Hansard, 2004-09-21

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: Name From (2004) To (2004) Mdm Halimah Yacob 06 Sep 12 Sep Assoc. Prof. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim 08 Sep 08 Sep 10 Sep 10 Sep 25 Sep 02 Oct Dr Ng Eng Hen 10 Sep 10 Sep Dr Lily Neo 11 Sep 17 Sep Mr Chiam See Tong 12 Sep 19 Sep Mr Khaw Boon Wan 12 Sep 16 Sep Mr Othman Haron Eusofe 12 Sep 17 Sep Mdm Ho Geok Choo 13 Sep 19 Sep Mr Chan Soo Sen 14 Sep 17 Sep Mr David T E Lim 14 Sep 16 Sep Mr Yeo Guat Kwang 14 Sep 16 Sep 27 Sep 03 Oct Mr Charles Chong 16 Sep 23 Sep BG George Yong-Boon Yeo 16 Sep 01 Oct Dr Michael Lim Chun Leng 16 Sep 18 Sep Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam 18 Sep 29 Sep Column: 631Mr Ang Mong Seng 20 Sep 23 Sep 31 Oct 06 Nov Mr Wong Kan Seng 20 Sep 02 Oct Mr Davinder Singh 21 Sep 21 Sep Mr Gan Kim Yong 21 Sep 23 Sep 28 Sep 01 Oct Mr K Shanmugam 21 Sep 21 Sep Mr Ng Ser Miang 21 Sep 25 Sep Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed 21 Sep 22 Sep Mr Seng Han Thong 22 Sep 26 Sep Dr Lee Boon Yang 23 Sep 23 Sep 06 Oct 09 Oct 14 Oct 17 Oct Mr Lim Swee Say 23 Sep 23 Sep Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay 24 Sep 26 Sep Dr Balaji Sadasivan 25 Sep 26 Sep 27 Sep 03 Oct Dr Wang Kai Yuen 26 Sep 03 Oct Mr Lim Hng Kiang 27 Sep 09 Oct Mr Inderjit Singh 28 Sep 30 Sep Mr Loh Meng See 28 Sep 01 Oct Dr Vivian Balakrishnan 28 Sep 01 Oct Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad 05 Oct 10 Oct 02 Nov 08 Nov Mr Andy Gan Lai Chiang 09 Oct 15 Oct

Mr Ang Mong Seng

ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

The following Bills were assented to by the President of the Republic of Singapore on the dates stated:

8th September,2004

6th September,2004 (1) The Government Securities (Amendment) Bill (1) Human Cloning And Other Prohibited Practices Bill (2) Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Bill (3) Prisons (Amendment) Bill (4) Securities And Futures (Amendment) Bill (5) Business Trusts Bill (6) Building Control (Amendment) Bill ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

Order. On behalf of hon. Members, I welcome Dr K Kalimuthu, Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, who is present in our Gallery today. [Applause.]

I wish to inform hon. Members that, pursuant to Standing Order No. 98, I have nominated Mr Leong Horn Kee to be the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in place of Mrs Lim Hwee Hua.

I have also nominated Mr S Iswaran to be a Member of the Public Accounts Committee to fill a vacancy that has arisen in that Committee.

1. Mr Zainudin Nordin asked the Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports whether he will continue to offer childcare subsidies and vary the amount depending on the income-level and number of dependants as this will lower the financial burden of the less-fortunate income group and ensure that they can afford pre-school centres of reasonable quality.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank Mr Zainudin for his concern.

My Ministry currently provides childcare subsidies to make childcare affordable. A childcare subsidy of up to $150 per month is available for children who are enrolled in childcare centres. These subsidies are for the first to fourth child.

We recognise that low-income families will need additional support so as to lower their financial burden and provide good early childhood development programmes for their children.

My Ministry has therefore been providing additional assistance to low-income families through the Centre-based Financial Assistance Scheme for Childcare (CFAC). CFAC is a means-tested scheme, targeting at families that earn $1,500 and below per month. It provides additional childcare assistance of up to $265 per month for each child who attends full day care, depending on the family's income.

This subsidy is provided for the first to fourth child. The families may also apply for a one-time Start-up Grant to help them pay the initial costs of placing the child in a childcare centre for the first time. The Start-up Grant can help to cover expenses such as the registration fee, one month deposit, the first month's fees and uniforms.

With additional childcare assistance, low-income families can therefore expect Government subsidies ranging from between $130 and $415 per month per child to offset the cost of sending their children to full-day childcare. In other words, if a mother would like to send her child to a typical childcare centre run by a Voluntary Welfare Organisation, she needs to pay between $35 and $320 per month for each child.

CFAC subsidy therefore already takes into account the family's income level. Families with more children who go to childcare centres will also get more subsidy under CFAC, as the subsidy is given on a per child basis.

. The Government reviews CFAC subsidy rates every two years to ensure that childcare remains affordable for low-income families. We will continue to provide additional assistance for low-income families to send their children to childcare, as we recognise the importance of providing developmental opportunities to these children. At the same time, the assistance will help to facilitate the entry or re-entry of the mothers into the labour force, so that they can work and supplement the families' incomes.

2. Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Acting Minister for Community

Development, Youth and Sports what is the nature of the support given to non-governmental organisations that do offer help to trafficked victims.

Mr Speaker, Sir, there are very few cases of human trafficking in Singapore. Our strong legal framework and strict enforcement ensure that this number remains low. The small numbers notwithstanding, the Government has in place a comprehensive process to ensure that appropriate assistance is extended to victims of trafficking and victims who are in need of protection. This process involves the Police, the Courts and Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) that offer assistance to persons in need.

The support services provided by VWOs range from providing counselling and translation services, to providing temporary shelter to victims, if necessary. Our VWOs are equipped to provide protection, practical assistance and perhaps, most importantly, emotional support to these victims.

In order to support the work that they do, my Ministry provides funding for the running of these services, as well as the training of the VWO staff providing these services. These funds allow the agencies to run programmes and services not only for victims of trafficking, but also for other victims in need of protection. In the last two years, the Government has provided approximately $435,000 to agencies running victim assistance programmes. Government funding for such agencies has actually increased by 35% from approximately $185,000 in 2002 to approximately $250,000 in 2003.

The agencies are also part of a larger network of VWOs that provide platforms

for coordination with relevant agencies as well as sharing of knowledge and expertise. We will continue to engage these VWOs to discuss and review the protocol and procedures, so as to ensure that the needs of trafficking victims are met.

Sir, could I just know which are these VWOs, please?

We have a few, like the Catholic church runs the Good Shepherd Centre and Star Shelter and the Anglican Welfare Organisation runs the St George's Place.

3. Dr Tan Boon Wan asked the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources if he will give an update of (i) dengue outbreaks (ii) the efforts to control it and (iii) further initiatives, if any, in the pipeline.

Mr Speaker, Sir, according to the World Health Organisation and the International Society for Infectious Diseases, there is a global upsurge in dengue cases this year. In some countries, the total number of dengue cases doubled in the first six months of 2004 compared to the same period last year. In our region, we are seeing the same increase too. WHO had recently issued a dengue alert for Southeast Asia.

As of 18th September this year, a total of 5,248 cases were reported, a 48% increase as compared to the same period last year. Recently, our weekly dengue cases peaked at 332 in the week ending 28th August. This is higher than the weekly peak of 258 cases recorded last year. Although the figure has come

down to 263 for the week ending 18th September 2004, we are still unable to determine if the situation has stabilised.

Dengue is cyclical in nature. Every year, we see dengue cases building up during the warmer months of July to September. We are now in this traditional peak period. In fact, the weekly average of dengue cases is now 142 cases, as compared to 68 cases reported in the early part of this year. This is also higher than the weekly average of 96 cases reported over the same period last year. Hence, we must continue to be vigilant.

NEA has stepped up mosquito control surveillance, inspecting more than 228,000 premises and conducting more than 21,000 ground surveys since the beginning of this year. This is an increase of 10% over the same period last year. We are seeing some improvements. Today, only 5% of schools inspected were found breeding Aedes mosquitoes, down from 25% before 1999. For construction sites, less than 15% inspected were found breeding mosquitoes. This is down from 30% last year.

The number of households breeding mosquitoes has however continued to increase in recent years. From the 228,000 premises NEA inspected, it is found that 60% of mosquito breeding cases involved indoor breeding. For HDB flats, the number of households found breeding mosquitoes has increased from 6 per 1,000 households in 1999, to 18 per 1,000 last year, and 16 per 1,000 as at 11th September this year. For condominiums, it has more than doubled, from 12 per 1,000 households in 1999, to 26 per 1,000 last year, and 29 per 1,000 households as at 11th September this year. In landed housing, the number has nearly tripled from 19 per 1,000 households in 1999, to 47 per 1,000 last year, and 60 per 1,000 as at 11th September. We must reverse the trend,

and we can only succeed if we have the cooperation of the community.

For this reason, the NEA initiated a community project known as "Mozzie Attack" in April this year. The aim was to encourage greater community involvement and ownership. Starting with 10 constituencies, household members and maids were trained to detect and eliminate potential breeding sites. The response from the community has been encouraging. To-date, some 2,000 volunteers have been trained on dengue prevention and have become members of the Dengue Prevention Volunteer Groups (DPVG). The number of constituencies involved in the programme has also increased from 10 to 28.

The NEA aims to expand the Mozzie Attack programme to all 84 constituencies over the next 12 months. We hope to see more volunteers coming forward. Only with active community involvement, will we be able to keep the number of dengue cases to the lowest level possible.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether dengue is running out of control in Singapore. If he looks at the Ang Mo Kio and Yishun areas, the numbers have gone up tremendously. In the last seven years as an MP there, I did not have that many cases but now, almost invariably every week, I see a couple of clusters. This is a deep concern for our residents.

Sir, I agree with the Member that we have to be concerned but I think it is not right for us to say that it is out of control. The situation is well under control. As I mentioned in my reply, we have stepped up enforcement and inspection. In fact, for the Member's constituency, we have checked in the last few weeks and found that there have been no cluster cases.

We have one or two sporadic cases but there has been no known cluster.

But the point I want to make, Sir, is that once a case is reported, NEA will go in with officers to check and determine whether it is a cluster, and it will carry out the necessary action such as fogging and eliminating the breeding sites. We will continue with the enforcement but, as I mentioned in my reply, we need community involvement. It is difficult for us to say whether the Mozzie Attack is successful but the signs are encouraging. More people are aware of what are the things that they can do. Again, as I mentioned in my reply, the culprits are basically households where indoor breeding contributes 60% of the cases that we have known. We need to get members of the public to be aware and to do the little things that they can do that will help us to keep dengue fever as low as possible.

Sir, can I ask the Minister how important is fogging as a method to control the Aedes mosquitoes? Is it dangerous to residents? I am quite sure the method kills mosquitoes but how dangerous is it to human beings? This is important because we have to manage the fogging. We cannot overfog an area and there are several agencies, for example, the Government agency could be fogging and the private contractor could also be fogging. So we have to manage the fogging so as not to overfog an area to the consternation of our residents.

Sir, I would like to assure Members that fogging is safe. But having said that, we are very sparing in the way we use fogging. We have to ascertain whether there is a real cluster and whether the population of the Aedes mosquitoes is very high before fogging is used. The

elements which are used in the fogging are controlled substances. Anybody who wants to use those substances will have to use those which have been registered with NEA. We educate condominium household owners, especially the management committees, on how and when they should use fogging and we ensure that the pest controllers who are involved in the fogging are also trained to use this judiciously.

Sir, can the Minister let us know, for vacant houses and vacant flats, what are the rights that his officers have and what are the measures that they take to enter these premises to check?

Sir, the Member has raised a very important question because we need to check households when there is a report of a case. When we come across a house which is vacant or locked up, and we cannot enter, we will need to get permission, but we work together with the authorities. Sometimes, the owners may be away or they may be working during the day time, but we will ensure that we will get access into the house one way or the other through legal means to ensure that we can at least go in and do the inspection. We have received calls from the public to inspect some of the vacant premises and we work with the relevant agencies to allow our officers to go into the premises to inspect.

So I would like to assure the Member that when there is a report of vacant premises which may be a potential breeding site, we will obtain the necessary permission for us to enter and inspect the premises and deal with the case.

Sir, I would like to know whether, apart from enforcement and education, there is

any technology that can be used to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.

I am not sure I would be able to give the Member a good answer. But I think the enforcement and mechanism in which we have in place, which are fogging and clearing of breeding sites, have proven to be effective. But, nonetheless, I take the Member's point that we should continue to investigate new ways in which we can reduce the Aedes mosquito population in Singapore.

4. Mr Zainudin Nordin asked the Minister for Education if there are further concrete plans to ensure standard and basic requirements of setting-up a pre-school centre, especially in terms of (i) quality of staff, their qualifications and training and (ii) child-teacher ratio.

5. Mr Zainudin Nordin asked the Minister for Education how the Government assists in changing the beliefs and attitudes of some parents with regard to the upbringing of their children since it is a key element in early childhood development.

Sir, can I have your permission to answer Question Nos. 4 and 5 together, because they are related?

Please do.

Thank you, Sir.

Sir, the Ministry of Education (MOE) registers kindergartens if they meet the basic requirements in safety, land-use, hygiene, curriculum and teacher qualifications. Since 2001, the minimum qualifications for kindergarten teachers have been three 'O' level credits or

equivalent and a Certificate in Pre-school Teaching. And the three 'O' level credits must include English Language or Mother Tongue Language for Mother Tongue teachers.

To raise the quality of pre-school professionals, MOE, in December 2000, announced that all kindergarten principals would be required to obtain a Diploma in Pre-school Education - Leadership by January 2006. In October 2001, MOE further announced that all teachers would be required to have Certificate in Pre-school Teaching by January 2008 and one in four teachers would be required to obtain the Diploma in Pre-school Education - Teaching.

Pre-school operators are responding to these MOE's requirements by sending their staff for training. Progress in the last three years has been encouraging. In January 2004, out of the total number of 3,438 pre-school teachers, 2,216 (64.5%) have received certificate or diploma training. With 1,160 teachers currently undergoing training, by the end of this year, 84% of pre-school teachers will have been trained at certificate or diploma level. These new standards, when fully in place from January 2008 onwards, will have a positive impact on the quality of education in the kindergartens.

To further expand teachers' capability to bring about quality learning outcomes, the Ministry has been conducting workshops, seminars and sharing of best practices for kindergarten teachers and principals. This wide range of professional development opportunities promotes continuous learning among pre-school professionals and, we believe, is an important part of the Ministry's effort to enhance the quality of kindergartens.

Besides the quality of the teachers, MOE recognises that the extent of individualised attention given to the

children also has an impact on the quality of the pre-school experience. Hence, the Ministry has recommended the following teacher-pupil ratio:

Nursery: 1 teacher and 1 teacher-aide to 15 pupils

Kindergarten 1: 1 teacher to 20 pupils

Kindergarten 2: 1 teacher to 25 pupils

These recommended teacher-pupil ratios are stated in the Kindergarten Manual that has been distributed to all kindergartens. Presently, 83.2% of kindergartens have met these teacher-pupil ratios. Kindergartens in new housing estates tend to have teacher-pupil ratios that are higher than the recommended guidelines. These kindergartens have been advised by the Ministry to work towards meeting these ratios.

