the costs in the event that the Board makes an order awarding costs against the appellant. Currently, the Act requires a deposit equivalent to one-third the amount of the award or $5,000, whichever is lower. However, there have been cases in the past where the deposits are of such small amounts that it does not make sense to collect them. This amendment will allow the Collector to waive such deposits in cases where the amount is insignificant and relieve the Appeals Board from the administrative task of maintaining the accounts for such deposits collected. Amendment to the Payment and Settlement Systems (Finality and Netting) Act Next, clause 11 amends the Payment and Settlement Systems (Finality and Netting) Act to empower the Monetary Authority of Singapore to compound offences under that Act that are prescribed as compoundable offences. This is to move away from prosecuting every breach of the provisions by offering the offenders an opportunity to compound the breaches. Clause 11 also amends the same Act to confer jurisdiction on District Courts to try any offence under that Act and to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offences. Miscellaneous amendments Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, to wrap up, let me take the House briefly through the remaining key provisions of the Bill which are in the nature of facilitating better administration of the Acts in question. Amendment to the Interpretation Act First, clause 2 amends the definition of "prescribed" in the Interpretation Act to facilitate the use of electronic forms in appropriate cases. Regulations often prescribe forms to be used for various processes or applications. The amendment will allow such forms to be made available on websites, rather than be printed in the Regulations themselves. This is in line with the move towards more electronic communications and transactions, as well as increasing e-Government. Amendment to the Companies Act Clause 7 amends the Companies Act to require the liquidator of a company that has been wound up to keep the relevant books and papers of the company for a period of 2 years instead of 5 years as is presently the case. This will relieve the burden on liquidators to maintain the books of the company after dissolution, and will avoid further storage costs upon dissolution. So far, there has been no request to inspect the books of a company after the winding up order has been made. Amendments to the Mutual Benefit Organisations Act, Societies Act and Trade Unions Act Clauses 10, 14 and 15 amend the Mutual Benefit Organisations Act, the Societies Act and the Trade Unions Act respectively to substitute all references to the Official Assignee with the Official Receiver. As the Official Receiver deals with the winding up of companies, he would be the more appropriate authority to deal with the winding up of mutual benefit organisations, societies and trade unions rather than the Official Assignee who deals with bankruptcy of individuals. The amendment will allow the Official Receiver to apply the same powers that he has under the Companies Act in the winding up of a company. Amendment to the Public Trustee Act Clause 13 amends the Public Trustee Act to allow the Minister to assign to the Public Trustee functions and duties relating to victims of motor accidents and their claims to compensation. This will enable the Public Trustee to handle duties such as administering the agreement between the Government and the Motor Insurance Bureau relating to the compensation of motor accident victims. Amendment to the Bankruptcy Act Clause 4 amends the Bankruptcy Act to clarify that a private trustee does not have the power to issue a certificate of annulment where a composition is accepted by the creditors or where a proved debt and the expenses of the bankruptcy have been fully paid. Such powers should only be exercised by the Official Assignee. A private trustee who feels that an annulment should be made could refer the matter to the Official Assignee for consideration. Amendment to the Civil Service College Act Clause 6 is a minor technical amendment to the Civil Service College Act to effect a change in terminology from the existing "Board of Governors" to the "Board of Directors". Amendment to the Moneylenders Act Finally, Sir, clause 9 amends the Moneylenders Act by deleting the information that is currently required for the proof of a debt due to a moneylender, and providing instead for such information to be prescribed by rules made under the Bankruptcy Act. This is to give more flexibility and clarity to the process of defining requirements for proving a debt. Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second Reading read.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time." Sir, this Bill amends the Land Titles Act to provide the legal framework necessary to implement Singapore Land Authority's Electronic Lodgement System (or ELS). It was drafted in consultation with the relevant Government agencies and statutory boards. Let me highlight the main changes to the Act. This Bill will allow the electronic lodgement of documents affecting land to update the land register through electronic means; namely, the Internet (clause 4). The current framework of the Act only allows manual lodgement of documents. Sir, there are clear benefits in switching to ELS. Let me cite some examples. Lawyers using ELS will save on manpower and transportation costs, as there will be fewer trips to SLA for lodgement. There will also be lower incidence of documentation data errors, which attracts additional fees. The new system has an in-built automated checking mechanism that will assist lawyers in their preparation of documents by minimising data errors. Also, lawyers will be able to offer better services to their clients through more effective case management, for example, by checking their accounts with SLA concerning lodgement fees and the status of their lodged documents. And, finally, Sir, they will also be able to use value-added services such as being alerted to expiring caveats which will help to ensure that their clients' interests are not left unprotected. From the land registry's perspective, ELS will do away with the need to re-key data at the SLA's end as the data is transmitted from the lodging party. This will effectively ensure almost 100% accuracy of the information captured. This will better safeguard the integrity of the land register and enhance public confidence in land dealings in Singapore. As to the types of documents that can be lodged electronically, for a start, when the system is implemented, only caveats, writs of execution and orders of court can be lodged electronically. These are documents that do not pass title to the land from the registered owner to another person. Other types of documents will still need to be submitted physically to SLA even after the electronic format of the documents has been transmitted to SLA via ELS. Sir, the reason why we are limiting the application of ELS to these documents is because the Electronic Transactions Act does not apply to documents that pass title in immovable property. As land is probably the most valuable asset to most Singaporeans, there are concerns in extending the application of the Electronic Transactions Act to land documents that pass title or interest from the landowner to other parties. Nevertheless, these land documents will still benefit from ELS because the priority of their lodgement will be secured at the point in time when their electronic formats are transmitted to SLA. Sir, also, the Bill will enable the Registrar to dispense with proof of execution of documents. At law, execution of land documents has to be witnessed by someone other than a party to the document. This is to prevent any doubts being raised subsequently as to whether the document was properly executed by the parties. Given the nature of the documents covered under ELS, which do not pass title, we have decided to dispense with attestation. This amendment will not only facilitate easy usage of ELS, but also obviate increased business costs of arranging for witnesses to sign either electronically or by way of digital cards. Sir, the Bill will also deal with the execution of companies. Currently, the Bill provides for companies to execute by way of affixing the common seal in the presence of two of its officers. In the electronic environment, this will not be possible. Instead, the Bill will allow the Registrar to prescribe such other acceptable manner of execution. One such manner of execution would be for them to execute the documents through their authorised officers. Finally, Sir, this Bill will help Singapore to achieve its vision of implementing eGovernment services, wherever possible, to ensure easy accessibility of Government services via the Internet. Sir, I beg to move. Question proposed.

