Hansard, 2005-03-04

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 (2005) To (2005) Mr Tan Soo Khoon 07 Mar 09 Mar Dr Tan Sze Wee 11 Mar 13 Mar Encik Yatiman Yusof 11 Mar 14 Mar Dr Ng Eng Hen 12 Mar 13 Mar Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat 13 Mar 18 Mar 01 Apr 03 Apr Mdm Halimah Yacob 14 Mar 24 Mar Dr Ahmad Mohd Magad 07 Apr 13 Apr

ABDULLAH TARMUGI Speaker Parliament of Singapore

"to amend the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore Act (Chapter 138A of the 1993 Revised Edition)",

recommendation of President signified; presented by the Acting Second Minister for Finance (Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat); read the

First time; to be read a Second time on the next avaible sitting of Parliament, and to be printed.

Resolved,

That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, the Second Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure for FY 2004/2005 (Paper Cmd. 4 of 2005) and the Expenditure Estimates for FY 2005/2006 (Paper Cmd. 2 of 2005) be taken today. - [Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat].

Resolved,

That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, the second and third readings of the Supply Bill for FY 2005/2006 and the Supplementary Supply (FY 2004) Bill for FY 2004/2005 may be proceeded with immediately after the conclusion of the proceedings on the Main and Development Estimates for FY 2005/2006. - [Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat].

Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [Allotted Day].

Second Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2004 to 31st March 2005, contained in Paper Cmd. 4 of 2005.

No notice of amendment has been received.

Question, "That the sum stated for the Head of Expenditure as shown in page 2 of Paper Cmd. 4 of 2005 stand part of the Second Supplementary Main Estimates", put and agreed to.

Question, "That the sum of $500,000,000 shall be supplied to the Government under the Head of Expenditure for the Public Service shown in the Second Supplementary Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2004 to 31st March 2005 contained in Paper Cmd. 4 of 2005", put and agreed to.

Resolution to be reported.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to report that the Committee of Supply have come to a certain resolution.

Question, "That the sum of $500,000,000 shall be supplied to the Government under the Head of Expenditure for the Public Service shown in the Second Supplementary Main Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year 1st April 2004 to 31st March 2005 contained in Paper Cmd. 4 of 2005", put and agreed to.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That Parliament doth agree with the Committee on the said resolution."

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolution accordingly agreed to.

Order read for consideration in Committee of Supply [3rd Allotted Day].

Head N - Ministry of Foreign Affairs -

Head N - Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Ravindran.

Sir, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head N of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

Regional Outlook

Sir, the Asian region is full of optimism and great hope due to the economic growth being back on track and the regional giants China and India showing good economic growth.

China and India. With the rise of China and India in the region, both will flex their muscles and be respected as emerging global powers. China, with its growing economic and military capabilities, will be a big factor in regional calculations. One view is that China will seek to avoid conflict in the region and focus on economic growth and internal stability. The other view is that a strong China will seek to adjust regional power arrangements to its advantage, risk conflict with neighbours and some external powers in the region.

On the other hand, India will seek to expand its economic and military might too and seek greater engagement with ASEAN and the region. China and India will seek, in their own way, a greater involvement in regional matters and will want to be acknowledged as emerging powers. Both countries are keen to secure economic and natural resources in the world, and rivalry with each other and other powers to secure these natural resources will pose a challenge in the region.

The question arises then: how does Singapore, as a country and as part of

North East Asia. Sir, the triangular relationship between the US, China and Japan will underpin the security and geo-strategic framework in North East Asia. But with relations between Japan and China not being at their best, Japan proposing to amend its constitution to give them the mandate for the self defence forces to be deployed overseas, North Korea blowing hot and cold over its nuclear policy, and the Taiwan issue surfacing intermittently, North East Asia will certainly remain an area for potential big power confrontation. I would like to ask the Minister for his assessment of the state of affairs in North East Asia.

Next, on ASEAN. While I am glad to see the group moving ahead with good steam, I would like the Minister to give an update on the state of ASEAN, the progress of the ARF and new initiatives to engage the various regional and global powers in the dialogue.

I am happy that Singapore is engaging as part of ASEAN the different regions through APEC, ASEM and, very recently, through the Asia

Next, on Middle East. I am glad that Singapore has taken a keen interest in the Middle East and the Arab world, with SM Goh Chok Tong playing a leading role in opening up a new frontier in our relations there. I certainly look forward to Singapore strengthening our relations with many Middle Eastern countries who share similar visions and look forward to closer links. I would like to ask the Minister for an update on the new initiatives we will be embarking to develop closer relations with the Middle Eastern countries.

Sir, we are playing a pivotal role in ensuring that South East Asia continues to be a place of peace and prosperity. Our leaders are working very hard to ensure that Singapore's interest is respected, our views are given careful consideration in many capitals, and our geo-political strategic outlook taken into account when policies are drawn up. We are respected as an independent and sovereign country. We are, most importantly, seen as being just and fair in our dealings on international matters and in international organisations. This is due to good leadership in the past and present, and also having a team of good diplomats who understand and defend Singapore's vital interest at all times. I would like to take this opportunity to compliment the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our diplomats for keeping the Singapore flag and our reputation flying high in the international arena at all times.

ASEAN, go about engaging the two countries in a manner that fits their growing power and desire to be recognised as global powers, if not regional powers? How will it fit in with our overall policy of keeping all big powers engaged in a region to ensure our economic prosperity and a peaceful region? Middle East Dialogue (AMED) and the proposed East Asia Summit (EAS). I would like to ask the Minister for an update on these dialogues and the new initiatives we can expect to bring the regional blocs together. I would like to ask the Minister on what is Singapore's position on the participating countries to be invited for the East Asia Summit.

Strategic Review of Key Countries

Sir, Singapore's relations with Malaysia and Indonesia are very important with implications on the mood and development not only of the three countries but also of the South East Asian region. As a region, we are living in challenging times. On the security front, terrorism and piracy still pose a danger. On the economic front, the region is facing increasingly intense competition from low-cost countries such as China and India. Those

But some old thorny issues remain, and they can set back the good progress made if we are not careful. With Malaysia, the old issues are a legacy from the Mahathir era, and I am glad that Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi have met recently to discuss the steps to take the talks forward. But I note that now even Johore wants to have a public say in the negotiations, as Johore Mentri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman was quoted as saying, "The state wants to be heard on three key areas - reallowing Singapore military aircraft into Malaysian airspace, the water price review and the proposed bridge." Sir, I am not sure that this state-centric approach will help the two countries to resolve the outstanding issues with the larger regional cooperation in mind. Indeed, much of the focus of the Malaysian media and Johore politicians seem to centre around the issue of the bridge. Previously, it was a crooked bridge, but now the Malaysian proposal is for a straight one. While I do not see why the Causeway should be demolished for this, I would like to ask the Minister if

As for Indonesia, the issue of the extradition treaty, among other issues, is also an old one, but we seem to have moved forward on this. According to newspaper reports, PM Lee Hsien Loong was quoted as saying that Singapore would sign a treaty with Indonesia following his meeting with the Indonesian President. Sir, Indonesia has, for nearly a decade, sought an extradition treaty with Singapore, but we have been reluctant to do so. Certainly, concluding an extradition treaty will allow both sides to focus on more important and pressing issues. Can I ask the Minister why Singapore has decided to go ahead to work on this treaty now at this time after years of expressing reluctance to do so?

I would also like to ask the Minister's update on our relations with China, US and India which have also been evolving.

countries hit by the tsunami disaster, especially Indonesia, face the costly prospect of reconstruction. And politically, some countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, have just undergone political transition. But I would argue that we are in a better position today than we have been for a long time to forge a closer partnership with each other to build a stronger region. First, all three countries - Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia - have new leaders who are forward looking and who have emphasised their resolve to strengthen relations further. Second, all three leaders have been able to demonstrate through their actions that the specific disagreements between their individual countries and Singapore should not be allowed to define the broader relationship and over-shadow the many areas that we cooperate with each other.there is any merit at all to this idea of a straight bridge, and if it can bring any benefit to Singapore as well, and the cost, taking into account the long-term view and the larger picture of regional cooperation. Sir, we will stand firm on fundamentals but we must be broad-minded enough to accommodate Malaysia's interests where our own national interests are not diminished.