What happens in kindergartens, though important, is just one aspect of a child's development. What happens at home is equally important; in fact, some would say more important. Parents have a critical role to play in the upbringing of their children, and it is therefore important that they actively take up this challenge and raise their children well. We agree that it is necessary to help some parents understand the importance of developing children in a holistic manner. The best people who can explain this to the parents are the teachers and principals who come into contact with the parents regularly.

To support pre-school educators in their efforts to persuade parents, the Ministry has published and distributed a booklet called "Nurturing Early Learners". This booklet helps teachers and principals explain to parents what it means to prepare their children for lifelong learning. We have very good feedback on this booklet. Many kindergartens have

purchased extra copies and have indicated that they will be using them for their orientation programmes at the end of this year or when giving talks to parents.

For children in child care centres, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) encourages strong centre-family partnerships in the holistic development of young children. This is achieved through a sense of shared responsibility and common vision amongst staff and families.

In the case of parents whose children are not in pre-schools, MCYS also partners community organisations such as maternity hospitals, libraries, family service centres, Voluntary Welfare Organisations and corporate Family Life Ambassadors as well as community self-help groups in the delivery of parenting programmes. These programmes empower and guide parents to take a proactive role in the proper upbringing and development of their children.

Sir, may I know whether MOE has data on the number of children that do not attend pre-school? Secondly, what is the long-term impact on a child missing pre-school in the child's primary school education? Does MOE have any study on this?

We do have data on students who missed pre-school. I do not have it with me because the Member did not ask the question. But I would say that the Ministry of Education does have various early intervention programmes in primary schools. For example, we have the Learning Support Programme where, at Primary 1, we identify pupils who are weak in language and Mathematics and we give them an enhanced programme. What happens is that we take these children out of the class and put them in a smaller group to give them special coaching.

The experience of this programme has been very good. By the end of Primary 1, more than two-thirds would have reached the required standard and can catch up when they reach Primary 2. By the end of Primary 2, virtually all would have caught up.

The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo -

6. To ask the Minister for Education (a) how the new programme to groom the identified students as bicultural elites will be implemented using the space created by the integrated programme; (b) why are we confining the new programme to only two schools which are supposed to be able to get things ready in a short time; (c) how will non-scholars be assisted to embrace the new programme; and (d) what will be the desired outcomes for these non-scholars.

Question No. 6, Sir.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Bicultural Studies Programme is a key plank in our efforts to groom a core group of students with a confident grasp of the Chinese Language and culture, and contemporary developments in China. It is being introduced in three schools, Dunman High School, Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang Girls' High School, from next year. These schools were chosen because they are SAP schools and offer Integrated Programmes. They have both a conducive school environment for developing an understanding of Chinese language and culture, and the time and space to run in-depth programmes, including an extended period of immersion in China for the

students following the Bicultural Studies Programme. In addition, the three schools have strong and established linkages with schools in China, which will be an advantage in their immersion programmes. The three schools were therefore natural choices, and in fact had already been working to introduce various elements of Chinese language and China-related studies into their Integrated Programmes. They were ready and did not have to rush to come up together with a new programme or new approach to meet MOE's needs.

While not all students in the Bicultural Studies Programme in these three schools will be awarded the new SAP scholarships, we expect all of them to undertake a broadly similar course of study, at the secondary and JC levels.

The Bicultural Studies Programme builds on our other existing projects and efforts to nurture an abiding interest in students for the Chinese Language and to encourage those who are able to master the language to go as far as they can. First, a significant group of students in each cohort take Higher Chinese Language (HCL), which is offered from the primary to JC levels. This year, in fact, we have 25% more students taking Higher Chinese in our secondary schools. Second, we have 25 SAP schools at the primary and secondary levels, each with their own programmes to nurture an interest in the language and culture. Further, we have the Language Elective Programme (Chinese), offered at three junior colleges and catering to about 150 students, which aims to deepen students' appreciation of Chinese Language and Literature.

The Bicultural Studies Programme goes further than these other programmes, but by no means detracts from them. Each of these programmes is essential. In different ways and to different extents, they will groom

students with a good foundation in Chinese Language, history and culture, and an understanding of contemporary China. Some students, particularly those on the Bicultural Studies Programme and LEP (Chinese) are also likely to pursue further studies in universities in China. Ultimately, these programmes, taken together, aim to develop a group of students in each cohort with a lifelong interest in the Chinese language and culture, and the ability to help Singapore engage with China in the years to come.

7. Miss Penny Low asked the Minister for Transport if he will consider placing heritage signboards and brief history templates at suitable LRT and MRT/NEL stations to explain the names of the stations and help cultivate a sense of history and belonging to Singapore.

Sir, Miss Penny Low asked whether the Ministry will consider placing heritage signboards and brief history templates at suitable LRT and MRT stations to explain the names of the stations and help cultivate a sense of history and belonging to Singapore.

The idea is certainly an interesting one. I am glad to inform the House that LTA has already taken a step in this direction. Some of our MRT stations are designed to reflect the character of the vicinity. A good example is the Minangkabau-styled Eunos station which reflects the Malay heritage of the environment. The inclusion of Chinese language signs at Chinatown station, and Tamil signs at Little India and Farrer Park stations also helps to reflect the ethnic character of these two sites.

Some of the art works in the Art in Transit programme for the North East Line are also inspired by local culture and history. Wherever possible, the artists have tried to capture the flavour and culture associated with the stations' locality.

Take, for example, Kovan station. The artist, Eng Tow, used early and current topographical maps to illustrate the passage of time on Kovan, which was once a close-knit rural community. The resultant art works reflect the area's journey from an agricultural community to one in which modern infrastructure dominates. Over at Farrer Park station, the murals depicting various sporting activities serve to remind commuters that Farrer Park used to be the focal point for all who were passionate about sports.

LTA will continue to work with the National Heritage Board to see what else can be done to cultivate a sense of history and belonging among Singaporeans, including the suggestion to put up heritage signboards.

Sir, would there also be an intention to extend these heritage signboards to LRT stations? I understand that the Street Naming Committee, the grassroots organisations and even STB are involved in the whole naming process. But, very often, when the signs are put up, they are not easily comprehended by the local residents who are new in those areas.

Sir, certainly the suggestion by the Member will be taken into consideration as well.

8. Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for National Development whether, in the light of the recent

National Day Rally speech where the Prime Minister said that Singapore must take good care of its senior citizens, his Ministry will now allow the Potong Pasir Town Council to make lifts stop at every floor in all the blocks of flats that are currently undergoing the town council's Lift Upgrading Programme.

Mr Speaker, Sir, all town councils, including the Potong Pasir Town Council, are free to carry out their own Lift Upgrading Programme which may include providing for lift access on every floor. What they cannot do is to finance such major upgrading works solely or substantially from town council funds. Let me explain.

Town councils (TCs) are largely funded by service and conservancy charges (S&CC) collected from residents as well as grants from the Government. The Government has to ensure that TCs use these funds prudently for the benefit of the majority of their residents over the long term. This is why TCs are required by the Town Councils Act to lock away 30% to 35% of their funds into a sinking fund, to ensure that they have adequate funds in the long term to do major cyclical works like repainting, re-roofing, replacing lifts and replacing water-supply systems. The remaining 65% to 70% of the funds are used for routine operating expenditure, such as cleaning, repairs and utility charges.

Lift upgrading works which will enable lifts to stop at every floor are major structural upgrading. They are very costly. Town councils' funds are neither intended nor adequate for this purpose. Therefore, under the Government's Lift Upgrading Programme, town councils fund only a small portion of the total cost and the bulk of the cost is borne by the Government.

Sir, I have got two supplementary questions for the Minister of State. What are the reasons for HDB in not allowing lifts to stop at every floor at Lorong 8, Toa Payoh, of the Potong Pasir Constituency? And will HDB Lift Upgrading Programme be implemented at Potong Pasir estate?

Sir, as I said earlier, town councils are free to do major upgrading programme for the lifts, including providing for lifts to stop at every floor. However, the town councils cannot use town council's funds to substantially finance such upgrading works. If I may refer the Member to the Potong Pasir Town Council's accounts, just as an example. Potong Pasir has a balance of $8 million in its sinking fund. If he does the cyclical repairs for the 12 blocks that he is right now doing, it will cost him $4 million. So he would have $4 million left. But if he were to do upgrading in a manner which allows lifts to stop at every floor, that would cost another $12 million for this LUP, which means he will be short of $8 million. So the Potong Pasir Town Council really does not have sufficient balance in its sinking fund to do major lift upgrading works.

Sir, the Member's second question is whether or not Potong Pasir Town Council will get the Government's Lift Upgrading Programme. To-date, the Government has done about 600 blocks of LUP and there are about 3,000 eligible blocks remaining. So we have completed roughly 17%. Lift upgrading is selected based on several criteria, ie, the block configuration, the needs of the residents, the geographical spread, and also the degree of support from the residents. We need to bear in mind that it is the whole range of Government policies and programmes that bring about budget surpluses that allow us to do such improvement

programmes. Hence, all things being equal, residents who support and vote for the Government policies would be given higher priority in upgrading.

With due respect to the Minister of State, I have been the Chairman of the Potong Pasir Town Council for 15 years now. And I think we know what funds can be used for lift upgrading and what funds cannot be used. I can assure the Minister of State that we do have sufficient funds in the sinking fund to carry out both our Lift Upgrading Programme at Lorong 8, Toa Payoh, and also the R&R works that we are going to do at Potong Pasir estate. Of course, we have to get permission from HDB to do our lift upgrading at Lorong 8, Toa Payoh. But the HDB specifically says, "Ok, you can go ahead and do lift upgrading.", but they do not allow us to make the lifts to stop at every floor. So I want to know what is the reason. We do not spend $12 million, as the Minister has said. The lift upgrading for 29 lifts only cost us just over $2 million. I do not know where he gets his figures from.

Sir, as I said earlier, the town councils are free to do lift upgrading, including providing for lift access to every floor. What it cannot do is to use the sinking fund for such major structural works which include lift stops at every floor. And this is quite plain. Sinking fund is provided for all sorts of cyclical works, not just lift upgrading works. It could be replacement of lifts, water systems, and so forth. So if a particular town council were to use its sinking fund purely to do major structural upgrading works, like allowing lifts to stop at every floor, then it would be an inappropriate use of the sinking fund. Just a back-of-the-envelope calculation, for a 4-room flat, the Member would know that we collect about $50 per

month for S&CC. So multiply that by 12, it is about $600 a year. And if one-third of $600 is set aside for sinking fund, that is $200. To do a lift upgrading programme which allows a lift to stop at every floor would cost per benefiting unit something like $4,000 at the lowest, that is, for common corridor type of flats. You take $4,000 and divide by 200, it will take you 20 years. You will have to collect 20 years of sinking fund from the residents.

Mr Chiam also has six segmented blocks and those cost a lot more, six times more or $24,000 to do lift upgrading works per benefiting unit. This means 20 x 6, or 120 years of collection of sinking fund from the residents before such works can be completed. So I think my numbers are clear. We have done our research. It will be very difficult and inappropriate for the town council to use its sinking fund for such purposes.

I think the Minister of State does not know what is happening at Lorong 8, Toa Payoh. When I said lift upgrading, actually what we are doing is replacing all the lifts there. We are ripping off all the old lifts which are about 30 years old, throwing them away and putting new computerised motors in them. And all these are paid for from the sinking fund. We have checked with HDB and we are allowed to use the sinking fund to replace the lifts, and I believe the Minister also said that earlier. When we talk of upgrading, it is a general term, but what we are actually doing is that we are replacing all the lifts there, and we do have enough funds for them. As I said, the total cost is just over $2 million. As the Minister has mentioned, we have got $8 million. I think we do have enough money. The point is that we have replaced the lifts in its present situation ---

Mr Chiam, you are making a speech. What is your question?

I still want to know the reasons why we are not allowed to make the lift to stop at every floor, especially the point block flats. No reasons are given. They said, we cannot. Why? We have got enough money.

Sir, Mr Chiam maintains that the Potong Pasir Town Council has enough money. It is granted that they have enough money to do the normal cyclical works which may even include replacement of the lifts. But what he is suggesting now is to allow the lift to stop at every floor. What that means is that you will have to do major structural works, creating lift landings where there are none today, knocking off part of the walls to create the lift landing. And for the six segmented blocks that Mr Chiam has in Toa Payoh Lorong 8, of which I have visited, he will need to create extra lift shafts on top of just creating the access to every floor. And our estimation - and we have much experience in doing lift upgrading works - for a single segmented block is that the lift shafts would cost $1.8 million or so. And upgrading of the lift landing to serve every floor is about $400,000. So the total cost is $2.2 million. So that is $24,000 per unit, considering the number of benefiting units there. So as I have just calculated, if he wants to use S&CC for this purpose, then he will need to collect 120 years worth of S&CC funds from his residents just to do this major lift upgrading work, which is clearly inappropriate because the town council would still need to commit the sinking fund for all other kinds of works that it needs to do in its cyclical repairs.

Mr Chiam, is it the same question? Otherwise, we can go on to the next question.

We need some explanation.

You are not specific. What is your question?

It is still the same question.

If it is the same question, the same answer will be given.

The point is that now the Minister mentions the segmented blocks. What we wrote to HDB was only for the point blocks for the lifts to stop at every floor. And at the moment, our contract price with the contractors is that the lifts are put in place with the machine to stop at every floor. So when permission is given, what we need to do is just to knock a hole in the wall, make a door for the lift to stop. It is easily adjusted. So the cost would not be as great as what the Minister says. I cannot give him offhand how much the contractors will charge us for knocking down the walls at every floor. But that is the situation and we do have enough money. So the money is not the question. But we still do not know the reasons why permission is not given.

Sir, even for point blocks, HDB's experience, after conducting over 600 blocks of LUP, shows that it costs something like $600,000. Therefore, for the benefiting units there, it would cost about $8,000 per benefiting unit. So let me repeat again. If it is $8,000, it would take 40 years to collect S&CC charges. Moreover, if the Member proceeds to do so just for the six point blocks, even if it costs $600,000 per block and multiply it by 6, that is $3.6 million. That would be almost half the $8 million that the Member would have. The Member would have to justify to the rest of the residents why half of the sinking funds is committed to benefit only six blocks out of the 61 blocks that he has at Potong Pasir.

rose ---

Mr Chiam, I think you are looking at it from a different perspective. I doubt we can resolve this. You will be getting the same answer anyway.

I am asking a straightforward question. Permission is not given to Potong Pasir for the lifts to stop at every floor. Is it because it is an Opposition ward?

I suggest we go to the next Question. Mdm Ho Geok Choo.

The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo -

9. To ask the Senior Minister (a) for an update on the investment status of Singaporeans who have been led to park their monies in so-called 'lucrative' funds; (b) what measures are being taken by the authority with regard to fund managers who have flouted basic principles of gaming; and (c) how can we ensure a more educated and better informed pool of investors in our community.

Question No. 9.

Mr Speaker, Sir, Mdm Ho has asked how Singaporeans have fared in their investments in 'lucrative' funds. MAS does not keep statistics on the profits and losses of investors in their respective investments.

I think Mdm Ho was concerned that investors may have been attracted to certain investment products on the basis of potentially high returns, without being aware of their inherent risks. MAS' role is to require that investors are provided with

full, prompt and accurate disclosure of all material information, so that they can make informed decisions. To take Mdm Ho's example of funds, fund managers are required to disclose the investment objectives of the fund, the potential risks of the fund, as well as the relevant fees involved.