Sir, I wish to seek a clarification on clauses 13 and 14 which are to amend sections 161 and 164 of the Act. The original sections 161(1) and 164(1) of the Act allow the public access to the Land Register and to obtain a certified copy of any document lodged with it upon payment of a fee. These sections will be amended to allow the public to search and obtain a copy of such electronic documents as the Registrar shall determine. This means that not all electronically lodged documents can be accessed by the public. My question is: which are the documents that will no longer be available for public inspection, and why is there a need to limit public access to certain documents which will result in less information being available to the public?

Sir, as I understand it, it is not the purpose of this amendment to limit public access to the documents but rather to save public time in checking. Also, possibly, because of the electronic environment, the clause gives flexibility to the Registrar to protect the integrity of the database. Just in case there is a need to limit, there is the power to do so, but the intention is not to limit.

Further clarification. If the intention is not to limit, but the amendment states that the Registrar will now determine what kind of documents will be available, is it not clear enough to say that it is to limit? The Bill says that it is to limit. So I wonder why impose such a limit and give the Registrar such a power to determine what document to release and not to release. So where is the right of the public for information in the database?

As I said, Sir, we are doing this in phases. The important thing is to protect the databases. So, in terms of even how the public accesses the documents, it is better to give the powers to the Registrar to implement any steps that may be needed, for example, to ensure the identity of the public accessing the documents. I think it is good to give the Registrar these powers, which can be exercised, if necessary. But the intention is not to limit public access, but for him to ensure that whoever accesses it will not, for example, corrupt or abuse the database. This is a technical point. If Mr Low wants further clarification, this can be sent to him.