ASEAN

Sir, the reputation of ASEAN as a credible and effective regional body is a challenge that has confronted the organisation for many years and has been discussed in this House quite often. ASEAN meetings are unfortunately viewed, whether rightly or wrongly, often by outsiders as talk shops where officials hand out statements, speeches, declarations, joint communiques and memorandums of understanding, and little of substance is achieved. One has difficulty, in fact, keeping track of the scores of documents that are churned out at ASEAN Summits.

At ASEAN meetings, the underlying principle is that ASEAN must resolve problems and face challenges in the spirit of solidarity, cooperation and consensus building. These are nice words and the language that flows out at such meetings is inevitably couched in diplomatic language that sometimes tells you little.

A case in point is the issue of terrorism. It is a regional security issue that threatens all ASEAN countries. Yet, information and action from countries where the source of terrorism originates is difficult and slow to come by. Another case in point, hampered by the policy of non-interference in other member's affairs, Thailand's problems with Muslim insurgents in its south cannot be discussed at ASEAN level, although it is an issue that threatens to blow up and affect our member states.

12.15 pm

At each annual ASEAN summit, there is grandiose talk

of creating a common market and implementing a Free Trade Area. So many deadlines have been announced in the past - in fact, so many ideas and deadlines have been announced that I myself am confused whether, at times, ASEAN is talking about a FTA or a common market, or do they mean the same thing - the latest I hear is the creation of an ASEAN Economic, Social and Security Communities by 2020, but I thought that ASEAN first talked about a free trade area in 1976, and now after 29 years we are told we have to wait a further 15 years to attain some kind of economic community. So you can understand my confusion. Perhaps the next 15 years will allow time for ASEAN to set even later deadlines.

Another case in point that underlines ASEAN's credibility is Myanmar's membership. Even with the continual arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi by the military regime, ASEAN continues to pretend that

Now, the credibility stakes for ASEAN will be raised further next year because that is when Myanmar takes over the chairmanship of the organisation. Other countries have called Myanmar all sorts of names, some are so crude that I would not even mention them in the House. But already a number of ASEAN dialogue partners have said that they will not attend ASEAN meetings next year, including the ASEAN Regional Forum in Yangon next year.

So where does that leave ASEAN in the eyes of the world? Can ASEAN afford to be led by a member state which has little respect from the rest of the free world?

I believe that Singapore as one of the founding members of ASEAN - and certainly one of its more respected ones - can do much more to shake up the organisation and restore its credibility. We have to work with like-minded members to jolt Myanmar into action.

In the 1990s, ASEAN applied pressure on Cambodia and pushed the leaders towards reform by accommodating the opposition before it allowed Cambodia to join ASEAN. Likewise, we can do the same with Myanmar.

Without these concrete steps, I am afraid ASEAN will continue to be viewed as a paper mill churning out piles and piles of documents that attract little attention not only from outsiders, but

all is well and praises the efforts of the regime to bring about a transition to democracy. Here we have a person whose party won elections in 1990, and for 15 years has been under house arrest; so you have to really take it with a pinch of salt when the leaders of ASEAN make statements saying that what is happening in Myanmar is actually making progress towards democracy and political reform. even from its own people. It is time for ASEAN to take concrete steps so that its legitimacy can be further enhanced.

Sir, I share Members' - Mr Ravindran and Mr Tan Soo Khoon - concern over the future growth and influence of ASEAN. An enlarged ASEAN is already facing a problem of integration economically and politically because of the differing developments of the member countries. Now, ASEAN, collectively, has also to contend with new poles of influence and development, namely, China, and possibly in future India too.

How would ASEAN strengthen relations among its members, bearing in mind all these two major challenges? And how would ASEAN members collectively strengthen its role vis-a-vis China and India in future? Would including China and India in its regional initiative speed up the decline of its importance in the region, including in East Asia?

ASEAN + 3

Mr Chairman, Sir, I share some of the views expressed just now by Mr Tan Soo Khoon on ASEAN's regional bloc issues. My concern here is, with the prospect of this new framework that has been discussed or raised - ASEAN + 3, including dialogues with China, Japan and Korea - how does the Ministry look at this new enlarged framework in the context of further and future development of ASEAN?

Obviously, the initial discussion on ASEAN + 3 has been on currencies, capital flows and investments in the region. But something could perhaps be developed out of this to enable ASEAN to move towards a new level. We have seen the development of EU and over the last decade, the tremendous development. Of

My view is, with all these talks and dialogues which have been going on in ASEAN for years, leading not necessarily to very visible goal-posts, should we spearhead or really review what could be done? What is the Ministry's thinking towards this future development, and whether in the development of things in the world, if we continue to talk and not walk the talk, would ASEAN run the risk of being irrelevant?

course, there are problems always with integration but, at least, attempts are made truly and honestly forward in integrating economies, bringing down tariffs, and allowing free flow of factors of production, and so on.

ASEAN and Myanmar

Sir, the removal of the Prime Minister of Myanmar, General Khin Nyunt, and a number of his closest associates in October and November last year, is seen as a setback for the process of national reconciliation within the country. There is no timeline for the roadmap to implement the promised changes and the proposed National Convention appears not to include the key partners to ensure a lasting solution.

The SPDC seems to be going nowhere and has failed to keep its commitment to its own population and to the international community.

Many members of ASEAN have expressed disillusionment over the developments in Myanmar. If I may quote the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, Mr Syed Hamid Albar - he was quoted as saying in 2004:

"If Myanmar does not address the problem, then not only Myanmar is going to be affected but the credibility and integrity of ASEAN as a whole is going to be affected."

In 2003, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Mr Hassan Wirajuda, stated:

"Burma is a dilemma for ASEAN, which must be tackled now."

Sir, Myanmar, if nothing changes, will become the Chairman of ASEAN in 2006. It will mean hosting of the summit of ASEAN leaders there. As it is, Myanmar has been a thorn in ASEAN's relations with the EU and the US. ASEAN's reputation has been tarnished by Myanmar's continued membership.

Sir, I am a member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus for Democracy on Myanmar which is seeking to bring about democratic change in Myanmar. My colleague, Mr Charles Chong, is also on the caucus. So I would like to ask the Minister for his view on Myanmar becoming the Chairman of ASEAN in 2006 and whether there is any proposal being considered to bypass Myanmar as Chairman. If not, how is ASEAN preparing itself to handle the international fallout by allowing Myanmar to become the Chairman of ASEAN in 2006?

Relations with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand

Mr Chairman, Sir, it is important for any country to maintain close and cordial relations with its neighbours, but without compromising on its sovereign rights and interests. Therefore, I would like to discuss our relations with our three closest neighbours, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Senior Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong has recently met with Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. We read from the newspaper reports that they had a very good and fruitful meeting. However, no details were released on the progress of their discussions on bilateral issues. In particular, I believe Singaporeans are interested to know whether we have made progress on the water agreement discussions. Singaporeans are relieved to

On Indonesia, the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Singapore recently. He was thankful for the fast response and great help given by Singapore during the recent tsunami disaster. He has called our Prime Minister "his good friend". President Yudhoyono signed an Investment Guarantee Agreement (IGA) with Singapore and has urged Singapore businessmen to invest in Indonesia. Both sides agreed to work on an extradition treaty. I share Ms Irene Ng's queries on the purpose of this treaty.

Sir, Indonesia is a close neighbour with a population of 238 million people. It represents a huge market which Singapore can do business with. Therefore, it is encouraging to read about the positive attitude of the current Indonesian President towards Singapore. This is a sharp contrast to his predecessors, one of whom called Singapore "the Little Red Dot".

As for Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has performed well in his country's recent general elections. However, he is facing some difficulties in dealing with the Muslim fundamentalists in South Thailand. Thailand is another potential business partner with a huge population of 65 million people. Premier Thaksin is now one of the most senior

Mr Chairman, Sir, we know that politics by its nature is always in a state of flux. I would like to hear from the Foreign Affairs Minister what he sees as the near and medium term developments that will affect Singapore's relations and interests vis-a-vis our three closest neighbours, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

hear from our leaders that we have sufficient water and would not need to renew the 2011 Water Agreement with Malaysia; and by 2061, Singapore would have developed more water resources. The other issue of public interest is Malaysia's proposal to build the so-called "crooked bridge" to replace the present bridge, and now it is going to be a straight bridge but still a new bridge. All Singaporeans feel that the existing causeway is serving us perfectly, so why the need to spend about $1 billion to build either a crooked or a straight bridge? leaders in ASEAN. Whether he would succeed in solving the problems in southern Thailand as well as our relations with our neighbours, like Malaysia and Indonesia, will have a bearing on the geopolitics and progress of ASEAN as an economic and political bloc.