The fund management industry should also aim to provide disclosure that is not only technically accurate but helpful to investors in making informed judgments. This can only benefit the industry, as investor confidence in fund management products grows.

However, investors must ultimately bear responsibility for their decisions. In selecting an investment, investors should consider both the potential returns and the risks of the product they intend to invest in. Regulation can never protect investors from investment risk.

Mdm Ho was also concerned about overly aggressive behaviour by fund managers in recommending investment products. The Financial Advisers Act sets out market conduct rules regulating the sales and advisory process of all investment products. Recommendations on investment products must have a reasonable basis, taking into account the investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs of the person to whom the recommendation is being made.

MAS also provides quite regular guidance to the industry on the standards we expect of them. For example, we have made known our views on how remuneration should be disclosed. We will also be issuing a paper to highlight good practices observed in the industry, as well as guidelines to deter undesirable churning of products. Investors who feel that they have been subject to mis-selling or misrepresentation should first take up the matter with the financial adviser or the institution involved, failing which,

they can turn to the existing industry dispute resolution schemes. We currently have the Association of Banks' Consumer Mediation Unit and the Insurance Dispute Resolution Organisation (IDRO), both of which were set up last year. But we are taking this further. MAS is also facilitating the setting up of an industry-wide integrated dispute resolution mechanism for all financial products and service providers. Mdm Ho asked about initiatives to ensure that investors are more educated and better informed. The Government launched a national financial education programme called MoneySENSE in October last year. It is a collaborative effort involving several Government agencies, MCYS, MOE, CPF Board, People's Association and, of course, the MAS, and industry associations and various other community organisations. It aims to help Singaporeans acquire skills and knowledge to better manage their finances and make well-informed financial decisions.

MoneySENSE has issued consumer alerts and tips to guide consumers when they deal with financial advisers and to help them make sense of the various investment products. MoneySENSE has also organised a number of seminars and workshops covering topics, such as basic money management and financial planning.

Financial education, however, has to be a long-term, sustained effort. We have to continually raise awareness among consumers of the risks inherent in any product that offers high returns, and of the need to seek information and advice before committing to investing in a product.

Sir, would the Minister not agree with me that the Government's regulatory principle has not been consistently applied in all manner

of investments? For securities and funds, it is a highly regulated environment. There are prescribed rules that have to be observed, whereas if I were to sell ostrich eggs in Singapore, this is an area of investment which is quite unregulated and, therefore, investors who put money in ostrich eggs are more exposed than those who put money in funds. Or, for that matter, in property investments overseas which are promoted by agents. Would the Minister just highlight to us as to whether or not the Government intends to take a consistent approach in regulating this manner of investments?

Sir, the short answer is "No". We do not intend to regulate ostrich eggs or, for that matter, the wide variety of other eggs that might be offered on the market. It is not possible. It is important that we have a transparent system of regulation for all financial products, and I think in the last few years we have made good progress on that. The Financial Advisers Act streamlines both the regulations as well as the codes of best practices across securities firms, insurance firms and the banks, as well as independent financial advisers. That is a major step forward.

What we are doing now is to take forward the dispute resolution mechanism. It starts off with the banks - any product distributed by a bank. The insurance industry, both the life insurance and general insurance associations have also got together to set up IDRO, which is working quite well. But there are gaps in terms of fund management products, financial advisers and so on. So, now we are working to integrate all dispute resolution mechanisms, and that should be ready by sometime early next year.

Sir, in view of the need for transparency, would the Minister also consider coming up with a standard template for fund fact sheets? Currently, the fund fact sheets are dictated by the manufacturer of the fund itself, and they come in different types of time periods

and indexes, making it very difficult for the lay investor to comprehend and to make meaningful comparisons. Would the Minister consider a standardised template for fund fact sheets?

I think that is a useful suggestion. We cannot make the template too detailed. We have to allow for variation. The products differ. So, sometimes they do not fit within the same template. But certain guidelines on best practices can be formed. At the very least, the best practices of existing players can be shared within the industry and, over time, consumers will know that that is the best practice they should ask for when they deal with the financial adviser.

Coming back to the earlier response, is the Minister saying that the auntie who puts money into ostrich eggs is less deserving of protection in a regulated environment than a savvy stock market investor?

I would put it another way. Consumers, when they enter financial markets or deal with a financial institution, do have a certain expectation of regulation, and the obligation is on us to ensure high standards of disclosure and proper dispute resolution mechanisms. But if we go into either ostrich eggs or some other exciting product offered by an unregulated institution, then we go in with our eyes open. We take our own risks. Most retail investors do not go into these products. The individuals who do so are those who know full well that this is an unregulated market. That is usually why very high returns are promised - because there is very high risk. It will also not be practical for the Government to provide any assurance or regulation over all these new products and players who are really not part of the financial industry. It is just not

possible for us to do it, and philosophically, it may not be desirable either.

The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo -

10. To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what forward strategies are being formulated with regard to our Central Provident Fund (CPF); (b) how does the Government propose to help the vulnerable groups comprising non-working spouses, non-contributing CPF members and the working poor in their retirement days; (c) if he can provide a breakdown of the number of people in these categories; (d) how can the Government tap on community and self-help groups to assist these people; and (e) how does the Government propose to help these vulnerable groups respond to the social and economic environment changes.

Question No. 10, Sir.

Mr Speaker, Sir, as at end December 2003, there were about three million CPF members, of whom about 30%, or 877,000 members between the ages of 25 and 54, had not contributed to CPF for the preceding three months. Although these members were what we called "inactive", it does not mean that all of them had insufficient CPF savings to cover their retirement needs. For example, some may have other sources of income but opened their CPF accounts in order to qualify for Economic Restructuring Shares and other similar benefits.

Last year's Labour Force Survey estimates that there are 320,000 married

females between the ages of 25 and 54 who are not working. Of these, 305,000 are homemakers or home care givers taking care of children, elderly or sick relatives.

Mdm Ho also asked for the working poor. I presume this means those who may not have enough for retirement even if they are employed. This is difficult to quantify, as there is no universally accepted definition for the working poor. So, let me instead use the Minimum Sum as a measure of adequacy. In 2003, of those active CPF members turning age 55, about 40% had set aside the full Minimum Sum. Our projections show that of those active members aged 45 last year, half will be able to achieve the Minimum Sum when they turn 55 in 10 years' time in 2013. In our longer-term projections, even at a CPF contribution rate of 30%, 76% of new CPF members who contribute regularly to the CPF from the time they start work and are prudent in using CPF for housing, will be able to meet the Minimum Sum of $120,000, in 2003 dollars, when they retire.

Our CPF system serves as the cornerstone of our retirement provision. It is a sound and sustainable system. Mdm Ho asked how we can help all Singaporeans, including those vulnerable groups, prepare financially for their old age. As this is an oral answer session, I propose not to go into a lengthy discourse, but touch briefly on key points.

First and foremost, we help people save enough in their CPF by helping them stay employable as long as possible through reskilling and skills upgrading. We should help them save enough for their expected life expectancy, which is why we will gradually raise the Minimum Sum to $120,000 in 2003 dollars by 2013.

Second, we must curb excessive consumption on housing and medical

care. For example, we have tightened the rules on the use of CPF for property purchases. As medical expenses form a potentially large component of consumption, we must stretch the Medisave dollar. MOH has recently announced that they are reviewing MediShield for this purpose. Individuals can also reduce their medical needs by maintaining healthy lifestyles.

Next, we must emphasise the extended family as the social and financial support unit. We allow and encourage top-ups for spouses and parents. Family members can use their Medisave accounts for each other. For non-working spouses, we encourage their working spouses or children to top up their CPF Minimum Sum. For the Year of Assessment 2005, we have increased the tax relief ceiling for a member who tops up for his parents and grandparents who are aged 55 and older using cash, from $6,000 per year to $7,000 per year. This tax relief has also been extended to include non-working spouses who are at least 55 years old and who earned less than $2,000 in the preceding year. CPF Board will continue to review the topping-up conditions so that more members can benefit.

Apart from CPF, we must also help members find other sources of income. Most Singaporeans are home owners. With HDB's relaxation of rental rules, there are now 250,000 homes that can be rented out fully or in part. For the elderly and those not working, they should consider their home as a potential source of income. We will continue to explore workable options to monetise their housing assets.

The Government recognises that there are vulnerable groups who may have difficulty preparing adequately for retirement under the CPF system. We must help them to find employment and to upgrade their skills. We will work closely with community and union partners in this effort.

In years of surpluses, the Government helps these Singaporeans by topping up their CPF. Since 1995, we have disbursed about $4 billion to CPF members. For Singaporeans who lack any family support and need financial assistance, various public assistance schemes and Medifund provide a safety net.

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister whether he would consider allowing children to top up the CPF accounts of their parents who have exhausted their Minimum Sum.

Sir, I think I had answered Mr Low when he asked that question pointedly at the last Parliament sitting. Yes, they are allowed to. They are allowed to top up right to the Minimum Sum. So, we do allow children to top up their parents' accounts.

Perhaps my question was not clear. What I am saying is that if the parents have exhausted their Minimum Sum, ie, the minimum amount which they already had in their account but exhausted, and the children have sufficient CPF funds in their accounts, would he consider allowing them to continue to top up their parents' Minimum Sum accounts from their own CPF accounts?

Sir, that is under consideration and we will consider it. But at this point of time, practically, when they have accumulated their Minimum Sum, because it is paid out on annuity, it takes quite some time before that sum runs out. So, practically, that has not been a problem. The real problem is for the group of parents who have not accumulated enough, and for these we allow.

Sir, with the current Minimum Sum amount, which is

relatively low, for parents who are actually under the current Minimum Sum amount who have exhausted the amount, would the Minister allow their children to top up or perhaps increase the Minimum Sum allowable top-up to the current Minimum Sum amount?

We can consider that. We do allow them tax reliefs when they top up in cash. So, that is one avenue where they can top up the accounts of those parents who have exhausted their Minimum Sum. So, that is one avenue open, and we do give tax reliefs for their top-ups. As to whether their children can use their CPF money to top up the accounts of their parents who have exhausted their Minimum Sum already accumulated, as I said, practically, it does not affect that many people because most parents who have accumulated enough CPF

sums, take some time before they exhaust it. And the profile of such families is such that for these parents, if the child has enough to top up their parents' accounts, usually they have also cash which they can use to top up their parents' accounts.

Could I please ask the Minister whether the Ministry has any structure to alert non-working spouses as to when their working spouses are going to withdraw all their CPF monies so that they can enter into a joint decision-making process on how to use the monies?

Sir, I am not completely sure whether I have understood the question. But for the individual CPF accounts, most spouses should know when their husbands turn 55 and whatever year they can withdraw the Minimum Sum. Whether we should consider reminding, I presume, the wife that the husband is reaching their age, we will consider.

11. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) under what basis can the appeal of a Singapore citizen who had a relationship with an ex-work permit holder, resulting in the birth of a child, be granted approval for marriage; and (b) in view of our declining population figure, will such relationships resulting in the birth of a child be given easier approval for marriage by the Ministry.

Sir, there are presently more than 500,000 foreign work permit holders in Singapore. To maintain our social equilibrium, these large numbers of foreign workers are allowed to work in Singapore only if they agree to our marriage restriction policy. Those who marry without approval will be repatriated and disallowed entry into Singapore. This is made clear to all foreign worker applicants who apply to work in Singapore. This strict enforcement is necessary to maintain this policy. Therefore, all current and ex-work permit holders are reminded to adhere to this pre-condition to which they have agreed upon.

Appeals will be considered on an individual basis.

Sir, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary has not answered my question. How then can the child, who is born out of wedlock from a Singaporean and an ex-work permit worker, where they did not get married, but they have a relationship and a child was conceived in that process, now be able to live in an intact family in Singapore? Under what basis would the Ministry allow approval for the marriage to pass through?

To start with, they are not allowed to live here and, more so, to have children. It is precisely because we have to control the population size of Singapore that we have to have this condition agreed upon when a foreign worker applies to work in Singapore. So he knows that he cannot contravene this marriage restriction policy and if he wants to get married to a potential Singaporean spouse, he has to seek approval. But if he is not given approval, he may be repatriated.

Sir, a mistake has been made by the child's parents where they actually entered into a relationship and have a child. In view of Singapore's declining population, is it not a helpful addition to the population when we have some new children being born for the sake of Singapore? Basically, my question is: why is the Ministry so "cruel" as to "punish" the child by not allowing their parents to get married and stay together as an intact family?

Sir, the Ministry is not "cruel". In fact, we consider applications for marriage between Singaporeans and ex-work permit holders on an individual basis and allow, whenever possible, where they meet the conditions. However, we have to protect the interests of Singaporeans. As I have said earlier, we have more than 500,000 foreigners working in Singapore and larger numbers of them used to work in Singapore. So imagine if every other ex-work permit holder were to marry a Singaporean, we would not be able to manage our social services and social system. So I think Mr Chia must bear this in mind and be fair to Singaporeans in general first.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary has not answered

my question. Under what basis would an appeal be approved? The application for one of the residents was rejected after an appeal. I am trying to find out what is the basis for approval.

Sir, we would consider on an individual basis the merits of the application. But, generally, all work permit holders know that they have agreed to abide by the marriage policy in Singapore before they are allowed to obtain a work permit and work in Singapore. That is the condition that all work permit applicants must understand and adhere to. To be fair to potential children of the future, they must ensure that they have to get approval to get married.

May I please ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary how many such cases have been approved on a case-by-case basis? And of these cases that have gotten approval, how many have become dependent on our social support services? In other words, have they been responsible enough to take care of their own families?

Sir, I do not have the figures here. But in any case, what is more important is to ensure that everyone - Singaporeans and foreign workers working in Singapore - understands that Singapore is a small place and we have limited resources. Even though we want to increase our population size, we have to ensure that those who want to live and have families in Singapore can look after themselves, their children and their families. That is the basic premise that we all must understand. I can only go back to the earlier answer that I have given that all foreign workers who want to work in Singapore must understand and agree to abide by this basic principle.

Sir, if the Singaporean father undertakes to take care and raise up a child with his own resources, is that a good enough undertaking for approval?

A child would need a motherly figure to look after him. A father alone would not be able to do that, no matter how much the father earns or is able to afford to look after the child. So it is very important. If we want to be really fair to the child, we have to understand the marriage restriction policy. And if they qualify, then they get married. But wherever possible, ex-work permit holders can be allowed to marry Singaporeans on a case-by-case basis.

I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether a marriage can take place, under universal law, at any place on earth and does not require the approval of the Singapore Government. The Singapore Government can only grant permission to get married in Singapore, as a result of which, with our approval, they can gain residential status in Singapore. Is that a fact?

Can the Member simplify his question?

My question is whether anyone would need the approval of Government to get married.

No, only for work permit holders and this is a specific group of people.

Including work permit holders, they can get married anywhere in the world without our approval.

Yes, it is a universal human right. However, Singaporeans do have human rights to be able to look after ourselves and manage our limited

resources and to ensure that those legitimate Singaporeans would be well looked after and would not exact too much of our social system.

Last question, Mr Steve Chia.

Does it mean that if the ex-work permit holders are to get married overseas, they will be allowed to stay in Singapore as an intact family?

The simple answer is no, Sir.

12. Ms Braema Mathiaparanam asked the Minister for National Development why there was a need to fix nails and barbed wires to deter youths from playing football in void decks and whether it was impossible to find other ways of achieving this outcome.