Sir, does the Senior Minister of State agree - and this puzzles me - that these are two different issues? How do you prevent people from accessing the database to try to do something funny to it, damage the database, and to restrict access to certain documents? I do not understand why they have to be together.

Sir, like I said, what is important is to clarify the policy intent. The policy intent is not to restrict whatever level of public accessibility that is currently enjoyed. That is the main point. I think that is the point Mr Low is trying to make.

Question put, and agreed to. Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House. The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill - [Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee]. Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament do now adjourn to tomorrow, 25th April 2003, at 1.30 pm."

The Non-Constituency Member, Mr Steve Chia, has withdrawn his right to raise the matter on the motion for adjournment.

Resolved, That Parliament do now adjourn. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan]. Adjourned accordingly at Twenty-two minutes to Seven o'clock pm to Friday, 25th April, 2003.

asked the Minister for Home Affairs in the last five years, what is the number of (i) cyclists involved in traffic accidents and (ii) cyclists who died from the accidents.

The number of cyclists involved in traffic accidents rose from 266 in 1998 to 363 in 2002. However, the number of fatalities involving cyclists has remained consistently fewer than 20 per year for the same period. Table 1 shows the breakdown of cyclists involved in traffic accidents for the period 1998 - 2002. Table 1: Breakdown of cyclists involved in traffic accidents 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Number of cyclists 266 341 336 360 363 involved in traffic accidents Number of fatalities 15 19 15 12 16 involving cyclists

Note: Under the Road Traffic (Bicycle) Exemption Rules, a bicycle is defined to mean a pedal bicycle and includes pedal tricycles and trishaws. The figures above reflect the number of accidents and fatalities involving bicycles, trishaws and tricycles.

To address the rise in the number of cyclists involved in accidents, the Traffic Police conducts regular talks and exhibitions on safe cycling habits. For example, a total of 237 road safety talks and exhibitions, including a segment on safe cycling, were conducted last year. These talks and exhibitions are conducted at primary and secondary schools, community centres and SAF camps, and have reached out to more than 92,000 pupils, SAF personnel and members of the public.

In addition, the Traffic Police also conducted 232 sessions of the Shell Traffic Game training at the East Coast Road Safety Community Park. These primary and secondary school pupils were put through practical lessons on safe cycling and taught basic rules while cycling on the road.

The talks and exhibitions on safe cycling cover safe cycling tips, such as wearing protective gear, and taking extra care when approaching road junctions. The talks and exhibitions also cover basic do's and don'ts, such as using hand signals and not cycling on pedestrian pavements. The Traffic Police will continue to educate cyclists and other road users, including motorists, on safe cycling. Road safety is everyone's business.

asked the Minister for National Development as regards Potong Pasir Constituency, whether Mr Sitoh Yih Pin or any of the grassroots organisations have asked for and obtained permission since November 2000, (i) to construct a river promenade or park at the waterfront in front of apartment Block Nos. 125-144 of Potong Pasir Avenue 3; (ii) for the Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP) for Potong Pasir estate and/or Lorong 8 Toa Payoh estate; (iii) to upgrade all lifts in all high-rise Housing and Development Board blocks and for lifts to stop at every floor; (iv) to carry out Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP) at Sennett Estate; and (v) to provide better facilities to the surrounding areas at Avon Park and Euro-Asia Park.

The Potong Pasir Citizens' Consultative Committee (CCC) has nominated Sennett Estate for EUP. Its selection was announced in January 2003.

Neither the CCC Advisor nor any of the grassroots organisations has asked for or been given permission to construct a river promenade or park at the waterfront in front of apartment Block Nos. 125-144 of Potong Pasir Avenue 3, or to provide better facilities to the surrounding areas at Avon Park and Euro-Asia Park.

MND has also not received any request from the CCC Advisor or his grassroots organisations to carry out the Interim Upgrading Programme (IUP) or to upgrade the lifts at the HDB estates in Potong Pasir and Lorong 8 Toa Payoh.

Appendix - Announcement by Mr Speaker