Singapore-Indonesia-Malaysia Relations

Sir, our relations with our two closest neighbours are of great significance to us. The feeling among regional observers is that ties are now warm and will only get better. With new leaders at the helm of the three countries, there is a sense that there is good personal chemistry between our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister Badawi and President Bambang Yudhoyono.

We have shown that we are true friends of Indonesia in the overwhelming manner the Government and the people responded to the tsunami victims in Aceh. I was very impressed by the very large Singapore turnout for the business dialogue and the lecture delivered by President Bambang recently. It shows that the business community shares the optimism in the relations between the two countries.

The new Indonesian government is focusing on economic growth to generate jobs and ensure stability for the country. I am happy to note that we have concluded the Investment Guarantee Agreement with Indonesia and that we are in discussion with the Indonesian government on some of the bilateral issues, such

Sir, our relations with the Badawi government look warm and there is a sense of optimism that many of the bilateral issues with Malaysia will be resolved. The many commercial deals between the companies in the two countries signal that there is good support for this process from the relevant quarters. The numerous visits by Ministers and civil servants from both ends augur well for even better relations. I would like to ask the Minister for an update on the state of relations on the bilateral talks on unresolved issues and his assessment on new areas of cooperation between the two countries.

as the extradition treaty and on delineating the borderlines between the two countries. I would like to ask the Minister to give us an update on the state of relations between the two countries and whether there has been any progress on other outstanding bilateral issues. In particular, I would like to ask the Minister how Singapore is working with Indonesia in helping in the economic priority areas outlined by the new Indonesian government.

Your time is up, Mr Ravindran. Mr Hawazi.

Sir, like Mr Ravindran and Mr Leong Horn Kee, I would like to have an update on bilateral relations with Malaysia and Indonesia. I believe our relations with these countries - our closest neighbours - are the most important to us. Recent developments have given much hope for even improved relations with both countries. New leadership in all the three countries has shown resolve to improve bilateral relations. But, we all know, bilateral issues remain unresolved.

Beyond the pleasant atmospherics, what is the prospect for the resolution of bilateral issues with Indonesia and Malaysia, particularly on the issue of

12.30 pm

future water supply from Malaysia? What new initiatives beyond current bilateral issues and relations that can be pursued with both Indonesia and Malaysia that can help us strengthen our relations with them even further?

Dr Ong Chit Chung, you have two cuts.

Take them together. 6 minutes.

Singapore-Malaysia Relationship

Sir, Singapore-Malaysia ties constitute a very important component of our foreign relations and our relationship with Malaysia has taken a positive turn after the assumption of leadership by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Water, Sir, is no more an intractable problem or issue as far as we are concerned. We can move ahead on this. The reclamation issue at the Straits is largely settled. The Pedra Branca issue is brought to the International Court of Justice. However, there is still a host of issues to be negotiated, for example, CPF payments to Malaysians, the use of Malaysian air space by the Singapore Air Force, the Malayan railway land and the bridge at the Causeway.

I would like to ask the Minister how these issues are to be tackled and what is the timeframe he has in mind. Will they be negotiated item by item or will they be negotiated as a package? Is the Minister hopeful that these issues will be concluded amicably and in good time? What is the outcome of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's recent second meeting with Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi?

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said that there are some low-lying fruits which are easy to reach and should be picked first. May I ask the Minister what, in his

A veteran Johor politician, Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad, has recently suggested that the Malaysian proposal for the crooked bridge, which was Dr Mahathir's initiative, be dropped. But he was immediately attacked by his fellow politicians. In my view, Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad's position is logical and very sensible, and very much what anyone with some common sense would support. Even the opposition PAS commented that the bridge was a wasteful project and was not necessary at all.

I would like to ask whether the Minister agrees with Datuk Shahrir and lends his important support to such a sensible move.

May I carry on, Sir?

view, are these low-lying fruits, and on whose trees are these low-lying fruits? And who are going to pick them first? Are they ripe for the picking?

Yes.

Singapore-PRC Relationship

Thank you. Sir, Singapore has firmly, consistently and clearly supported the one-China policy. Singapore was amongst the first to make it a policy to recognise Beijing as the rightful and only authority for "one China".

Come what may, Singapore has not shifted from this position. We have never been swayed by Taipei or the pro-Taipei lobbyist groups throughout the world. We were therefore perplexed by the storm created over an unofficial private visit by our then Deputy Prime Minister to Taiwan.

Sir, both Singapore and China have much to gain through close economic cooperation and investments and mutual understanding and respect. We are a small country compared to the PRC,

I read recently that the PRC Ambassador to Singapore commented that the Singapore-PRC relationship is back to normal. I hope that the relationship is not only back to normal, but will grow and deepen over time. Singapore can invest further in the PRC, leveraging on the PRC's resources, manpower and markets, and thereby help to create more jobs in the PRC, while PRC can send thousands upon thousands of their tourists to Singapore, which I am sure we would all welcome.

I wish to ask the Minister on his reading of Singapore-PRC relationship, how we can manage this relationship and move forward. Are there any concrete or practical plans to deepen the relationship between Singapore and PRC?

which is a rising economic power. But countries, big and small, should always respect each other's sovereignty and interests. I am therefore glad that the storm has subsided and calm has prevailed.

Sir, as a small sovereign country, Singapore has adopted the correct foreign policy to make friends with as many countries as possible and develop win-win relationships. This policy of strengthening bilateral relations with countries, especially the growing economies, like China and India, will become more crucial as globalisation brings countries closer. Although Singapore always tries to develop bilateral relations based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, we do encounter occasional hiccups in bilateral relations due to changing circumstances, such as change in political leadership and domestic situations in various countries.

Sir, the recent private visit by Mr Lee Hsien Loong to Taiwan is an example of how bilateral relations could be affected due to changing circumstances in other countries. Despite Singapore maintaining

Sir, I would like to suggest a simple strategy which we can adopt in strengthening bilateral relations with other countries. That is to practise what a Chinese phrase states: duo cheng zan, shao pi ping. What it means is "More compliments and less criticisms". Sir, compliments will normally help to strengthen ties, while criticisms tend to strain relationships. If all Singaporeans adopt this simple philosophy, I believe we can avert many awkward situations where political leaders or people of other countries have to defend their political or national positions at the expense of bilateral positions.

Sir, I wish to make the following suggestions on strengthening our bilateral ties with China. First, we should encourage more interactions between Singapore and China at all levels - political leaders, Government officials, business community and people. Networking at all levels will help strengthen friendships among our people and thus deepening bilateral ties. We can provide more scholarships for students and teacher exchanges. Second, we must facilitate more business partnerships among businessmen of the two countries to conduct businesses both in Singapore and China. Third, we can tap on the network of our Chinese clan associations in Singapore to further develop ties with community-based organisations in China. This will further promote understanding of

Sir, although it is difficult to measure and quantify the strength of bilateral relations, I would urge the Government to establish some indicators where we can measure the progress of our efforts in foreign relations. These could be in the form of a number of people involved in various exchange programmes, number of visitors, surveys on mutual understanding of peoples of different countries or the value of business partnerships or projects.

Sir, I wish to seek the following clarifications from the Ministry: (1) What is the status of bilateral relations between Singapore and China? (2) What initiatives are taken by the Government to further strengthen bilateral relations? (3) Are there plans to further improve people-to-people relations of both countries?

a consistent one-China policy, the visit had caused some uneasiness in China. Sir, sometimes our actions and viewpoints are not clearly understood, or deliberately being misunderstood by others, thus causing strains in bilateral relations. In a volatile world, we must always be careful and sensitive in maintaining and further strengthening our bilateral relations with other countries. We must also put in more efforts to better understand and respect the national interests of other countries.both our cultures and values. Fourth, more dialogues or exchange of views or experiences can be conducted through the Internet, such as online social network or e-forum to connect the people of the two countries.