Sir, with your forbearance, before I take Mr Braema's question, let me quickly answer Mr Chiam's last supplementary question which I think is very important to address.

MND's ruling, which disallows the use of sinking funds for LUP, applies consistently to all town councils, including PAP town councils.

rose ---

I am not going back to the question again, Mr Chiam. Carry on with your answer to the next question, Mr Foo.

In answer to Ms Braema's question, town councils manage the void decks and common

areas in HDB estates for residents' use and enjoyment. In doing so, safety is of paramount concern. The void deck is not an appropriate place for sporting activities like competitive football. Such activities can cause injury to passers-by. They can also cause damage to common facilities like light fittings and walls, and can be a source of noise nuisance for residents living in the block.

Residents too, parents particularly, have a role to play in ensuring that the common areas in their estates are well-maintained and their kids are well behaved. The town councils have constantly reminded their residents not to play football in the void deck through notices, signages and newsletters, and even through counselling. Unfortunately, some town councils have found that these measures have not worked and have resorted to other measures following many complaints from residents.

The more sustainable solution is to provide suitable sites for youths to play football and other sports, so that they will not need to play at the void decks. The Singapore Land Authority has already opened up some of the vacant State land for such purposes. I understand that the town councils are also looking for other alternative sites. These include converting some of the vacant land at neighbouring HDB blocks to small football fields or approaching the neighbourhood schools to open up their football fields for youth in the neighbourhood, and additionally, to identify more sites for street soccer courts.

I would like to ask the Minister what kind of approval system is there that you have such structures with barbed wires and nails to deter children from playing in the void deck. I accept that they should not be playing on the void deck. What is the approval process or is there one where the Ministry is concerned?

Like Ms Braema, when I first heard of barbed wires and nails, I thought it was a bit draconian. But if she were to take a look at them - I think the New Paper did publish a picture of some of the nails that have been placed - they are usually placed right up at the ceiling, some two metres away from the ground. They look more like little studs than nails. Even the barbed wires are placed up the ceiling at the cross beams. They do not really pose any danger to the youths. From the Ministry's point of view, we would rather let the town councils make their own decision. Let them consult their grassroots. Let them have a collective decision on the ground.

It is not a question of danger but it is a question of what is the message that we are sending here where child's play is concerned. That is what I am concerned about in terms of the approval system.

Neither the Ministry nor the town council disapprove of child's play. The only question is where is the appropriate place for child's play. We rather leave it to the town councils on the ground to make those decisions. So there is no approval process needed.

13. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for National Development (a) if the 0.1% administrative charge the Housing and Development Board (HDB) levies on its loans yielded a levy revenue of around S$64 million; (b) what is the breakdown of costs incurred in managing its mortgage loan accounts for HDB loans; (c) after deducting its cost, how much actual profit did HDB make from this 0.1% administrative fee.

Sir, HDB imposes an administrative fee of 0.1% to cover the costs it incurs in managing 500,000 mortgage loan accounts. This fee is lower than what banks normally charge to service and administer mortgage loans.

In FY03, the revenue collected by HDB from its mortgage loan administration was $64 million. The allocated costs incurred by HDB to service its mortgage loans were $29 million. These comprised mainly the costs of manpower, computer systems and office overheads.

Therefore, the surplus in HDB's mortgage financing activity for FY03 was $35 million, and this was used to defray HDB's losses in its other activities, particularly the home ownership activity. Over the past five years, HDB's overall deficit for the home ownership activity has averaged $530 million a year.

Mr Speaker, Sir, there is a surplus of $35 million from this 0.1% administrative charge. That is actually a lot. It implies very much that the Ministry is actually charging more than the excess amount. Would the Ministry consider reducing it to 0.5% where you still have a good profit for that?

Sir, 0.5% is an increase.

0.05%, Sir.

Sir, the Ministry does not intend to reduce it because the right way to look at it is that loans do not exist solely for that purpose alone. It exists for the purchase of a house or a flat. So, if we consider the entire Home Ownership Scheme, the Ministry has been incurring, for the last five years, as I said, deficit to the tune of $530 million a year. So, there is really no

need for us to adjust this loan administration fee of 0.1% at this point.

Additionally, lessees are not obliged to take a loan from HDB, although many of them do. HDB does so as a public service to help lessees own their homes. Lessees are, nonetheless, free to go to the banks for loans.

14. Mr Chandra Mohan K Nair asked the Minister for Education (a) whether he will consider creating an avenue for a "students' Parliament" or equivalent where students from secondary schools, junior colleges, polytechnics and tertiary institutions can be motivated and actively involved in politics and current affairs, participate actively in local, regional and international issues and create in our young citizens a keen interest in wanting to get into politics; and (b) if so, will the Government encourage an annual presentation of their views for debate and even allow their representatives to address Parliament so that the views of our young citizens are given serious thought and their positive suggestions taken up by the Government on a formal basis.

Sir, the Ministry of Education encourages students to engage their minds in current affairs. In fact, we consider this as part of education. There are many opportunities and platforms in our schools for them to discuss and debate national and international issues. First, as part of the school curriculum itself, such as in History and Social Studies classes and the General Paper for junior college students.

Some schools in addition also conduct lessons in Parliament style to engage their students, who play roles as Members of Parliament. For example, Dunman High School and Victoria School organise a

yearly Moot Parliament for their Secondary 3 students to simulate the debate of national issues and the tabling of Bills.

The Ministry also organises the annual Pre-University Seminar for 500 or so students from all our junior colleges and centralised institutes over a period of six days. The seminar provides an important opportunity for students to discuss national issues of importance, to engage Ministers, as well as industry and community leaders, and to throw up new ideas of their own.

In our polytechnics and universities too, there are more channels for such exposure to national issues. The Polytechnic Forum is organised every year where student leaders from all five polytechnics come together to discuss national issues such as the Remaking of Singapore. In our universities, students can participate in a wide range of student organisations or attend seminars on national issues. In NTU, for example, there is a range of societies such as the Current Affairs Society, United Nations Student Association, and the Students' Feedback Unit. In NUS, they have the Political Science Society, where students debate national issues of the day.

Likewise for our ITE students, the ITE Student Seminar is held biennially. Each Seminar is organised with a theme where political leaders and prominent corporate leaders from both the private and public sectors are invited to speak to the students. The students are given opportunities to engage the speakers, as well as interact amongst themselves, exchanging views and making presentations on Government policies and current affairs of Singapore.

Outside of our schools, our students get involved in other channels to discuss

the issues of the day, or to contribute their ideas. A good example is Channel I's "I-contact" programme, which got students to exchange ideas with Ministers on issues that matter to them.

The Ministry of Education will continue to review the various programmes and channels through which we can encourage our students to engage and play a responsible role in school as well as the community.

Mr Speaker, Sir, whilst all these avenues are very commendable, I would still like to ask whether we could formalise by having a student form of Parliament. The perception in Singapore is that the youngsters may not be that actively involved in politics. So by creating a democratic institution like this, would it not encourage our youngsters to get into politics so that they can serve the nation better? With that, may I urge the Ministry to seriously consider the initiation of a student parliament in Singapore?

Mr Speaker, Sir, I thought Mr Chandra Mohan's question was of a student parliament or equivalent. The answer is that we have done quite a lot, which can be considered as equivalent. But, when you talk about a students' parliament, "parliament" connotes certain things. When you pass resolution, there must be some follow up. I think there should be only one Parliament in the land, and that is this House. So to engage the students in the discussion of politics, national issues, and to come up with ideas of their own, that is one thing. We have various channels of doing it. But, to start a students' parliament, I do not think so.

15. Mr Chandra Mohan K Nair asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the

future use of the site of the Bukit Timah campus currently under the Singapore Management University; and (b) will the Government allow the National University of Singapore to use this site as one of its campuses and, if so, when.

Sir, may I declare my interest in the matter. I am a Council Member of the National University of Singapore. I am also the Honorary Secretary of the National University of Singapore Society, the Guild House. I am also an old graduate from the Bukit Timah campus. With that, could I ask this question, Sir?

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Management University (SMU) would be moving out of the Bukit Timah campus to its new city campus in January 2006. The URA has rezoned part of the Bukit Timah campus as an extended site for the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

The remaining Bukit Timah campus site, not rezoned for park use, is currently zoned for educational and institution use in the Masterplan 2003. The site can be used by institutions, including education institutions in the medium term. And since this is a very, very good site, the Ministry has now received proposals from both the NUS and NTU to use the Bukit Timah campus when SMU moves to its new city campus. We are now seriously reviewing and evaluating their proposals. We are in serious discussion with them. We hope to arrive at a decision before the end of the year.

Can I take it, Sir, that it could be allocated to either the NUS or NTU and no other entity?

Sir, currently we have only received proposals from these two institutions. Assuming we do not receive anything else before a decision is

made, then that is most likely to be the situation.

If the decision, Sir, is to be made by the end of this year, is there a closing date for any kind of applicants, besides the two that had come in?

Actually we did not invite applications and, therefore, there is no closing date as such. But it happened that the two institutions looked at the opportunities. I think both loved the campus, and bearing in mind that it was part of the joint-campus in the past, both came out with this idea. So we are evaluating it and see what is the best way of allocating it.

16. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (a) why Singapore's broadband excess speed is up to 20 times slower and why charges are up to four times higher than those in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China; (b) will these factors impede Singapore's development into an international and regional information hub; and (c) by allowing telcos and service providers to tie down existing customers through the use of contracts and high termination fees, will this result in inefficiencies and poor service standards in the industry.

The broadband market in Singapore is making good progress. Broadband adoption is rising and the household penetration rate has increased from 27% in June 2003 to 38% in June 2004. Prices have also fallen. Since 2001, residential broadband prices for unlimited

access plans have fallen by up to 67%. There are also low cost packages for novice users with low usage. Our broadband access speeds have gone up and consumers now have a choice of services with speeds of up to 3 Mbps for cable modem access. We estimate that about 40% of broadband subscribers in Singapore are on access speeds of at least 1.5 Mbps.

Mr Chia mentioned that there are jurisdications where access speeds are significantly higher than Singapore's and prices are lower. We must be mindful comparisons may not be "apple to apple" and there may be other charges such as separate line rental charges along with the broadband access charges. The underlying cost structure also varies from place to place and each country has a different market size, usage profile and competition from alternatives.

Compared to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China cited by Mr Chia, Singapore operators have the smallest user base to recover costs from. Also, unlike Korea and Japan where users access local-language content hosted locally, the majority of Internet traffic in Singapore is to access content hosted outside Singapore and this comes at a higher cost. Lastly, with relatively low fixed line rates, the substitution of broadband for dial-up access is not as compelling for some users, unlike the case in the other countries.

A point to note also is that aggressive price competition taking place in other markets may not be sustainable. For example, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit in April, major broadband access service providers (BASPs) in Korea were facing financial difficulty due to aggressive price cutting. Nevertheless, IDA will continue to press on in its efforts to promote sustainable broadband adoption on several fronts.

First, to encourage greater competition, IDA is supporting technical trials in alternative broadband technologies that can lower deployment cost and increase access speeds. IDA will be making radio frequency spectrum available for the deployment of wireless broadband technologies and is working with the industry to pilot several wireless broadband services which would promise higher speed at lower cost. If successful, these new technologies can be deployed to enhance competitiveness of our broadband market.

Second, IDA has put in place measures to overcome the lack of effective competition in infrastructure such as facilitating the introduction of wholesale broadband access services. IDA's ruling to require SingTel to offer its Local Leased Circuits to Facilities Based Operators at a discount should further reduce the cost of service providers who rely heavily on LLCs to provide telecom services to end users. These cost savings may then be passed on to end users.

IDA will continue to explore other options, including both developmental and pro-competition measures, to encourage broadband development.

Mr Chia also asked if both price and speed of broadband services would impede Singapore's development into an international and regional information hub.

While broadband costs and speed are considerations, there are other important factors like international and regional connectivity, prices of other infocomm services, intellectual property protection and trade links with other countries that contribute to our hub status. Singapore fares well in all these areas. For example, we have 21 Tbps submarine cable capacity and over 13 Gbps direct connectivity to more than 20 countries.

We were also ranked top in Asia for Intellectual Property Rights Protection.

Mr Chia also asked whether allowing telcos and service providers to tie down existing customers through the use of contracts and high termination fees would result in inefficiencies and poor service standards.

As part of commercial practice, BASPs set minimum contract periods and termination fees to ensure a reasonable return on the cost of new customer acquisitions, like cost of a "free" or subsidised modem, gifts or discounts.

There is no evidence that such practices have compromised quality of service and service standards have been good. For example, since 2003, their network availability has been generally above 99% and their service activation time from the date of receipt of an application has been generally less than five days. Nevertheless, IDA will continue to monitor the situation and where the need arises, IDA will consider additional measures to remove any anti-competitive actions.

3.00 pm

Order. End of Question time.

"to amend the Registered Designs Act (Chapter 266 of the 2001 Revised Edition)",

presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law (Prof. S Jayakumar); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.

"to amend the Trustees Act (Chapter 337 of the 1999 Revised Edition) and to make related and consequential amendments to the Civil Law Act (Chapter 43 of the 1999 Revised Edition), the Interpretation Act (Chapter 1 of the 2002 Revised Edition) and certain other written laws",

presented by Prof. Jayakumar; read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.

"to make provision about competition and the abuse of a dominant position in the market; and to establish the Competition Commission of Singapore, to provide for its functions and powers and for matters connected therewith",

presented by the Minister for Trade and Industry (Mr Lim Hng Kiang); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.

"to amend the Singapore Armed Forces Act (Chapter 295 of the 2000 Revised Edition) and to make a consequential amendment to the Pension Fund Act (Chapter 224A of the 1996 Revised Edition)",

presented by the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.

Order for Second Reading read.

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

This Bill seeks to amend the Supreme Court of Judicature Act to provide that in all family law cases heard in the Subordinate Courts, there will be an automatic right of appeal to the High Court, with a further appeal to the Court of Appeal only with the leave of court.

Present position with respect to appeals in family cases

Sir, at present, most family law cases such as divorce cases, applications for maintenance orders and adoption petitions, are heard in the Subordinate Courts. The High Court only hears contested applications for the division of matrimonial assets under Part X of the Women's Charter, where the assets are worth $1.5 million or more.

The parties in family law proceedings can currently appeal against an order made by the Subordinate Courts to the High Court and lodge further appeals against the decision of the High Court to the Court of Appeal.

Sir, in civil cases, there are some qualifications on the right to appeal to the Court of Appeal. Section 34(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act provides that the leave of court must be obtained, for example, where the subject matter at the trial is $250,000 or less. In family law cases, it is not possible to quantify a divorce or custody matter in monetary terms in most cases. Hence, in practice, family law proceedings heard by the Subordinate Courts have two tiers of appeal as a matter of right.

Why there should be only one tier of appeal as a matter of right

These amendments were proposed by the Supreme Court to address an anomaly. With respect to civil proceedings (other than family law matters), which are

heard in the Subordinate Courts, a party has, subject to certain statutory conditions, the right to appeal to the High Court. Leave is needed for a further appeal to the Court of Appeal. However, in family law cases, parties currently have the right to appeal from the Subordinate Courts to the High Court and then make a further appeal to the Court of Appeal, without having to seek leave. This is an anomaly which needs correction.

In the interests of finality, there should be only one tier of appeal as a matter of right for family cases, with a second appeal only with the leave of court. The general position in Singapore for civil cases, other than family cases, is only one tier of appeal as a matter of right. This is because having an automatic second tier of appeal delays a final decision on the matter and increases costs for litigants.