Singapore-PRC-Taiwan Relations

Sir, this issue of our relations with PRC and Taiwan is rather sensitive. It is important that the matter be understood properly.

China is an important trading partner, not just for Singapore but to the rest of the world. Its economy is growing at a very fast pace. I understand that the greater China, including Hong Kong and Macau, is already Singapore's largest trading partner, overtaking the USA. Some analysts have projected that, by 2025, that means, 20 years' time, China will become the world's largest economy, surpassing the USA.

Singapore has always maintained cordial relations with both PRC and Taiwan. However, last year, we encountered some relations problems with

While we wish to maintain cordial relations with PRC because of its economic potential, we also have to preserve our sovereign rights to deal with other countries and entities. For example, we have on-going relations with Taiwan. I am curious to note that Taiwan President Chen Shuibian was reported to have said that he agreed to cooperate with the Taiwanese Opposition leader James Soong to work towards better cross-straits relations with China. Actually, both China and Taiwan have huge stakes in peace across the straits. It was reported that Taiwan invests about US$3 billion each year in mainland China. And China is now the biggest purchaser of Taiwanese goods. About 500,000 Taiwanese live in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta.

Given the recent events and developments with respect to China and Taiwan, I would like to hear from the Minister an

PRC when PM Lee Hsien Loong visited Taiwan on a private trip. Last month, in February, it was reported that China has said it wanted to move forward its relations with Singapore and welcome PM Lee Hsien Loong to visit China frequently. This call was made by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao after a meeting with our Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr George Yeo, when he visited China. It was also mentioned that China is interested to have a bilateral free trade agreement with Singapore under the framework of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement. These are encouraging developments. In fact, as said by Dr Ong Chit Chung, the Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, Mr Zhang Yun, was reported to have said that, recently, China's relations with Singapore has completely returned to normal. It said here, "Zhang Yun da shi: xin zhong guan xi wan quan hui fu zheng chang" - Singapore-China relations completely back to normal.update on our relations between ourselves and China and Taiwan.

Peace Prospect in the Middle East

Sir, I would like to commend the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for continuously looking for new ways and new areas of cooperation with the world. In the process, we safeguard our interests and we enlarge our role. Our move to strengthen relations with the Middle East, both at bilateral and regional level, is a case in point. Senior Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong has had a number of successful visits to Middle Eastern countries in the past one year. Singapore and, of course, the regions, both Asia and Middle East, can benefit from this improved political and economic relationship. But much of it depends on whether peace prevails in the Middle East. There has been some prospect. Apparently, to me, Israel and the Palestinian authority have renewed negotiations for peace. The Gulf states are developing at ferverish rate. But there are of course a few questions over Iraq and the possible US attack on Iran. I would like the Minister to give his assessment on the prospect for peace in the Middle East and how we can benefit from possible peace in the region.

Sir, let me thank Members for their thoughtful and helpful comments about our foreign policy. Let me first reply to Mr Ravindran and Ms Irene Ng on changes in the strategic landscape, the impact on Singapore and our response to these changes.

The last 15 years have seen a steady dissolution of the old Cold World War Order. Gradually emerging in its place is a new configuration, the full shape of which is still not very clear. Globalisation has thrown up new challenges and opportunities for all countries. Global terrorism, particularly Jihadist terrorism, is a dangerous counter current which we have to confront together with other countries.

Exciting changes are taking place in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America. Without wanting to sound too optimistic, the regional and global landscape is looking brighter with reasonably stable relations among the major powers, the slight easing of tension in cross-straits relations, an improvement in Indo-Pakistan relations and some positive developments in the Middle East.

Asia is, on the whole, doing well. The economies of East Asia have largely recovered from the Asian financial crisis. Despite SARS and the recent tsunami, our economy has shown remarkable resilience. We are becoming more integrated. The rise of China and India is the big story, as many Members have pointed out, in fact, probably the biggest ever in human history. Already, China has overtaken the US as the largest export market for an increasing number of Asian economies. China has just become Japan's largest trading partner.

But the rise of China and India will also bring about a shift in the global and regional balance of power and create new tensions. We need new institutional arrangements in the world and in the region to accommodate the peaceful re-emergence of these two giants. For Singapore, we now have an unprecedented opportunity to increase significantly our international space. Singapore, as we know, was established by the East India Company from India for the China trade in the 19th century.

There is a new East-West trade flowing, indeed, a much larger one, for which we are well positioned geographically and culturally. Step by step, we are recovering all the links which created modern Singapore - our links to Southeast Asia, China, India, indeed, the entire subcontinent and the Middle East. If we continue to make the right moves in the public and private sectors, our international, political, economic and cultural space will be greatly expanded in the coming years.

12.45 pm

The key elements in our foreign policy must be:

Working with our neighbours to integrate ASEAN. And ASEAN, for all its imperfections, remains, as pointed out by Mr Tan Soo Khoon and others, very important to us;

Strengthening our links to the advanced economies of the US, Japan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. We do not talk about them very much at this COS, but they remain very important to us;

Building new links to Northeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and South America;

And also supporting better global governance through the UN and the WTO.

Let me touch briefly on each of these elements.

ASEAN

ASEAN is a "paper machine", as Mr Tan pointed out. Sometimes, it is understandable that we should be impatient with its elliptical processes, that we seem to spend a lot of time talking, backtracking and then moving forward again, not always moving in a straight upward course. But if we take a step back and look at ASEAN in its historical development, it has been very good for all of Southeast Asia. When President Soekarno was leading Indonesia, ASEAN was not possible because he had a certain view of the Nusantara in the region. Under President Soeharto, Indonesia promoted regionalism, and so ASEAN was born. ASEAN was only possible because Indonesia, the largest country, showed restraint, accommodating countries big and small. So, Brunei when it became independent, immediately was asked to join ASEAN.

During the Cold War, when Vietnamese divisions crossed the Mekong and threatened us, ASEAN was galvanised to action at the UN and other international forums and helped maintain the peace which enabled us to develop economically for many years. Then, when the Indo-China war ended, to our initial surprise, one of the first things that Vietnam did was to ask to apply to join ASEAN. And even though it is by no means a perfect organisation, relations within the region have been kept soft. We do not have armies massing along borders.

If you compare ASEAN as a regional grouping with similar groupings in South America or other parts of the world, we are probably the most successful grouping among developing countries. And when we are suddenly seized by big issues like SARS or the tsunami, the instinct to coalesce is now deep in us.

So while I agree with Mr Tan that we should push harder and bring forward our deadlines, I would not discount or under-rate the importance of ASEAN to all of us in Southeast Asia. If we look ahead to the future, as we see the re-emergence of China and India presenting us with new challenges, we see ASEAN as becoming even more important in the future. When the leaders met in Bali, they issued the Second Bali Concord. Yes, there were high-minded expressions of our desire to form the ASEAN Economic Community, ASEAN Security Community and an ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. But even though these are broad statements, there will be follow-up. Bit by bit, our lines of communication will interconnect, our standards will be harmonised, our tariffs are coming down, and a habit of consultation will define the way we interact with one another in Southeast Asia. That habit is very important. During the Asian financial crisis, when Indonesia went through a very trying period and many of us worried about

Therefore, Sir, a strong integrated ASEAN is at the heart of our overall strategy in our foreign policy. Without such an ASEAN, Singapore would find it much more difficult to take advantage of the new opportunities in the world. Worse, a weak ASEAN means that Southeast Asia would be balkanised, and new security problems would appear. For this reason, Singapore is a tireless supporter of ASEAN's political, economic and social integration.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon asked what is the difference between the Free Trade Area and the Economic Community. The Free Trade Area expresses a common desire to bring tariffs down. Tariffs are coming down all over the world anyway. But the Economic Community takes us a step further into the areas which go beyond tariffs, to services, to the harmonisation of standards and increasingly, to the settlement of disputes in an institutional way. And although this was not noticed by many people, at Bali, the leaders made an important decision: for the first time, trade disputes would be referred to independent dispute settlement panels instead of being resolved by Ministers, because with Ministers, problems tend to be blurred and ambiguous decisions made. Little by little now, because disputes will go to these panels, the way agreements are drafted legally will become very important, and in the coming years, an ASEAN jurisprudence of resolving trade disputes will grow.

We are studying closely the early steps taken by the Europeans - the Coal and Steel Community, the Common Market, and the European Community. I don't think we will ever become like the European Union, but the coming steps of ASEAN may follow quite closely the early steps of the European Community.

Within ASEAN, as many hon. Members have pointed out, we need to build stronger relations with our immediate neighbours, in particular with Indonesia and Malaysia. And let me now touch on each in turn.

Indonesia

As Mr Ravindran and Mr Leong Horn Kee pointed out, President Yudhoyono's recent visit to Singapore was a great success. He gave a lecture and a business seminar and both were very well attended. Many guests had to be turned away. President Yudhoyono wants Singapore to be a major partner in Indonesia's economic development. Now, between MTI and Indonesia's Economic Ministries, many things are being cooked. President Yudhoyono thanked us for the assistance we rendered to Indonesia after the tsunami. On a number of strategic issues, like the East Asia Summit, we share common positions. We have stepped up bilateral cooperation across a wide field. Recently, Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam was in Indonesia to sign an agreement on cooperation between our education institutions - so start early, start with young people, so that we will know each other better.

However, there are a few bilateral issues which are complex and would take time to resolve. One such issue is the extradition treaty raised by Ms Irene Ng and Mr Leong Horn Kee. It is not an easy agreement to negotiate, which is why we avoided it for many years. Then about two years ago, PM Goh and President Megawati decided that it was time to begin working on the extradition treaty. And we are committed to concluding expeditiously an extradition treaty with Indonesia which is in line with the provisions of our domestic laws and beneficial to both sides. But the negotiations will have to define clearly the offences which are extraditable. And we want terrorism to be included. We must

We have also started technical discussions on boundary delimitation between the two countries. Both PM Lee and President Yudhoyono do not want existing bilateral issues to overshadow the overall positive relationship and hinder the progress of new initiatives which are mutually beneficial, such as air services and tourism cooperation. And as pointed out by some Members, the signing of the Investment Guarantee Agreement during President Yudhoyono's recent visit to Singapore sent a good signal to investors on future bilateral cooperation.

Malaysia

On our bilateral relations with Malaysia raised by Mr Ravindran, Mr Leong Horn Kee, Mr Hawazi Daipi and Dr Ong Chit Chung, in fact virtually by every MP, they have improved since Mr Abdullah Badawi took over as Prime Minister in October 2003. After a lapse of many years, we resumed the annual games between Singapore's MFA and Malaysia's Wisma Putra. I had to pick up my golf clubs again. Datuk Syed Hamid said, "Look, instead of the Singapore team versus the Malaysia team, we have combined teams." So I partnered him and he was a very good partner, giving me mulligans. He encouraged me to relax and so, I played better than I expected.

During PM Lee's introductory visit to Malaysia last October, the two leaders

Senior Minister Goh has met Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi twice since to discuss the outstanding bilateral issues. And the most recent meeting took place just a few days ago. They had a constructive discussion - I am choosing my words very carefully - and agreed on the steps to move discussions forward. Both sides also agreed not to publicise the details of the discussions at this juncture. I know many of you want my views on the "straight" bridge, the "crooked" bridge, the Causeway, water, airspace, the railway agreement, and so on. But I have nothing new to add. Prof. Jayakumar has briefed this House fulsomely in many previous sessions. Those considerations continue to apply. Our positions have been clearly and openly stated and well known to the House. But at the same time, there are discussions going on; it is best that we do not politicise them. As Ms Irene Ng said, it does not take very much for some of our friends across the Causeway to make all sorts of comments at the drop of a hat. They are not necessarily helpful to bilateral negotiations even though we may be very tempted to respond quickly to them. But, for the time being, since both sides are having good discussions, let us be a little patient and

whether ASEAN would remain viable, the meetings that we had programmed for kept us going together, and maintained a certain steady course of action. take care to ensure that an agreement meant to further bilateral relations will not end up causing serious misunderstanding later. Because once an extradition treaty is in place, the courts in each country may have to sit in judgment of the judges, prosecutors and police of the other country. So, rather than papering over our differences, in rushing to conclude an agreement, we had better be very careful about the details so that when the agreement is in place, it will enhance bilateral relations, not cause new problems for the future.agreed that Singapore and Malaysia should explore new areas of cooperation and look ahead rather than be held back by old problems. Yes, the old problems have got to be tackled but let us see them in perspective and let us not hold everything hostage to these old issues. That is a practical, constructive approach which will benefit both sides.

let this continue. In the end, the solutions must benefit both sides and not disadvantage either side. I fully agree with Syed Hamid that the recent talks went well.

1.00 pm

Our political and economic links with Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei and

As for the problem of Southern Thailand, that is a complex problem. I was very pleased to read a few days ago that Prime Minister Thaksin has appointed former PM Anand Panyarachun to chair a committee to study this problem in depth and to make recommendations to Bangkok.

On the Philippines, when PM Lee was in Manila, President Arroyo expressed a strong desire to boost economic ties between the two countries. And we were delighted when His Majesty, the Sultan of Brunei, accepted an Honorary Doctorate from NUS in January expressing the warm and easy relations between the two countries. Our relations with Vietnam have also become increasingly substantive. In recent years, Singapore has become a major investor in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Government would like to see better connectivity between our two economies.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon and Mr Chay Wai Chuen raised concerns about the danger of ASEAN becoming irrelevant in the face of new challenges in the world. What is our strategy in ASEAN? Our strategy in ASEAN is to make Southeast Asia the fulcrum for a new architecture of peace and cooperation in Asia. And it is a new Asia - from an Asia long colonised by imperial powers, each part reporting to the metropolitan power, the East Indies reporting to Holland, Singapore, Malaya to London and so on; to an Asia which became independent after the war, during

What are our strategies? We are 10 countries, very different from each other, disparate, but situated between the two great civilisational areas of East Asia and South Asia. Historically, we received influences from both. We threaten nobody and therefore we can be friends with everybody. Our strategy is to put ourselves at the centre, so that others who want to deal with each other come through us. Because the climate here is warm and balmy, and the culture is cosmopolitan, people can interact freely and in an informal way.

Take, for example, the relations among the three Northeast Asian countries of China, Korea and Japan - all Confucian societies, eyeing each other suspiciously, having relations which are tense and formal. There is no regular forum where their leaders meet, except when they come down to our summit meetings - ASEAN + 1, ASEAN + 3. In recent years, they have institutionalised the + 3 Breakfast Meeting on the side where the three leaders meet in our "house".

We have good relations with North America, the Sub-continent, Australia and New Zealand. That is what we must always try to have because the greater the number of major powers in our house, the more comfortable our lives will be, the greater will be the options available to each and every one of us.

Mr Hawazi Daipi spoke of the increasing economic competition from China and India and its impact on ASEAN. Will it weaken ASEAN or will it strengthen ASEAN? I believe it will strengthen ASEAN, because when we watch these two countries loom larger and larger, there is a certain worry that if we do not act, we would be at a serious and severe disadvantage.

If you look at ASEAN's history, it is always the external challenge which unites us. First, there was Soekarno in Indonesia, then the Cold War and the Indo-China War, then crises like SARS and the tsunami. And for the future, we must be able to carve out our own place in the sun. So I believe that the emergence of China and India will have a very good, positive effect on the ASEAN construction. Each of us by himself is too small to be treated on any basis of equality by the great powers. But united, we have got to be taken seriously.

In the end, the key is not what we said or the agreements we sign but our economic competitiveness. At the last ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, the ASEAN 6 agreed to advance their integration in 11 priority sectors from 2010 to 2007. But I agree with Mr Tan Soo Khoon that a lot more needs to be done. Strategically, we should be patient, but tactically we should be impatient. We must also help the newer member states to catch up. Singapore has been giving technical assistance to new ASEAN member states through the Initiative for ASEAN Integration.

Singapore has been playing an active role in strengthening ASEAN's links to all the major powers. All the FTAs that we negotiate with the major powers have this as a long-term objective. ASEAN's Dialogue Partnerships, the ASEAN + mechanisms and the ASEAN Regional Forum were all founded on this principle: to put ASEAN at the centre, to make it the "hub" so that from here, there are many "spokes" to the wider region and beyond.