Family cases do not generally involve complex issues of law or matters of public interest. Most of the appeals in family proceedings before the Court of Appeal deal with disputes over the facts of the case. Such cases that involve disputes on factual matters, there is no need for more than one tier of appeal. As a matter of principle, the Court of Appeal's resources would be better utilised to deal with questions of law.

Where civil judgments of the Subordinate Courts are appealed to the High Court, leave is granted for a further appeal to the Court of Appeal if certain established principles are satisfied. Leave is usually granted where there is a prima facie case of error of law, a question of general principle to be decided for the first time or a question of importance upon which further argument and a decision of a higher tribunal would be to public advantage. With the passing of this Bill, similar principles will apply to appeals to the Court of

Appeal in family proceedings.

Proposed amendments

The Bill will insert a new provision, in section 34(2), to require leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal where the High Court makes an order in exercise of its appellate jurisdiction with respect to any proceedings under the Adoption of Children Act or under Part VII, VIII or IX of the Women's Charter. Divorce proceedings, including division of matrimonial assets, summary applications to resolve disputes between husband and wife as to possession of property and proceedings under the Guardianship of Infants Act were originally heard by the High Court. These proceedings were transferred to the Subordinate Courts by a 1996 Order of the Chief Justice, made under section 28A. A new complementary provision will be inserted in section 28A of the Act to allow the Chief Justice to make such provision governing appeals relating to proceedings transferred to the District Court, including provisions to restrict the right of appeal. The Chief Justice intends to specify by Order that leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal is required in family proceedings transferred to the District Court for hearing in the first instance. Lastly, a new provision will be inserted under section 34 to clarify that where family law proceedings are heard by the High Court in the first instance, the monetary limit in section 34(2)(a) does not apply to an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Sir, my complaint is against clause 2 of the Bill. This clause makes an amendment to the principal Act whereby the Chief Justice is given the discretion to stop an appeal, amongst other provisions, which he can make when a case is transferred to a District Court. As an Opposition Member, I cannot allow, consciously, the legislature

to diminish the rights of a litigant, especially the right of appeal. A litigant must be allowed, all the way, to exhaust his remedies in a court of law. How else can he seek justice except in a court of law?

Take the case of the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mr Anwar Ibrahim. If he were not allowed to appeal, he would not have a chance to clear his name in respect of the sodomy charges levelled against him. He appealed against the charges and he succeeded. He was released pending the hearing of his appeals against other charges which he was convicted of in the first instance. After successfully appealing against the sodomy charges, he, at least, was temporarily released so that he could go to Germany for his medical treatment, and also an opportunity to reunite with his wife and members of his family. If he were not allowed to appeal, as we are now legislating here in Singapore, he would still be tainted with the sodomy charges and would still be languishing in prison without the benefit of getting medical treatment and reuniting with his family and friends.

Sir, I know that the policy of the courts, since the 1990s, has been to administer the judicial process swiftly and efficiently. Much of the backlog of cases has been quickly dealt with. The aim in the courts is, of course, to complete a case within 12 months under the workplan to administer the courts implemented by the Chief Justice.

Although I applaud the courts' policy in promoting efficiency and cutting out delays in the cases that are brought before the courts, I am of the view that efficiency in our courts cannot be achieved at the expense of the rights of the public. A member of the public has the common law right of seeking justice to its ultimate end. One famous English

judge said, "Justice must not only be done but seen to be done."

Under the amendment in clause 2, how can justice be seen to be done in Singapore when the right of appeal is eventually not even accorded to a litigant?

I also wish to mention that these days, the sentences meted out in appeals heard before the Chief Justice are not always more lenient. On the contrary, we have read in the papers that sentences on appeal before the Chief Justice can be double. And when the sentences involve caning, doubling the sentence can be a very painful experience. So the sentences meted out on appeal is a deterrent to those defendants with frivolous appeals without any merit. Those defendants normally are advised by their solicitors not to appeal, and they normally take heed of the advice of their lawyers. The sentence in the appeal in the High Court is a strong deterrent on would-be appellants with frivolous appeals, and those appellants would normally give up the idea of appealing before the Chief Justice. In this way, there is no fear of taking up the court's time.

Sir, this amendment involves the taking away of a litigant's right of appeal. To me, this is an important amendment, and I say that there should be further discussion on it. I therefore call on the Minister to place the Bill before a Select Committee and let the public have their say on the matter.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I think Mr Chiam has come here with a prepared speech which he had to deliver. But had he listened to what I said in my Second Reading speech, he would have realised that the thrust of his points is misconceived and totally unwarranted.

The thrust of his complaint about clause 2 and about the Bill is that somehow the inherent right of appeal has

been dismembered or suppressed. But that is not the case. As I took pains to explain, this situation covers a category of family law cases which, at one time, was heard in the High Court, but they are now heard in the Subordinate Courts because they were transferred by order of the Chief Justice. Had they not been transferred to the Subordinate Courts, the parties, in these cases, would have one tier of appeal - from the High Court to the Court of Appeal. They have now been transferred to the Subordinate Courts. And in all civil cases heard in the Subordinate Courts, in the first instance, there is a right of appeal only to the High Court, and there is no further automatic appeal as a matter of right to the Court of Appeal. It is by leave of the court. Therein lies the anomaly. As I said, for this category of cases which originally the court of first instance was the High Court, now, because they are transferred to the Subordinate Courts, the Subordinate Courts hear them in the first instance. The anomaly was not rectified. They have a right of appeal to the High Court and right of appeal to the Court of Appeal without leave. So there is an anomaly.

But let me add that there is no curtailment of the right because he has the recourse of appeal to the Court of Appeal, but with leave. And the statistics in the Supreme Court show that in most cases where it involves questions of law or allegations that an error of law has occurred, the court does grant leave. So there is no injustice and there is no suppression of the inherent right of appeal. It is to bring this system in line with the prevailing system for all other civil cases. So all the spectre of injustice that he raised here, including analogy with Anwar's case, is totally misconceived. It was a fairly good speech but for a wrong occasion!

Sir, I am sorry that my reading of the Explanatory Statement seems to differ from the Minister's reading of it. To clarify my point, I just read this statement and see whether the House thinks I am right or the Minister is right:

"Clause 2 amends section 28A(2) to empower the Chief Justice, when making any order for the allocation of proceedings to the District Court under the section, to also make such provision governing appeals relating to such proceedings as he thinks fit, including provisions restricting the right of appeal."

As I understand it - if I can still remember my procedure - some cases can be tried in the High Court but they are transferred to the Subordinate Courts. Under these circumstances, we are giving the Chief Justice legislative power to make certain provisions limiting probably the number of witnesses or the time, but including in that provision is the stoppage of the right of appeal. That is my understanding of this section, unless I am wrong. So the right of appeal, under these circumstances, is that the litigant is denied of the right of appeal.

Mr Speaker, Sir, all I need to say is that he has to read that provision in the context of the totality of the Bill and also with regard to the intent of the Bill, as I have explained in my Second Reading speech. If the Member thinks that this provision entitles the Chief Justice to completely prevent a litigant from making any appeal, that is obviously not a correct reading of the provision and that is certainly not the intent of the Bill.

Sir, as I understand it, the right of appeal can be stopped by legislation, and this is exactly what we are doing. We are legislating to deny a litigant a chance of appeal. Parliament can stop a court from giving that right of appeal, and this is what we are doing, and this is my fear.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I can do no more than to state and reiterate that that is a misreading of the Bill and that is not the intent of the Bill. And may I take this opportunity also to say that the second part of his speech where he went on sentences of the court, I think this had been dealt previously on other occasions by my colleague, Senior Minister of State Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee. But if he wishes to make an issue of this, he is free to file a Question for Oral Answer or an adjournment motion where we can thoroughly go into that matter. But that is irrelevant to the Bill in question.

Sir, I think the Minister brings up the issue of sentencing. I only brought it up because it is a deterrent for people making frivolous appeals, because the sentencing in the first instance appeal is quite stern.

If Mr Chiam says, in his own words, it is intended to discourage frivolous appeals, I say, indeed, the Court is right to try to discourage frivolous appeals.

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. - [Prof. Jayakumar].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second Reading read.

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

Overview of the Bill

Sir, this Bill updates and streamlines the Act and makes related and consequential amendments to the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act, Land Titles Act and Land Titles (Strata) Act. We had consulted the Lands Surveyors Board and the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers on these amendments.

The Land Surveyors Act was enacted to establish a system of registration of surveyors to meet the demand for cadastral surveys in Singapore. The Boundaries and Survey Maps Act was enacted to provide for the appointment, powers and duties of the Chief Surveyor pertaining to the marking and surveying of lot boundaries; publishing and maintaining survey maps in manual and electronic forms; and establishing a coordinated cadastre. The amendments can be divided into three categories, namely, amendments relating to the land surveying profession, amendments relating to land surveying and some consequential and related amendments.

Amendments relating to the land surveying profession

In tune with the business environment and as part of our free trade agreement obligations, the Bill removes certain restrictions imposed on multi-discipline corporations and partnerships which supply survey services. The Professional Engineers Board and Board of Architects have also abolished similar requirements. First, the requirement that registered surveyors or allied professionals must hold at least two-thirds share in a limited corporation will be removed. Second, it is no longer a requirement that all the directors of a limited corporation must be registered surveyors or allied professionals. And third, the registered surveyor who has control and management of the business of a corporation need not be ordinarily resident

in Singapore. The amendment is found in clause 7.

At present, the Chief Surveyor is concurrently the President of the Land Surveyors Board. The Bill seeks to separate the functions of the Chief Surveyor and those of the President of the Land Surveyors Board by amending section 4 of the Land Surveyors Act. The Chief Surveyor will continue to oversee, regulate and set the standards required in the conduct of cadastral surveys within the ambit of the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act while the President of the Land Surveyors Board will continue to oversee the professional learning, standards and conduct of all registered surveyors through the Land Surveyors Act. With two persons, there will be better checks and balances in promoting and regulating standards in the surveying profession.

To effect this, the Bill transfers Part IX, on Conduct of Cadastral Surveys, of the Land Surveyors Act to a new Part IIA in the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act.

Sir, we further propose to remove the requirement that Assistant Surveyors be approved and registered by the Land Surveyors Board. This is in line with Government's move to cut rules and reduce business costs. The registration requirement was imposed so that surveyors would employ Assistant Surveyors with the necessary qualifications. However, this is an unnecessary safeguard since registered surveyors are responsible for the cadastral surveys they do. As registered surveyors, they are accountable to the Land Surveyors Board for their work. Allied professionals, such as architects and engineers, do not register their assistants under their Acts. Countries with similar cadastral systems, like Australia and New Zealand, also do not approve and register Assistant Surveyors.

To foster re-learning and upgrading of the professional knowledge and skills of practising surveyors, clause 5 of the Bill empowers the Land Surveyors Board to introduce continuing professional development as an additional condition for renewal of a surveyor's annual practising certificate. Architects and professional engineers have similar requirements.

A new section 35A is introduced to empower the Land Surveyors Board to appoint a lawyer for any investigation, hearing or appeal conducted by an Investigation Committee or the Board or on an appeal to the High Court. Also, a new section 35B will empower the Board to recover the cost and reasonable expenses related to these disciplinary proceedings from the registered surveyor, licensed corporation or partnership, as the case may be.

Amendments relating to land surveying

Sir, the Bill makes consequential amendments to the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act to enable the electronic submission of survey records and documents by surveyors as part of our e-Government initiative. Currently, the Act only allows hardcopies of survey records and plans to be submitted.

The Bill also empowers the Chief Surveyor to generate new maps from the coordinated cadastre established under section 7 of the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act, and to declare that the new maps supersede the maps published under the repealed section of the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act.

Consequential and miscellaneous amendments

Sir, other related and consequential amendments to the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act are:

First, to decriminalise the failure to give information to a survey officer. This

is no longer necessary as all the survey districts have been surveyed and the survey maps have been published.

Second, to clarify that assistants employed by registered surveyors may also enter sites to conduct cadastral surveys subject to conditions imposed by the Chief Surveyor. This is because physical measurements on the ground are usually done by assistant surveyors.

Third, to state in the Act what is the current position that registered surveyors are primarily responsible for the accuracy of their cadastral survey plans although such plans have been approved by the Chief Surveyor.

Fourth, to empower the Chief Surveyor to refuse to approve any survey plans if an encroachment has been created by the developer and it has not been resolved. Currently, under the Act, the Chief Surveyor can only refuse to grant approval to a survey plan in two very narrow situations, ie, where subdivision permission has not been obtained and where survey fees have not been paid. Arising from a recent case, to protect the public interest, this amendment seeks to provide an additional ground which will operate in situations where encroachments are created as a result of new developments.

And fifth, to remove the limitation period of one year for surveyors to bear the cost of rectifying errors in their cadastral surveys.

Sir, consequential and technical amendments are also made to the Land Titles Act and Land Titles (Strata) Act to remove the current requirement for registered surveyors to deposit two sets of the strata title plan; one with the Chief Surveyor and the other with the Registrar of Titles. Under these amendments, registered surveyors will need to deposit only one set of strata title plan with the

Chief Surveyor. This is possible because the Chief Surveyor and the Registrar of Titles are now part of the Singapore Land Authority and their work processes have been integrated. Overall, surveyors will appreciate this streamlining arising from workflow improvements.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Land Surveyors (Amendment) Bill seeks chiefly to streamline and simplify the required procedures relating to cadastral surveys and submission of survey plans for approval by the relevant authorities.

As the Chairperson of the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers, whose primary objective is to ensure high standards of professional practice among its members, I am pleased that the Act now specifically requires registered land surveyors to fulfill certain minimum continuing professional development requirements before they can renew their practising certificate.

Land surveying has become highly technical and increasingly sophisticated due to rapid advances such as in the area of satellite-based GPS site surveys and digital technology. It is imperative that land surveyors continuously upgrade their skills and competencies; otherwise, they may become obsolete.

Sir, I am also pleased that the Act will be changed to bring the provisions relating to multi-disciplinary professional services, including those of surveying services, in line with those of allied professionals. Essentially, the amendments make it easier for multi-disciplinary firms

who wish to supply surveying services to comply with the requirements under

which a licence for the firm to provide surveying services will be granted.

For instance, in the case of limited companies, as the Minister of State has noted, there is now no requirement that only a registered surveyor or an allied professional can be a director of the company in order for the Land Surveyors Board to grant a licence to that company. All that is required now is that there is a prescribed number or proportion of directors stipulated in the Articles of Association of the company who are registered surveyors or allied professionals. Furthermore, there is now no requirement that the director of the company who is a registered surveyor must be a resident of Singapore. This move is very liberating and could introduce fresh talent from overseas into the local profession.

Sir, whilst I feel that many of the amendments proposed are progressive, there are two amendments which are of concern to the surveying profession and could impinge negatively on the industry and end users of the surveying services.

First, it relates to the abolishing of registration of Assistant Surveyors. Sir, the present requirement for assistant surveyors to possess the necessary minimum qualifications recognised by the Board and to be registered with the Board has worked well and helped ensure minimum practice standards in the industry. This is because whilst the registered surveyor is ultimately responsible for the survey, the assistant surveyors are crucial in the surveying job as they are the ones who undertake and supervise the bulk of the on-site work.