Mr Chay asked how Singapore's interests are being served in an ASEAN + 3 framework. Well, by linking ASEAN to Northeast Asia, for example, we benefit from their economic development. If you look at their economic weights, they are much bigger than we are. In fact, the collective GDP of ASEAN is only one-tenth that of Northeast Asia. So we should latch on to others, Northeast Asia, Japan, US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand in order to maximise the opportunities available for our own companies and individuals.

But the key is to have a deep solidarity. Yes, from time to time there are problems. There are always bilateral problems between neighbours, just as we have issues with Malaysia and Indonesia. And Thailand has issues with Malaysia, Cambodia and Myanmar. And Vietnam has problems with others and so on. This is normal. This is part of state craft. So long as there is a deep sense of solidarity, and on major issues we stick together, then this construction of putting ASEAN as the hub in Asia can be achieved. And Singapore as a hub in ASEAN which is a hub in Asia, is the best possible world for us, which is why ASEAN's interests and our interests completely coincide.

The East Asia Summit (EAS), to be held in KL at the end of the year, presents another opportunity for ASEAN to be the hub. But, as pointed out by Mr Ravindran

Myanmar

Let me now, with a heavy heart, talk about Myanmar. I listened carefully to the points made by Mr Ravindran and Mr Tan Soo Khoon about Myanmar's chairmanship of ASEAN next year. We have a problem. Although we have not formally discussed this in ASEAN, I know that many of the Foreign Ministers in ASEAN worry about it. Syed Hamid and Pak Hassan Wirajuda have expressed their views openly; most of the others have not. Myanmar reconvened its National Convention on 17th February 2005. It is not yet clear what the way forward would be. And as Mr Tan Soo Khoon pointed out, Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention. We do not want to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries. We recognise that the domestic situation in Myanmar is complicated; there are many ethnic groups, there are insurgencies, there are private armies and, in the end, it is for the people of Myanmar themselves to decide on their own destiny. Unfortunately, the much-publicised Roadmap has no timeframe and therefore it is of limited utility and the good efforts of the UN to facilitate and

The reason why we are concerned is that what happens in Myanmar affects ASEAN as a whole and our relationship with our Dialogue Partners. Last year, ASEAN countries took a firm position with the EU that Myanmar could not be excluded from the Asia-Europe Meeting in Hanoi. We stood our ground and we succeeded. But subsequent developments in Yangon undermined our position. I hope that the ASEAN spirit of consultation and consensus will enable us to find a solution for next year. Unless the Myanmar authorities handle the situation carefully, ASEAN's credibility and cohesion would be jeopardised. The Foreign Ministers will be meeting in retreat next month in Cebu, Philippines, and I expect that they will be discussing this subject behind closed doors.

US, Japan, Europe, Australia and New Zealand

Mr Ravindran asked about our relations with the US and the EU. Our relations with the advanced countries are on the whole excellent. They remain the most important source of investment and knowledge for us. Our ties with the US are broad and deep, founded on common strategic interests and reflected in our extensive defence and economic cooperation. The FTA we concluded has raised our relationship to a new level. We work closely together in the war against terrorism. Our relations with Japan are also strong and multi-faceted.

Vietnam have also grown stronger. PM Lee had good meetings in his introductory visits to these four countries. Thailand shares our desire to "fast-forward" ASEAN. We were very honoured by the exceptional hospitality extended by the Thai King and the Thai government to President Nathan during his recent state visit to Thailand. And as Mr Leong Horn Kee pointed out, we have deep economic relations with Thailand.which big countries like China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia withdrew to rediscover themselves; and now after the Cold War, their re-entry on the world stage. It is a huge and magnificent re-entry. What we are seeing now in China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia - the old links all being restored - people moving up and down, rediscovering their own past and past connections. I have been watching when I was in MTI, the restoration of links between India and China, and how the trade ties have been shooting up exponentially. Even seemingly insoluble problems, like their border demarcation, are being seriously discussed now at the highest levels. So, in this new Asia, which is an opportunity and also a challenge that is being watched closely by Europe and America, we are trying to create a new architecture which best maximises the life chances for all of us in ASEAN. and Ms Irene Ng, this is only provided we conceive the EAS well. If the EAS has a membership no different from that of ASEAN + 3, then it will weaken ASEAN. Proposals to have the EAS discuss the big issues leaving ASEAN + 3 to discuss the small issues will weaken ASEAN further. It is also important that the EAS should not be seen by the US, India, Europe and others to be an exclusive East Asian closed grouping because if it is perceived to be such a grouping, it will create all kinds of unnecessary problems for us. For these various reasons, Singapore supports the inclusion of India, Australia and New Zealand in the EAS. Their inclusion will keep ASEAN at the centre and put it beyond doubt that we are externally-oriented and inclusive in our deep construction. advance the national reconciliation process in Myanmar have so far yielded very little.

Japan remains a key source of investment and technology for Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. Our relations with the EU will be enhanced by the EU-Singapore Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which is currently being negotiated. As the EU gives more attention to Asia, Singapore's importance to Europe will grow. Our links to Australia and New Zealand have deep roots in history. As they become more

1.15 pm

China

Let me move on to China, which interests many MPs today. Let me give a broad summary on the current situation. As Dr Ong Chit Chung and Mr Leong Horn Kee pointed out, the PRC Ambassador here said recently in a media interview that ties between Singapore and China have been fully normalised after the setback last year. I agree with Ambassador Zhang that our bilateral relations are back on track. We now have a better understanding of each other's core interests and this has laid a strong foundation for building an even stronger relationship in the future.

Dr Teo Ho Pin asked what initiatives are being taken by the Government to further strengthen bilateral ties with China. I had a good visit to China just before Chinese New Year. I had lunch with Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and called on Premier Wen Jiabao. I also called on my old colleague Minister Bo Xi Lai, who is now in the Commerce Ministry. Before that I visited Liaoning where I was pleased to meet Party Secretary Li Keqiang whom I used to know when he was the First Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Youth League. They were all warm and friendly.

A series of high-level exchanges are being planned for this year. We are looking forward to the visit of the Chairman of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo in May, and as you know Wu Bangguo ranks number two in the Standing Committee. PM Lee and other Singapore leaders will also be visiting China later this year. I have

When I called on Premier Wen in Beijing, he also asked for the acceleration of the negotiation for a bilateral FTA within the framework of the ASEAN-China FTA. So I think we will follow up. When I met Secretary Li Keqiang in Liaoning, he asked for Singapore's strategic participation in the development of Changxing Island near Dalian and Yingkou, as part of their overall effort to rejuvenate China's Northeast. They want us to repeat Suzhou in the Northeast. But I do not think we should just replicate an old model because industrial parks are no longer so unique or special, but we should think of other ways to be helpful and to work on projects of cooperation that would benefit both sides.

Singapore's links to China continue to grow strongly. Last year, bilateral trade reached S$53 billion, making Singapore China's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. Dr Teo also asked for people-to-people links and I think these should be expanded. Just this morning, I received a request from a Buddhist organisation to write a message because even among the monks there is more "lai lai, wang wang"

来来往往 (exchanges) and we should encourage all such similar contacts.

Mr Leong Horn Kee asked about our assessment of cross-straits relations. Although there are small signs of improvement, like the direct air links during the Chinese New Year period, the despatch of Vice Ministers from the Mainland to attend Koo Chen-foo's funeral

Mr Leong Horn Kee asked about our relations with Taiwan. Let me say that we have a one China policy and we have no official relations with Taiwan, but we have good relations with Taiwan.

India

Now let me turn to India, the other giant re-emerging, mentioned by Mr Ravindran and Ms Irene Ng. In the early 90s, when Prime Minister Narasimha Rao took India on a new course of development, we decided to position ourselves strategically for that new India, knowing full well that it is a process which will be long and winding. This morning I read the op-ed piece written by the Indian Finance Minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, whom I have known for many years. He had just given a budget which was very well received by the Bombay Stock Market in which he talked about how, despite a bad monsoon last year, India achieved a growth rate of close to 7% and how India is now set on a new path to economic growth into the future. He said India has paid the fixed cost of democracy and so in the early years had a low growth rate, between 3% and 4%, but now they are set on a much faster growth path.

Our links with India are excellent, almost a love affair. And regardless of the administration, it is likely that in a few months we will conclude the comprehensive economic cooperation, which is our FTA with India and that would put our bilateral relationship on a higher plane.

We are also actively involved in strengthening India's links to ASEAN. You know, our High Commissioner, See Chak Mun, when he was posted to New Delhi, I told him, "Chak Mun, you are going to have a busy time." He smiled. That used to be quite a sedate posting and a hardship posting. Today it is a different Delhi and when I met Ambassador See recently, he said, "Boy, there is a constant procession of visits of political and business leaders in both directions." And I thought that expressed in a graphic way the state of bilateral relations today.

Reaching out to new partners

With globalisation, opportunities once too remote are now open to us. Since the change in our policy towards the Middle East less than two years ago, our links to that part of the world have grown rapidly. As Mr Hawazi Daipi said, the Middle East is a significant opportunity for our businessmen. But it is a complex region and we need to build up our knowledge of it. There are still many things which we do not understand and the risks should not be underestimated. We have got to watch political and economic developments carefully. Led by the Gulf States, many countries in the Middle East are now experimenting with economic liberalisation and some are looking towards Asia. More than most Singaporeans realise, we are often held up as an economic model for them to follow. My old Harvard Business School Professor Richard Vietor told me last year that whenever he conducts courses in the Middle East, they would insist that the

Mr Hawazi Daipi asked for my assessment of peace prospects in the Middle East. Well, although the clouds have by no means dispersed, we are beginning to see some silver linings. The outcome of the elections in Iraq was better than expected. There was a good turnout in spite of terror attacks and brutal intimidation by the insurgents. Some Sunni groups, which had earlier boycotted the elections, are now thinking of joining the process to draw up a new constitution.

There is also progress in Palestine, in the Israel-Palestinian peace process. The recent summit in Sharm el-Sheikh between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen was an important step forward. A ceasefire is now in place, it is still very delicate and both sides have taken small steps to rebuild trust and confidence. But we could be sure that there are trouble makers who want to sabotage the peace process. These are early days, and many things could still go wrong.

On Iran's nuclear issue, Teheran has agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment activities temporarily while its talks with the UK, France and Germany continue. Well, we hope that the talks will be successful. Iran needs to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and restore international confidence. The recent report of a fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Khamenei against Iran developing nuclear weapons could be significant.

Farther away, developments in South America bear watching. China has recently established strategic partnerships with Brazil and Argentina, which will involve investments of billions of dollars in infrastructure. In the coming years, trade between South America and Asia will grow and we should position Singapore for some of that flow. The FTAs we are discussing with Chile and Peru should help us. Our shipyards have become major players in Brazil's offshore oil industry and much of the frozen chicken meat in our markets now comes from Brazil.

Global governance

As a small country, we have a strong interest in promoting good global governance based on clear rules and the equality of nations. The proper functioning of international organisations like the UN and the WTO is very important to us. For this reason, we support the reform of the UN and the early conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda. Now that UNESCO is much better run, we have decided to rejoin it, first as an observer and later, in two or three years' time, as a full member. I am happy to report that the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has recently decided to establish a regional facility in Singapore.

Seizing opportunities

In this new world, being small and being a city state is no longer such a great disadvantage. In fact, there are many advantages because we are spry and quick to exploit opportunities. We have a chance now to grow our links in all directions and enlarge our security and economic space. We do not know how long this period of history favourable to us will last. In the meantime, we should work hard and quickly to build new structures which keep the spaces open to our people. This is the reason why Singapore plays such an active role in

It is very important for our companies and for individual Singaporeans to follow up to exploit these new spaces. Foreign policy is a means, not an end in itself. Our job in the Foreign Ministry is to help create a framework and environment that enables our entrepreneurs to fan out, seize opportunities and take calculated risks. Some have already done so with success. I hope many more will follow.

and more a part of Asia, their links to Singapore become more valuable. Our economic interests in Australia are becoming quite substantial. President Nathan will be making a state visit to Australia next week. agreed with the Chinese that the second meeting of the Joint Council of Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) which is under the direct supervision of PM Wen and PM Lee will be held in Singapore in the second half of the year, and the JCBC has a full agenda covering many things. So all the points which Dr Teo and others have raised will be included.and the recent ten-point agreement between Chen Shui-bian and James Soong, which Mr Leong and Mr Ravindran referred to, the situation is still tense and delicate, and we should not underestimate how tense and delicate the situation is. The US said recently that it is opposed to China's enactment of an anti-secession law even before the actual legislation has come out. China protested the recent joint statement by the US and Japan on the Taiwan Straits. But in the end, the key to peaceful cross-straits relations is good US-China relations. We hope that all sides will exercise restraint in their actions so as to preserve the peace and stability across the straits which is so important to all of us in the region. Singapore case be included. There are many things that we have to do to advance our interests in the Middle East. SM Goh Chok Tong's visits to Iran, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have opened new doors for us. The Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) which SM Goh initiated, builds another bridge between the Middle East and our part of the world. regional and international organisations. Our FTAs and other bilateral and regional arrangements also help us to preserve these spaces and to open new ones.

Mr Chairman, I am glad that the Minister shares the same distress as Members of this House have over the situation in Myanmar. But I would like to ask him whether ASEAN or, more specifically, whether Singapore will advocate the position, within ASEAN, that unless Myanmar engages in very drastic political reforms, and immediately, and very specifically it means the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, then Myanmar should give up its chairmanship of ASEAN next year.

The second question I have for the Minister is, assuming nothing happens in Myanmar, what does he see as the prospects of the ASEAN Regional Forum next year since a number of countries have indicated that if no changes happen in Myanmar, they will not take part in the ARF.

I am in sympathy with Mr Tan Soo Khoon's view and impatience. But it is not the ASEAN way to put things in such a stark and confrontational manner. I am sure we will have meetings behind closed doors. Our words will be suitably lubricated with courtesies and acknowledgements of respect. But, I think in the end, I agree with Mr Tan that some hard messages have got to be put across because ASEAN and the ARF are being affected by what is

happening in Myanmar. If these are just domestic political problems, with no impact on the world outside, then it is for the Myanmar people to resolve them themselves. But there is an impact on us.

1.30 pm

Sir, a point of clarification. Apart from the issue of political democracy, a long-standing concern about Myanmar is forced labour. I would like to ask the Minister what influence do we have to try and transmit the message that forced labour is not desirable in Myanmar, and what role can we play in that respect, as we are an important member of the ASEAN community. There is international concern about the use of forced labour in Myanmar.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I think this is an issue best taken up through international organisations, like the ILO.

Sir, the Minister said that I mentioned about two countries - Taiwan and the PRC - but it is not intended. I looked through my written speech but I never said that. But if I had said that in some off-the-cuff remarks, then I take it back, and it is not intended to mention Taiwan as a country. We have to be sensitive about this issue.

On the bilateral relations between Singapore and Malaysia, I am pleased to hear from the Minister that SM Goh and PM Badawi have made good progress. Perhaps he could tell us what is the next step. For example, do they have any forward plans when to meet again and the timeframe? Are we going to discuss again on a total package basis or on separate issue basis? I would also like to ask the Minister for an update on the Horsburgh Lighthouse issue. Is that part of the package for discussion? The last I heard was that the matter had gone for

international arbitration. Will the Minister be prepared to give us some update on the Horsburgh Lighthouse matter? I would like to hear from him. If not, I will file a question for oral answer.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I should be very disciplined in not answering Mr Leong Horn Kee's first question on details concerning bilateral talks. Some things are cooking and they are best done in the kitchen. Let us wait for the dishes to appear.

On Horsburgh Lighthouse, that has been taken up separately through the International Court of Justice. There are pleadings from both sides. There is a certain methodicity in the way the process is carried out. We are not likely to see a judgment on the case before the end of 2006.

Sir, can I ask the Minister for his assessment of the US commitment to be engaged in this region? There has been some concern that the US might be distracted by the Middle Eastern process and the issues in Iraq, as well as the issue in Northeast Asia, and less attention might be paid to South East Asia. From the Minister's interactions with the US officials under the new Bush Administration, can I ask for his assessment?