Sir, abolishing the requirement for the registration of assistant surveyors is akin to telling a brain surgeon that he does not need to have a qualified nurse in the

operating theatre or a professional civil engineer that he can do without a qualified clerk of works in a major subterranean operation. Registered land surveyors, when faced with a credit crunch during a downturn, may be tempted to cut costs by hiring assistant surveyors without the prerequisite knowledge or skills since he is now allowed to do so under the proposed amendments. Of course, surveying work is not life threatening, and the medical analogy might not be the most apt, but the outcome of land surveying work has significant impact on land disputes, title issues, and property prices - all matters of concern to the ordinary Singaporeans. I see the amendment as a step back in the maintenance of high professional standards in surveying practice.

Sir, the Bill seems to send out conflicting signals. On the one hand, CPD is now stipulated as one of the requirements for the renewal of a registered surveyor's practising certificate. This would help uphold professional practice standards in the face of rapid technological changes. Yet in the same Bill, registration of assistant surveyors is now to be abolished to the potential detriment of professional standards. I believe the cost of providing a registration system for assistant surveyors will be more than justified by the downside of significant costs, delays and inconvenience to all stakeholders, including home owners, that could result from surveying errors. Registration is but a small price to pay. If this Bill were to be passed without amendments made to the proposal to abolish the registration of assistant surveyors, then, at the very least, I would like to urge the Minister to consider including in the Cadastral Survey Directive issued by the Chief Surveyor from time to time to require registered surveyors to employ assistant surveyors who have certain prescribed minimum qualifications. This would help maintain some minimum standards among assistant surveyors

employed in the industry. Otherwise, anyone, including a foreign work permit holder, could become an assistant surveyor under the proposed amendments.

My second point relates to the repeal of Part IX which relates to conduct of cadastral survey. The Bill states that Part IX of the present Act is to be repealed and re-enacted with minor amendments in the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act. Under its present form, section 39(3) of the Act provides for two circumstances under which the Chief Surveyor may withhold approval of any plan, as has been reiterated by the Minister. These are (1) if the subdivision permission, as required under the Planning Act, has not been obtained, or (2) when the survey fee payable has not been paid. Section 39(3) is to appear as section 11D(3) in the Boundaries and Survey Maps Act. The two circumstances are now spelt out under sections 11D(3)(a) and (3)(b). In addition to these two circumstances, there is now a new circumstance stipulated under which the Chief Surveyor may withhold approval. This is section 11D(3)(c) which states that approval may be withheld if the registered surveyor has not certified that any encroachment created by the purchaser or owner of a parcel of land being surveyed has been resolved. This new provision appears to have been included due to the recent encroachment issues highlighted by that of Escada View, a housing development built by the bankrupt Grandlink Group.

Sir, the new provision would seem to imply that the Chief Surveyor may withhold approval for any encroachment which has not been resolved, regardless of whether it is a new encroachment or one arising from an existing structure. Furthermore, this section seems to place the onus of resolving the encroachment issue on the registered surveyor since approval may be withheld if the registered surveyor has not certified that the encroachment has been resolved.

Sir, it would be relatively easy to resolve new encroachments of, for example, a developer building a boundary wall which encroaches onto an adjoining piece of land. This is because the party responsible for the encroachment is easily identifiable. In such instances, the developer responsible for the encroachment under common law would have to tear down and rebuild the boundary wall. However, if the encroachment is due to an existing structure, such as a retaining wall or boundary wall which was built even before the new developer or owner came onto the scene, determining the party or parties responsible for such encroachment could be cumbersome. Investigations would have to be made to determine if construction was done jointly with the existing or previous neighbours or was previously required by the authorities. Furthermore, complications can arise. In the case of a non-structural boundary wall, which was built long ago, at a time when building plan submissions for the erection were not required, there could be no record of encroachment in the land registry. In such instances, only the courts can determine with finality who created the encroachment and how it can be resolved.

Resolving such encroachment issues would be beyond the scope and responsibility of the registered surveyor. The registered surveyor's professional duty would be only to determine if there is an encroachment and to highlight such encroachments to the developer and the authorities. It would be grossly unfair to place the onus of resolving such encroachment issues on the registered surveyor, which the proposed new subsection seems to do. If a development has been completed on land with encroachment, completion of sales for all subdivided units will be delayed if the Chief Surveyor does not approve the

certified plan, even though the encroachment may only affect one of the subdivided lots and not all the subdivided lots in the development. Purchasers of units on the subdivided lots could be inconvenienced. More importantly, they face the prospect of incurring extra costs as a result of the delay in completion of the sale and purchase. The developer could also face legal action by all purchasers of the development for the delay in completion of the sale and purchase.

Sir, for such complex encroachment issues, which cannot be quickly and easily resolved, the Act could allow the certified plan to be approved and the encroachment registered with the land registry. In this way, purchasers whose subdivided lots are not affected by the encroachment can complete their sales, leaving only the affected purchaser and/or the authorities and the developer to resolve the encroachment issues.

Sir, in conclusion, I would like to urge the Minister to look into these two areas of concern arising from the proposed amendments which I have highlighted and make provisions to overcome the possible negative repercussions, if not in the Act itself, then at least in the Cadastral Survey Directive issued by the Chief Surveyor from time to time.

With these suggestions, I support the Bill.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Dr Amy Khor for supporting the Bill. Indeed, as she says, the Bill will introduce processes that will improve and streamline the surveying profession, both its regulation as well as the processes of surveying.

Sir, let me address Dr Khor's two points. Her first point is that, with the

doing away with the registration of assistant surveyors, that may lead to a drop in standards. Sir, I think Dr Khor's point can be met with two checks that are in place. Sir, the first check is, as Dr Khor quite rightly points out, that the registered surveyor under the Land Surveyors Act remains primarily responsible to the Chief Surveyor. As a professional, he is accountable for what he does. So following the practice of allied professionals like the architects and engineers, where their assistants are not required to be registered, the amendment is now made to also do away with the registration of assistant surveyors. Because, essentially, the assistant surveyors work under the guidance, direction and supervision of the registered surveyors. So that is the first key point. It is ultimately the professional responsibility of the registered surveyors, whom I am sure will be as concerned as anybody else, to engage assistant surveyors who are adequately trained and who will do the job, especially in terms of field work.

The second point is that these assistant surveyors do survey work on the ground. Before they do that, in fact, their qualifications will be monitored, and this point is something that we would assure Dr Khor. Before they can do that, their names will be submitted by the registered surveyors so that the Chief Surveyor can issue them authority cards. And, in fact, a SOP has been in place to ensure that the entry of land is properly done with notification and authority cards. So at that point in time, the Chief Surveyor's Office will look at the qualifications. That is the assurance that the Chief Surveyor has given me, because I am as concerned as her, that standards should not drop. The Chief Surveyor will monitor the academic qualifications of the assistant surveyors doing the survey and the standard will not drop below the current standard.

For good measure, indeed, the Chief Surveyor will publish these minimum qualifications in a Directive on Cadastral Survey that he would be publishing. I think this is the first point, ie, the work of the assistant surveyors is important. With this amendment, the work would still be properly done.

Sir, the second point is why there is an amendment to empower the Chief Surveyor not to grant approval of the survey plan if there is an encroachment that has been created as a result of new boundaries created by a development for which a survey plan has been submitted. As Dr Khor rightly pointed out, this amendment has been made in the light of a recent case where unwittingly some purchasers had bought units in a condominium and, unfortunately, because the developer had gone insolvent and, in fact, even though the developer knew about the encroachment, because the survey plans were approved, they could take out Certificates of Title and therefore they could issue titles to the sub-purchasers. And so under the law, SLA in fact went against the sub-purchasers to pay for the land upon which the encroachment, in this case, a retaining wall, was built. Hence, the approach therefore is that, in the public interest, it is better really to resolve these encroachments upfront rather than, for example, the suggestion by Dr Khor is to give notice of encroachment to sub-purchasers, and if sub-purchasers buy with notice of encroachment, they will take it with notice. But then you do not resolve the problem upfront. The question of the parties' rights can surface later on and can sometimes result in litigation.

So, rather than do that, arising from the experience of this case that we had, the approach is to try to address the problem at source, ie, when the surveyor submits his survey plans to the Chief Surveyor, the onus is now on him. I think

Dr Khor would agree that a surveyor who does his job would know what is on the ground, because encroachments cannot be hidden. It can be a retaining wall, an overhanging balcony or eave or a pillar to an entrance, and he will notice that. So, it is better for him when he does that - and that is what will happen in practice - to let the developer know, because the developer has engaged him for the job. So, really, the pressure point is not on him as such, but on the developer, because in order for the developer to sell the units, he has to take out Certificates of Title and, to do that, he has to submit approved survey plans.

The onus is therefore on the developer to rectify the encroachment. He can do that in one of three ways. He can, for example, remove the encroachment, if it can be easily removed; or he can apply for a Temporary Occupation Licence from SLA; or buy over the encroached land from the State or, if the adjoining land is private land, then buy it over from its owner. Once the encroachment is resolved in this way, it is clear cut. Any sub-purchaser who buys from him will know that there is no encroachment which can trouble him later on.

We have thought over the alternative approaches very carefully. For example, notice of encroachment is one; giving approval for the survey plan, then getting SLA to enforce against the developer later on is another. But all these are approaches where the horse would have bolted from the stable, and the problem can then arise that can cause problems to sub-purchasers who are really members of the public. So, rather than do that, make the developer, who is a business entity here, responsible for rectifying the encroachment. The surveyor is, in a sense, the point man, because he is a professional doing the survey on the ground. He is the one who will discover the encroachment and, in practice, he will tell his employer, in this case, the

developer, about it, and then the process should be resolved because, failing which, the survey plans would not be approved.

So, let us work out this approach and see how it goes. As Dr Khor has mentioned, SISV is in close touch with the Chief Surveyor. In fact, there is a very good working relationship. There will be continuing dialogue, and I am sure we can monitor the system so that, should problems arise, we can adjust this process in due course.

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.

3.50 pm

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

The Hire-Purchase Act was first enacted in 1969 in response to the growth of hire-purchase transactions in the 1960s. The main objective then was to protect unsophisticated consumers from harsh and oppressive one-sided provisions in hire-purchase agreements, such as exceedingly high interest rates.

Except for some minor amendments, the Hire-Purchase Act has remained

unchanged since it was first enacted in 1969. However, Singapore's financial market has since evolved. Consumers now have wider choices of financing. They are better educated and more sophisticated. With proper consumer education, they can make informed choices. As regulators, we promote greater disclosure and transparency to ensure that the market can work efficiently. There is, therefore, a need to update the Hire-Purchase Act to align with these developments.

In 2003, a joint private and public Taskforce, led by the Ministry of Trade Industry, was formed to comprehensively review the Hire-Purchase Act. The Taskforce included representatives from the Association of Banks in Singapore, the Association of Hire Purchase and Finance Companies, the Automobile Association of Singapore, the Consumers Association of Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Retailers Association. Based on the Taskforce's recommendations, MTI drafted a Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Bill, and conducted public consultations in May and June this year. We received a number of good suggestions and feedback to improve the draft Bill. These have been incorporated into the final Bill.

Key provisions of the Bill

Mr Speaker, Sir, let me now take the House through the clauses in the Bill.

First, the Bill now before the House is designed to achieve certain objectives:

reinforce disclosure and transparency requirements so that consumers have the material information they need to make an informed choice;

balance the interests of consumers and hire-purchase financiers, without imposing excessive compliance costs; and

facilitate market developments.

This approach is in line with the Government's overall consumer protection philosophy, ie, to promote disclosure and transparency, so that consumers are well-informed and empowered to assume primary responsibility for protecting their own interest. Together with improved efficiency, more flexibility and transparency, the Bill will help to promote a more competitive refinancing market.

Scope of application

Clause 22 of the Bill increases the cap on the value of consumer goods covered under the Act from $5,000 to $20,000. This brings the Hire-Purchase Act in line with the cap on the value of claims under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act which came into force in March this year. The existing cap of $55,000 on motor vehicles will not be changed, as it is adequate to cover mid-sized family sedan cars that the majority of consumers buy.

Formula for calculation of statutory rebate upon early settlement

The Hire-Purchase Act currently mandates the use of the "Rule of 78" formula when calculating the balance payable upon early settlement of the hire-purchase agreement. This restricts the flexibility of the market to provide for other approaches to calculate the loan balance when the loan is redeemed before maturity. Clauses 3 and 9 of the Bill propose that the use of this formula no longer be mandated. Instead, the market will be free to adopt any formula, so long as it is made known to the consumer upfront, ie, at the time of entering into the hire-purchase agreement.

Hirer's right to require assignment of hire-purchase agreement

In order to help promote a more competitive refinancing market, clause 8

allows a consumer to require the financier to assign the hire-purchase agreement to a new financier, after discharging his obligations as provided for in early settlement.

Early settlement, repossession procedures and information provision

To improve efficiency, clauses 5, 6, 9 to 13 and 19 provide that the notice periods relating to early settlement, repossession procedures and information provision will be shortened from 14 days to seven business days. This takes into account advances in communications.

Limitations on terms charges and interest on overdue instalment payments and minimum deposits

To allow for more flexibility in the market, clauses 15, 17 and 23 remove the limitations on the terms charges and interest on overdue instalments payable while clause 16 removes the requirement for a minimum deposit of 10% of the cash price of the goods comprised in hire-purchase agreements. When the Hire-Purchase Act was first introduced, the limitations on terms charges and interest rates were introduced for consumer protection. As the retail and credit financing market has developed since then, we should leave to competitive market forces to set the rates. Similarly, the minimum deposit requirement was intended to curb inflation by restricting credit facilities back then. Circumstances have now changed. We should leave financiers to decide on the need for such a deposit, based on their own risk assessment and propensity to bear risk.

Transparency and disclosure requirements

Going forward, to ensure that consumers have the material information they need to make informed choices,

financiers will be required to disclose upfront any charges and rates to be levied. Clause 23 also provides an amended Second Schedule of the Hire-Purchase Act which lists the minimum information that financiers should provide to consumers, including the effective interest rate and the method for calculating the balance payable upon early settlement or reassignment. Such information will form part of the hire-purchase agreement.

Sanctions and remedies

To lower legal costs for both parties, clause 3 provides for Hire-Purchase Act matters to be dealt with in a Magistrate's Court or a District Court instead of having their cases heard in a District Court only. Aggrieved parties can now decide which court they wish to resort to, depending on the circumstances of their case.

Criminal penalties for the more serious breaches of the Act, especially those relating to fraudulent behaviour, will be retained. The penalties for these criminal offences will be increased to ensure deterrence under clauses 18 to 21. However, offences which are less serious breaches will be decriminalised under clauses 4, 6 and 14. For the requirements pertaining to clauses 4 and 6, it is already the case today that non-compliance with such requirements under the Act renders the hire-purchase agreement unenforceable until the financier fulfils the specific obligations required. For clause 14, the amendment provides that failure to comply with the requirement will be a breach of contract. These should suffice to ensure compliance with the requirements under the Hire-Purchase Act.

Mr Speaker, Sir, the Bill updates the provisions in the Hire-Purchase Act relating to the rights and obligations of

parties to hire-purchase agreements in the light of significant changes in the retail and credit financing market over the years. It seeks to balance the interests of the consumers and financiers, without undue regulatory compliance costs. The proposed amendments to the Hire-Purchase Act are aimed at improving market efficiency with the removal of a good number of statutory requirements on businesses, enhancing transparency and greater disclosure so as to enable consumers to make informed decisions, lowering legal costs for all and, thus, facilitating a more competitive market environment.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Sir, I rise to support the Bill.

This amendment will enhance disclosure and transparency requirements, so that consumers have access to all relevant information to make an informed choice when deciding to enter into a hire-purchase agreement. I understand that the Consumers Association of Singapore, which has been advocating for such changes to be made to the Hire-Purchase Act for the past two years, is appreciative of the efforts put in by the MTI and the various parties involved in the review. CASE was a member of the MTI task force to review the Hire Purchase Act. By including CASE and other industry representatives in the task force, MTI has demonstrated its consultative approach to industry regulations.

I am glad, in particular, to note that Rule 78, a mandatory formula for calculating interest payments on car loans has been amended, so that financial institutions are now not required under the law to apply this rule on all hire-purchase loans governed by the Act. It is a positive move in improving the hire-

purchase provisions. Unfortunately, this change has not gone far enough to ensure that consumers need not be disadvantaged by this rule.

As the financial industry is now left with the discretion to apply Rule 78 on an optional basis under the amended law, I would like to urge the industry players to discontinue the use of Rule 78. I hope that the Ministry of Trade and Industry will closely monitor the development and, if need be, consider banning the use of Rule 78 totally in future. The banning of this rule is not new, and it has been done in some developed countries. In addition, I suggest that the US practice for car loans be studied for implementation here. In the US, car loans are transparent, because details of the hire-purchase agreements are readily available on financial institutions' websites.

Sir, over the last few years, credit sales have been on the increase. It is another area of concern for consumers. This is an area that is not regulated, and CASE has seen increasing complaints against retailers who took advantage of this regulatory gap to impose unfair terms on the consumers. I think it is just about right for MTI to look into the possibility and feasibility of extending the Hire-Purchase

Act to cover all consumer credit or introducing a new law to close the gap.

Consumer credits deal primarily with what lawyers call "chose-in-action" rather than with physical goods. Most of the rights and liabilities are created by business and financial institutions, by tweaking the terms and conditions of credit and selling as a glossy bundled product to unsuspecting consumers. The tweaks are glossed over in the marketing pitch.

Businesses are hardwired to keep on changing their terms and conditions and selling their products to unsuspecting consumers without pointing out the

changes. The consumers are left to pore over the fine print to detect the changes in the basis of presentation. Present laws do not protect consumers sufficiently against such market practices. A recent example is the sale of investment-linked products as "deposit" products. If this state of affairs continues, I fear that consumers will lose faith in the consumer credit industry and consumer finance industry. The industry will suffer as a result in the long term.

I hope MTI will consider these proposals and find a workable solution to solve these problems.

Sir, I support the Bill.

Order. I propose to take the break now. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 4.25 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 4.01 pm until 4.25 pm.

Sitting resumed at 4.25 pm

Debate resumed.

Question again proposed.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support the Hire-Purchase (Amendment) Bill. In consultation with CASE, market players and other agencies, it is timely for the Ministry of Trade and Industry to update the Hire-Purchase Act in line with the current market conditions.

I am especially heartened by the decision to review the monetary limit on goods governed by the HP Act from $5,000 to $20,000. In the current

consumer credit environment, the $5,000 limit is indeed too low. With consumer credit being marketed to the masses, many high quality consumer goods are now within the reach of the man-in-the-street via hire purchase. Hence, the decision to increase the monetary limit for the HP Act to $20,000 brings it in line with the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act.

Another positive move is the decriminalisation of certain offences, for example, the failure on the part of the financing company to give certain notices required by the Act. Instead, the safeguard is that the hire-purchase agreement may not be enforceable until the financing company remedies the default. This is also in line with our more liberal statutory environment where contractual disputes are resolved in the civil courts without the need to criminalise commercial behaviour unnecessarily.

However, a glaring regret of the amendment Bill is that it missed the chance to discontinue the application of Rule 78 which is commonly used in the motorcar hire-purchase agreements to calculate payments for early redemption of the car loan. Currently, the HP Act requires the financing company to apply Rule 78 to calculate the redemption sum. This was the practice inherited from an era prior to the computer age. The Rule of 78 disproportionately frontloads most interest payment to the early part of the loan period, thus leaving much of the principal sum unpaid. It is an approximate method of calculation which overstates its case by attributing more interest upfront than necessary. In effect, this practice discourages early redemption of loans and refinancing where cheaper credits become available. It is no wonder that in the car industry, refinancing is almost non-existent. This also runs contrary to the

Government's effort at preaching financial prudence.

In addition, now that we have already moved into the computer age, banks and finance companies can readily calculate the advance loading of interest by the more equitable monthly rest method. It is time for the hire-purchase companies to move and adopt the monthly rest method of calculation. This method, the monthly rest method, is a more accurate and fair reflection of the cost of funds. In fact, in the US and UK, Rule 78 has been banned for sometime. I am glad that the amendment Bill has deregulated Rule 78 as a mandatory method of calculation. However, I hope that the Bill can go further to disallow the very inequitable Rule 78 altogether rather than leaving it as an option which finance companies may adopt. In fact, the chances of finance companies adopting that are very low. It will be naive to expect the finance companies to switch from Rule 78 to the monthly rest on a voluntary basis. This is evident from the fact that the vast majority of HP agreements for car loans exceeding the monetary limit of the present HP Act continue to use Rule 78 to calculate their redemption sum.

There is no mandatory rule to explain why Rule 78 continues to be used in such cases except that there is an unlevel playing field where the terms and conditions of the HP agreements are dictated by the financing companies. I think we should not pass over the chance to address this inequity that affects hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners who are also our consuming public.

The Second Schedule details the information for prospective hirers. This is an excellent move. May I suggest that to boost disclosure and transparency, a compulsory amortisation table be added to this Schedule. The table should have a clear schedule of loans with separate columns to accurately reflect the interest and principal sum payment, repayment, at

monthly, quarterly or yearly intervals, so that the hirer understands his loan commitments and can compare his cost of the loans more meaningfully. Some banks have been doing this in their mortgage loans. I think it would be a good practice to extend it to all loans.

Clauses 5 and 6 of the proposed Bill seek to amend the notice period within which a hirer has to comply to a written request from a financier. It proposes to amend the notice period from 14 days to 7 business days. In this day and age, where people travel frequently, and there are more demands on an individual's attention, 7 days may be considered a little short for adequate action. While I am for repayment, rapid repayment and settlement, I would also like to know what prompted the Ministry to review this time-line. Has there been an increase in loan defaults? Moreover, there is a high cost to repossession and, in the case of a genuine lapse on the part of a hirer, for example, when the hirer was overseas, he would still have to bear the cost of repossession, which is included on the items on the Fifth Schedule, and some of the costs would include cost of storage, delivery, redelivery and so on and so forth.

When a vehicle is bought, the car dealer and buyer sign a sales and purchase agreement, as well as a hire-purchase agreement. Most buyers, at that point in time, would perceive themselves to be the new owner of the car under the S&P (Sales and Purchase) agreement, while the bank is their financier under the HP agreement. Yet, notwithstanding registration of ownership with the Land Transport Authority, the buyer is not the owner of the vehicle, instead the finance company is the owner and the buyer merely the hirer. The situation becomes more complicated, as I was told that the HP itself may be invalid if the finance company never became the owner of the car prior to the S&P

agreement, or if the HP agreement might be viewed as a sham device to avoid the registration requirements of the Bill of Sales Act. I understand from the industry that there would usually be a Master Sales Agreement between the finance company and the car dealer by which ownership of the car is passed on to the finance company. But I am not so sure. The Master Sales Agreement would usually apply to the car only when the finance company approves the HP loan. By then, the car should already have been sold to the buyer under the S&P agreement.

So the question is, the car dealer could not have sold the car to the finance company after the same was sold to the buyer. Conversely, if the HP agreement was valid, it would then imply that the S&P agreement was invalid because the car dealer could not have lawfully sold the car twice, first to the finance company and then a second time to the buyer. The validity of the S&P agreement is not mere legal niceties. The Consumers Association of Singapore has seen complainants whose car dealers were wont to enforce the S&P agreement against the consumers when the finance company declined to approve the HP loan. The legal ambiguities surrounding the S&P and HP agreements in the car dealer industry leave much to be desired.

Last, but not least, in this year's Budget Debate, I spoke about the need to rationalise our consumer credit laws. The Hire-Purchase Act is but one facet of consumer credit. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand, the same legislative regime applies to HP, as well as other types of consumer credit transactions. Their laws provide for linked transactions and joint-liability of merchants and financier. Under their consumer credit law, the legal ambiguity that I have just spoken about would not have arisen and the consumer would not be unduly penalised by the S&P agreement if the

finance company declines to approve the HP loan.

I urge the Ministry to review the legal ambiguities current in Singapore with the view towards finding a workable solution for consumers and the HP industry, especially the car industry. There are many existing models in UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, that we could adapt and adopt from. I hope the Minister would incorporate the suggestions and concerns into the proposed amendments.

With that, I support the Bill.

First, let me thank the two Members for their support of the Bill. I would like to address the concerns raised, first on the Rule of 78. As we have indicated in the Amendment Bill, the Rule of 78 now is no longer mandatory and our approach is to leave it to the industry to decide how they want to set the terms for early redemption.

I think Members would agree that there is no free lunch. When a person takes up a hire-purchase agreement, he is contracting to pay, through a series of instalments, what he has contracted. If he opts for early redemption, then by all counts, there usually would be a penalty clause for early redemption. That penalty clause could either be through calculation of the interest or a very direct penalty clause. So, we leave it to the market to set. It is not true that this is an unlevel playing field. The hire purchase market is a very competitive arena, particularly for car loans, and so I could not believe that the cards are stacked against the consumers. There are many hire purchase credit companies out there and the consumers could choose any one of those companies in the market.

Why do we not ban the use of the Rule of 78? I think our approach is just to

make it no longer mandatory and leave it to the market to decide whether it is monthly rest, daily rest, actuarial method, or if they want to continue the use of the Rule of 78, we leave it entirely to the market. And, if the consumer does not like that rule set by one company, he can go to another company.

The second point raised is whether there ought to be an omnibus consumer credit law. Firstly, I am not convinced that we need an omnibus consumer credit law. Today we have approached this with separate laws for different consumer credit requirements. So, we have the Hire-Purchase Act and other Acts to deal with other critical areas of consumer credit. The example which Mr Yeo Guat Kwang raised about investment-linked products being portrayed differently, I think that comes under the MAS and comes under the financial legislation. So I do not think there is a shortage of rules to deal with all these different products. I do not see the need for an omnibus consumer credit. If there are specific areas or gaps, then I think we should raise this and see where we could deal with it under the various Acts.

Miss Penny Low also raised about having greater transparency by introducing a compulsory amortisation table in the Schedule. Again, I would leave this to the market. If it is best practice, if people feel that the template involves setting an amortisation table, so be it, we leave it to the market to decide. This could be their competitive selling point. I do not think it is necessary for us to make it compulsory that we should attach an amortisation table as part of the Schedule.

On the question of why we change the notice period from 14 days to 7 days, I do not think repossession would come as a lightning bolt. The person must have not paid up all his instalments, and I am sure the financier would have given him

notice. The question is whether the legal notice period ought to be 14 days or 7 days. Our thinking is to make it a decent period. In this day and age, 7 days is enough for people to convey the notice to the person. I do not think you could say that this would come out of the blue. There would be enough notice through the default of payments and through the various communications with the finance company.

Miss Penny Low also talked about the ambiguities about who is the owner and who is the financier. It is quite clear. If you are entering into a hire-purchase agreement, you are not the owner. The financier is the owner. So I do not think there is any ambiguity at all. If there are ambiguities, I am also surprised that this was not raised during the consultation period and not addressed. But we would take a look at this. I could not imagine that we are in this business of hire-purchase for cars, there are thousands and thousands of transactions, and such a glaring ambiguity remains in the business. I think that would be a really big surprise to me. But I would get my staff to study this. The way I understood the problem, it is very clear. If you are buying a car on hire-purchase, you are not the owner, you are the consumer. The person who is providing the money is the owner.

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 Lim Hng Kiang].

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 seeks to amend the borrowing powers of the Public Utilities Board as provided in the Public Utilities Act.

Currently, the borrowing provision in the PU Act allows PUB to raise capital from banks and other financial institutions by way of mortgage, overdraft or otherwise. As such, PUB is limited to borrowing from only banks and financial institutions.

Sir, this amendment would give PUB greater flexibility in raising funds from the market and allow it to become more efficient in managing its financial strategy. Specifically, the amendment will allow PUB to:

raise loans from the Government;

raise loans from any source within or outside Singapore, including through the creation and issue of bonds; and

make financial agreements for credit facilities for procurement.

The proposed amendment to the borrowing provision is in line with the borrowing powers of other statutory boards such as HDB and JTC. The powers to issue bonds and raise loans from the Government are standard provisions for most statutory boards.

To conclude, Sir, this Bill will provide PUB greater flexibility in managing its borrowing strategy.

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. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

Order for Second Reading read.

4.47 pm

Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

The Bill before this House seeks to amend the Universities (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill to allow the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to have borrowing powers and to invest their money as they think fit. The Bill will also enable NUS to set up the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science.

Universities' borrowing and investment powers

Sir, the amendments will allow NUS and NTU to be given greater autonomy in the sourcing and use of funds. The current NUS Act and the NTU Act do not have explicit provisions for the two universities to borrow. It is essential that they have the powers to do so. It will enable them to make more efficient use of capital and to internalise their cost of capital for development projects. This is also as envisaged in the Ministry of Finance's framework for debt-financing for all statutory boards, which was

implemented with effect from 1st September 2004. Under this framework, statutory boards are expected to take loans to partially finance their capital projects.

Further, the universities have to reap good returns from their monies through prudent investment. The income from their investments will, over time, be an additional source of revenue for the universities. However, currently, the NUS Act is silent on the investment power of NUS. While NTU has a clause in its Act that enables the university to invest its monies, the clause, as it stands, differs from the standard clause required by MOF. The amended investment clause brings NTU in line with the standardised investment clauses for all statutory boards.

There is therefore a need to amend the two universities' Acts to allow the universities to borrow from the Government and external financial institutions and to invest their monies in such manner as they think fit.

More broadly, the amendments will support moves to provide NUS and NTU with the institutional flexibility that they will need to respond to new opportunities and challenges. To make their next leap in quality, NUS and NTU must be dynamic and forward-looking institutions. They must have the room to differentiate themselves, to play on their respective strengths, to move into new areas of study, and make calculated trade-offs as they allocate their resources, so as to ensure the maximum benefit for their students.

Rationale for setting up the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science

Sir, the amendment of the NUS Act will also empower NUS to set up the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science. The High School will open its doors in

January 2005 and will offer a six-year education from Secondary One to JC 2. The proposal to set up this school was endorsed by Parliament in November 2002, as part of the recommendations of the Junior College/Upper Secondary Review Committee.

Setting up the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science is part of the broader re-orientation taking place in the education system to provide a greater diversity of pathways, programmes and mix of schools. We have introduced integrated programmes, Specialised Independent Schools, such as the NUS High School, and have opened up to a small, privately-funded school sector. This greater diversity of options and opportunities in the education system will better cater to the different needs and talents of our children, develop more unique strengths, and help us meet the challenges of a more complex and rapidly changing environment.

Specialised Independent Schools, like the NUS High School, will help us to nurture peaks of excellence in diverse areas of study and endeavour. They will offer a different model of education, complementing the strengths of our mainstream school system. The NUS High School of Mathematics and Science will be tailored to the special abilities of students who are highly talented in mathematics and science. Such schools are not new. In the US, specialised schools in mathematics and science, like the Bronx High School, offer an enriched environment and programmes to maximise the potential of their students. These schools have proven to be very successful in nurturing mathematics and science talent.

As a tertiary institution with expertise and resources in the teaching and learning of mathematics and science, NUS is well placed to set up a high school to groom outstanding talents in these areas. It will

be able to leverage on its reputation and capabilities as a leading research and academic institution to offer a top quality education in the schools sector. Strong specialised schools, like the NUS High School, the Sports School and the planned school of the Arts, will add strength and diversity to the national schools system.

Key provisions of the Bill

Sir, I now move on to the specific amendments to the Act.

Clauses 2 and 3 insert new sections after section 6 of the Nanyang Technological University Act and National University of Singapore Act, which set out the universities' power to borrow from the Government or external financial institutions, and to confer them with powers of investment.

Clause 3 also amends section 5(1) of the National University of Singapore Act to enable NUS to establish institutions to provide education above primary level.

Clause 4 is a savings provision relating to investments made and loans raised by the respective universities before the date of the amendments in the Bill.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, these amendments will give our universities greater flexibility in the sourcing and use of funds, so that they can be innovative and dynamic institutions. They will be better positioned to meet future challenges in a more competitive landscape, and to establish themselves as leading centres in a knowledge-based world.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, whilst this Bill is titled the

Universities (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, I certainly do not think that the amendments proposed are "miscellaneous" in nature, especially the amendment to be made to the NUS Act which allows the university to establish institutions that provide education at above primary levels, and not just solely at the university level.

Sir, this proposed amendment changes our understanding of the fundamental mission and objects of universities as citadels of higher learning, rather than as institutions providing basic education which spans the primary to secondary levels.

This amendment has been made to facilitate the setting up of the NUS High School hailed as the first of its kind in Singapore. According to Minister of State for Education, Mr Chan Soo Sen, the NUS High School is tasked with the special responsibility of providing a stimulating environment for students with exceptional aptitude and interest in mathematics and science.

I understand that the High School is fashioned somewhat like the famous Bronx High School of Science, which is a public high school located in New York City. This school was founded in 1938 and counts five Nobel laureates among its graduates, the most for any secondary school in the world.

Sir, I applaud and strongly support the Education Ministry's recent moves to offer a wider range of options to our students and allow them to develop their talents and passion in specialised schools, such as in the Sports School or the Arts School.

However, I am tempted to ask if indeed the reasons for NUS to establish a specialised high school in mathematics and science which necessitates an

amendment to its Act, the building of a brand new school costing some $28 million and staff deployment are sufficiently compelling.

Undoubtedly, giving those who are talented and passionate in mathematics and science an opportunity to develop their talents to the fullest and as early as possible is highly desirable. The ability of the new NUS High School to leverage on the comprehensive range of expertise available at the university to nurture and educate these students is also a positive factor.

Nonetheless, I would like to raise three concerns which I hope the Minister can clarify.

Firstly, deviation from core business. The NUS had said previously that one of its primary motivations for mooting this idea is that it is tired of less than inquisitive students passing through its doors and thought that it might be able to do better than mainstream secondary schools at producing students who are better prepared for higher education.

Instead of pouring an inordinate amount of resources, building a new school and having to deploy staff to the school, as an experiment to find out if it can do better at producing independent, thinking and inquisitive students, would it not be better for the NUS to share its ideas with mainstream schools, say, starting with the schools offering through-train programmes?

After all, Bronx Science, from which the initiative for this school might have germinated, is also not directly part of a tertiary institution.

NUS could, if it desires, tie up with selected mainstream schools and allow the school to tap on its staff expertise and facilities to nurture students talented in mathematics and science.

Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to explain how NUS plans to staff its High School. How many of its academic staff would it be deploying to the school, either on a part-time or full-time basis? How would this impact the university's staff strength and resources and teaching programmes?

Would the university, which is still striving to establish itself as a top research university, not be stretching its resources too thinly and diluting its attention and effort by venturing into what conventional wisdom would certainly view as a non-core business, ie, running a high school?

Secondly, the university is already in the midst of implementing numerous changes. Sir, resulting from the last review of the universities' admissions system and curriculum, it would seem that the universities, including the NUS, are still in the midst of implementing the recommendations made, including how students are assessed for admissions, what courses to offer and the curriculum of different courses to make them more broad-based.

Moreover, the universities are likely to be also involved in the current review of university fees and subsidies. Given all these on-going changes, would not the setting up of a high school by the NUS at this point in time be a diversion of its attention away from the more pressing and important tasks required of its primary calling?

Thirdly, the relevance of the teaching capabilities and experience of NUS lecturers. Moreover, unlike mainstream primary and secondary school and junior college teachers, NUS lecturers would generally not have undergone formal training to become teachers. Would the Minister not agree that university lecturers may not be properly equipped to teach

secondary school and junior college students?

At the university, there is very little teaching, as students who attend universities have gone through basic education, are older and assumed to be more matured and independent to do their own research. However, the level of maturity and independence of the high school students and thus their need for guidance and teaching would be vastly different, even if they are highly gifted in some areas.

Sir, I do not dispute that having more specialised schools to cater to the different talents and needs of our students would greatly enrich the education landscape. Moreover, it is also undeniable that the NUS High School could benefit from tapping on the university's resources.

Nonetheless, I am concerned with the appropriateness and effectiveness of allowing NUS to establish the High School for Mathematics and Science as, among others, this is clearly a departure from its core business.

Sir, I would urge the Ministry and the NUS to study the concerns raised and take steps to mitigate these issues.

With these caveats, Sir, I support the Bill.

Sir, I thank Dr Amy Khor for her support for the Bill and useful comments and questions. I can understand her concerns over whether running a high school is a deviation from the core business of NUS, and whether it will detract from it providing a university education that is the best that it can be. First, let me say that the idea of a High School having strong affiliations with a university is not a unique one. It has been working well in a number of countries. In the US, the

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools are good examples. In fact, they cater to students all the way from nursery up to High School, but the focus is principally on the High School level. Many of the High School students take classes at the University of Chicago, and get supervised or mentored in their research by world renowned professors. Another good example is the Hunter School, which is affiliated to City University of New York. Again, you have students who are, through the affiliation, able to receive an education that challenges them. These are intellectually gifted students typically. The students are allowed to take courses at either Hunter College, which is part of the City University of New York, or Columbia University.

In China, there are several top schools with strong links to the universities. I myself have had the benefit of visiting and talking to people at several such schools, affiliated to top universities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. They are all highly regarded and their students clearly benefiting from the links that they provide with the universities. For example, in Fudan University Affiliated Middle School, students take university level Mathematics courses. And the school also invites university professors to teach a class once a week and whenever there are interesting new topics that should be covered in the curriculum. The education experience and environment challenges the students in these schools, many of whom end up qualifying for top universities, not just in China but in the US and elsewhere.

Another good example is the Peking University Affiliated High School. The students are free to attend classes at Beida and to do research at the university. And, likewise, the students achieve high standards of excellence and are actively

sought after by universities around the world.

In most of these schools, I should add that the work done by the students in the High School as well as when they take undergraduate modules by sitting in classes at the university is given credit when they finally go on to university. They are allowed to accumulate credits while at High School. And this again adds to the premium attached to these High Schools.

How far the university goes in its involvement with the High School varies. In the case of the teaching universities - or the Normal Universities as they are called in China - it is typically a closer involvement. For some other universities, the universities are involved in the governance of the school, typically have the principal seconded from the university to the school, but they do not provide a large number of staffing for the school.

If I may give you another example, at the Number Two Secondary School attached to East China Normal University - the top teaching university in Shanghai - there is a close relationship between the school and the university which allows the university to play a prominent role both in the management as well as teaching in the school. The university appoints both the principal and the vice-principal, and some of the university staff members are deployed to the school to teach and to help to develop the curriculum.

In the case of the NUS High School, NUS will be actively supporting and taking a close interest in the school but will not be deploying any large amount of faculty resources to the school. It will not deviate from its core business of providing a university education. The university is very clear about that, and MOE is very clear about that.

Let me elaborate a little. First, in the area of governance and personnel to run the school. The school board will be chaired by Mr Wee Heng Tin, former Director-General of Education. This will be once the School Board is appointed, which is after the NUS High School gets its legal status. The principal of the School, Professor Lai Yee Hing, is on secondment from NUS Science Faculty. The Assistant Principal, Dr Roland Su, has been assigned to the NUS High School but he will be joining the school as direct staff once the school gets its legal status. He is actually making a switch to become part of the direct staff of the school. Teaching staff, about 25, are recruited principally from the Government teaching service and from the private sector. Initially, it would be more from the Government. Over time, I think they will also recruit a fair number from the private sector. They will, in the first instance, have one teaching assistant from NUS. Over time, there could be a few more. And I would add, in response to Dr Amy Khor's specific question, that it is not necessary for all the teachers to be trained for teaching in the same way that our school teachers in our mainstream are trained. Not all of them will need to be NIE-trained. If you look at top schools abroad, particularly those that are engaged in something like developing special talents in Mathematics and Science, not all their teachers are trained at teaching colleges. Some of them are just people with a passion for the subject and who have a way of reaching out to bright young talent. It is for the school to interview them and decide if they have got the attributes that meet its needs.

So I have covered governance and personnel. Second is the issue of curriculum and examination. I think there again NUS can provide valuable support for the school without over-extending itself. It is an area where NUS can add value, formulating a new curriculum and one that leads on to a new qualification -

the NUS High School Diploma. The school will be having quite a different structure of curriculum compared to a normal school. It will have a modular system of core and elective subjects. And the curriculum will be accredited by the NUS Board of Undergraduate Studies. The NUS High School will also allow for new modes of assessment, new types of examination as well as other forms of assessment, besides examination, and these will be scrutinised by its Academic Assessment Committee. This committee will ensure that the academic standards of the NUS High School are calibrated to the admission requirements of NUS itself as well as to that of other top universities in the world.

Thirdly, another form of engagement between the university and High School, is that some of the students in the High School will be able to take undergraduate modules at NUS. Students will be mentored in their research work by NUS faculty members who will point them in the direction of new developments, excite their interest and seek to develop them to the fullest.

As far as infrastructure goes, it is a stand-alone school, but it will be able to tap on some of the NUS' resources, particularly its library e-resources and its IT resources. I should add that MOE will support the High School, just like it supports other independent schools. We have paid for the same proportion of the development cost of setting up the new school as we would do for any other independent school. And we will continue to provide annual capitation grants to the school on the same basis as the other independent schools.

The NUS High School is an innovation in our school system. It breaks new ground. The involvement of a university for the first time in the High School on a more than cursory basis will be a new model. It will allow for new curriculum, for articulation of a High School

curriculum with a university curriculum, for flexible use of university faculty resources without detracting from their core mission of teaching university students well. It will ultimately be a model that is a win-win for the school system and for NUS.

It does not preclude and, in fact, does not displace the continuing efforts by research institutions in Singapore under A*STAR, our other universities and NUS itself from continuing to engage with our secondary schools and JCs - giving talks, mentoring students, and so on and so forth. But this new school goes beyond that.

The NUS High School is part of a broader reorientation that is taking place in our school system to provide more diverse pathways to better meet the needs of students with exceptional talents and different talents. So we set up the Sports School because we have some students who are outstanding in sports and they need a different curriculum, different ways of organising the school, different time-tabling arrangements, even different ways of arranging their classes. Here, we have students who are very strong in Mathematics and Science who should not be constrained and should be given not just a bit more than the usual model of education. They should be given a different model of education, not the regular school curriculum - new framework, new orientation, teachers with a special passion for the subject. And the link between the university and the High School is, I think, a very promising one for both NUS and the NUS High School.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have confidence that with NUS providing its support in the area of Mathematics and Science teaching and learning to NUS High School, our students who are

talented in Mathematics and Science would soon have a school offering a highly stimulating and unique learning environment - one that is able to leverage on NUS' expertise and reputation and that is able to capitalise on the students' talents and passion. Singapore will gain from developing their talents to the fullest.

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 Tharman Shanmugaratnam].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.

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].

Order for Second Reading read.

5.12 pm

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

Sir, the Prime Minister announced during our recent National Day Rally a set of measures for a more supportive environment to have children and raise families in Singapore. The measures

included extending maternity leave from eight to 12 weeks, and two days of childcare leave for each parent. The amendments in this Bill will effect those measures.

The Bill also amends the Employment Act in two other areas. First, to allow companies to implement flexible work schemes to optimise their manpower resources and, second, to raise the minimum age of employment for children and young persons. I shall take the House through each of the amendments in turn.

Extending Maternity Leave

First, extending maternity leave. Two sets of regulation presently prescribe rights and benefits of maternity leave. Currently, employees covered by the Employment Act (EA), irrespective of nationality of the child or mother, are entitled to eight weeks of maternity leave for all births. Employers must pay for such leave taken for the first two children. Employees who are managers, executives and confidential staff are not covered under the EA.

For the third child only, there is a separate scheme under the Children Development Co-Savings Act since 2001 which provides for eight weeks of maternity leave for mothers of Singapore citizens for legitimate births.

To achieve a better environment for families, my Ministry set up a tripartite panel (National Tripartite Advisory Panel to Develop Family Friendly Workplaces) to formulate workable recommendations that were appropriate to Singapore's context. This included the length of maternity leave. We also garnered feedback from 11 focus groups, comprising employer and employee representatives from industries such as banking and finance, electronics manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, civic and community groups.

We paid particular attention to women's views. After extensive consultation and deliberation, the tripartite panel recommended four additional weeks, bringing the total to 12 weeks for maternity leave.

This panel also recommended that, subject to mutual agreement between employer and employee, there should be flexibility to take

the additional four weeks spread over the six months following the birth of the child. This would minimise the impact of continuous 12 weeks' absence of key employees, especially small and medium sized enterprises. It would also allow some employees, if they wanted to, to return to work after eight weeks on half-day or shorter work-week arrangements.

We have accepted these recommendations. Clause 7 of the Bill therefore extends maternity leave from eight weeks to 12 weeks. A new section 76(1)(c) provides for up to 24 days to be taken flexibly over the six months following the birth of the child, based on a maximum six-day work-week. For companies working less than a six-day work-week, the number of flexible days of leave can be adjusted to be consistent with four work-weeks.

Let me now turn to the issue of maternity pay. The Tripartite Panel assessed that our companies' cost competitiveness would be affected if they had to foot the wage bill for the additional leave. So, the Government will fund the additional four weeks for the first and second child and the full 12 weeks' leave for the third and fourth child for mothers of Singapore citizens. The Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports will shortly be presenting those amendments under the Children Development Co-Savings Act (CDCA). The CDCA will also be amended to provide for 12 weeks' leave and pay to cover the first to fourth births of all

qualifying mothers, irrespective of position. Managers, executives and confidential staff will consequently have expanded rights to paid maternity leave.

We have also taken the opportunity to address the situation faced by mothers with multiple births. Under current laws, these mothers are not eligible to further employer-paid maternity leave after the first birth, since they would already have two or more living children. Clause 7 of the Bill provides that these mothers will, in future, be entitled to employer-paid maternity leave for the second confinement.