In my recent visit to Washington DC, I had meetings with Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Secretary of State Ambassador Bob Zoellick who was a USTR and an old friend, the new National Security Adviser, Steve Hadley, and the Deputy Secretary of Defence, Paul Wolfowitz, who is an old friend of Singapore.

At all the meetings, East Asia was discussed. I have no doubt that there is a lot of interest in our region. Yes, of course, President Bush went over to Europe, and was extra charming to the

Europeans, because he now operates from the position of much greater strength after the successful elections in Iraq. He has got to get the Europeans to come along so that the peace process in the Middle East can be accelerated. But it does not mean that they are not interested in our part of the world. If Members had watched the way the US reacted to the tsunami, it was heart warming. Without US leadership, I do not think the overall response would have been what it turned out to be. And they were the only ones who could, at short notice, provide resources and assets on such a comprehensive scale. When I was at the Department of Defence, I met the military general who coordinated all the operations in the Indian Ocean. I said to him, "Well done!"

United Nations and Other International Bodies

Sir, I thank the Minister for actually having answered many of the questions about ASEAN and the worth of our participation in international organisations which I was going to ask. Certainly, Sir, it was a very proud day for Singapore when our flag was flown at the United Nations for the first time. But it has been many years now and Singapore does spend money and subscriptions to the UN, contributions to the Commonwealth, APEC and many such organisations. While we have heard the exposition of how these organisations help us in this Chamber today, I think many in the community might still find it a little abstruse and wonder just how some of these organisations can help us. Is the Commonwealth, for example, still relevant to us? Does it actually help in our relations with, say, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, which are Commonwealth countries in the region? How much of a say do we have, as a small country, in these large fora?

Sir, the UN comprises a lot of other organisations within the larger whole, like WHO, UNHCR, UNICEF. The Minister has just spoken about UNESCO and Interpol. How do these organisations fit in and how do they help us maintain our space in this world? I am reminded of the way that, say, Taiwan always wants to go and join these international organisations. Obviously, they think it is very important. How does our membership in these organisations help Singapore? For example, how are we faring in terms of our interests in air traffic control, communications, our place in international law, global warming and air traffic growth? Will these areas benefit from our participation in these international organisations and regional groupings?

We also heard how the Singapore International Foundation, SAF, Red Cross and other Singapore-based charities gained valuable goodwill for Singapore during the recent tsunami crisis. Singapore has never stinted in helping others whenever possible, given our limited resources. We have also become much more aware of our neighbours as a result of these efforts. How does MFA plan to build upon this groundswell of popular interest and goodwill to bring about better relations between Singapore and our neighbours?

Sir, I just want to add on to the points brought up by Dr Warren Lee.

On these international organisations and UN agencies, I would like to find out how we are being regarded in terms of our performance. Obviously, we are always ready to help. We are always ready to have the Singapore International Foundation and people willing to contribute effort and so on. But how are we actually regarded and to what extent the Ministry see this kind of efforts by

Singaporeans valuable in our international diplomacy?

Overseas Property

Sir, the Ministry's development budget includes over $40 million in each of FY 03 to FY 05 to purchase overseas properties. I do understand the need to house embassies and consulates. However, we always have a choice of lease or purchase. Would the Ministry please, first, clarify how much real estate it has acquired in foreign countries, and how much it plans to acquire in the future; and, second, report the gains and losses accruing from all foreign real estate from the time of purchase until the present date in Singapore dollars?

Sir, first, allow me to thank the honourable Members for their interest in Singapore and MFA's work in the UN and International Organisations.

Singapore continues to play a key role in International Organisations such as the UN. We believe that the UN is an important component of the international system, upholding the rule of international law and safeguarding the rights of small and large states alike.

Singapore remains active in various international organisations and forums, such as in the UN, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO). In the case of ICAO, Singapore has been re-elected to the Council in 2004, and that is its highest decision making body. In telecommunications, the InfoComm Development Authority (IDA) represents Singapore at key meetings of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the principal international organi

Singapore also chairs the UN working group that is working on a treaty to harmonise laws relating to contracts entered into by electronic means. Such a treaty will promote international trade by removing uncertainty on the legal aspects of matters such as Internet sales.

On environmental issues, Singapore supports UN initiatives like the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which we are party to since 1997. Although Singapore has yet to accede to the Kyoto Protocol, we are committed to becoming more carbon efficient.

Mr Chay asked how the UN and other international organisations view Singapore's contribution in international affairs. In fact, whenever I go round visiting other countries and meeting foreign dignitaries, one thing that clearly comes out in conversation is that they always ask about Prof. Tommy Koh, and they are reminded about his contributions at the UN and also at the Law of the Sea Conference, and many other officers like Kishore Mahbubani and Prof. Jayakumar. They all have made their mark when it comes to serving at International Organisations. I believe that these International Organisations view our role positively. We do what we can within our resource constraints. Our guiding principle continues to be to focus efforts in areas where we believe we can make a meaningful contribution.

Our recent contribution to the tsunami-related humanitarian efforts is one good example. We were the first to arrive at the affected areas to provide immediate relief and to open up the transport routes before the bulk of international assistance arrived. We worked closely with the UN specialised agencies, and offered them the use of our

In fact, in a recent letter to the Prime Minister to thank Singapore for its contributions, the Secretary General wrote, and I quote:

"Your Government responded ... magnificently, and provided the critical support required to sustain the United Nation's effort on the ground, particularly in terms of logistics, civil-military liaison and coordination."

sation dealing with telecommunication issues. air and naval bases as well as military assets on the ground. Various UN officials, including the Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, and the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, have expressed appreciation for our efforts.

1.45 pm

Singapore's cooperation with the World Health Organisation is another example of our positive relations with key International Organisations. Our effective handling of the SARS crisis in year 2003 have been noted and praised by various WHO officials. Last year, MOH collaborated with the WHO to host an international seminar on the public management of communicable diseases. That Singapore was chosen as a partner and venue for the seminar speaks for itself.

Sir, we, as an open economy, are heavily dependent on international trade. Singapore strongly supports an open rules-based multilateral trading system under the WTO. Our FTAs complement and strengthen the multilateral trade liberalisation process and do not contradict the WTO regime since they are WTO-consistent and WTO-plus. We see a dense network of intra-regional and cross-regional FTAs as facilitating free trade both at the regional and global levels. It provides better immediate market access and, we believe, improves the dynamics at the WTO towards concluding the Doha

Our FTAs serve to expand our economic as well as political links. As a small country in Southeast Asia, our network of global FTAs helps put us on the world map. Our FTAs with the US, Japan, Korea, EFTA, Australia, NZ and Jordan are testimony to this fact. We want to ensure that Singapore is well plugged into the world of trade, finance, tax, transport and telecommunications. We will continue to forge these links, spanning the world. Our FTAs have created greater access to major and emerging markets for our companies. Companies anchored in Singapore can and should tap into this extensive network of global connections. This will reinforce our position as a strategic hub for business.

One of the major trends of this century, I think, as we all know, is regionalism. The Americas are coalescing with NAFTA and the FTAA as the core while Europe is engaged in an unprecedented experiment of pooling sovereignties. East Asia is also moving towards regionalism, although in a looser and less institutionalised form, as patterns of trade, investment, production decisions and a web of FTAs slowly but, inevitably, bring the region together.

The basic question we face is defining the nature of East Asian regionalism. We believe that it should be inclusive, forward-looking, adapting to and co-opting new developments in its midst, not least of which is India's rise. It is in Singapore's and ASEAN's interest to encourage deeper engagement of all the major powers. An outward-looking and open East Asian regionalism will help secure Singapore's economic as well as political future for the long-term.

On the question raised by Dr Warren Lee on how we can take advantage of goodwill following tsunami and inter-regional cooperation, I think Members are

As we begin to implement the reconstruction projects for Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Singapore will continue to work closely with these countries. I am confident that, through this close interaction, we will strengthen our warm relations with these countries and foster new opportunities for cooperation.

Sir, on the question of properties which we lease or buy overseas, we thank Prof. Ivan for that interest. We take various factors into account in our decision to lease or buy overseas properties. When good opportunities come by, we must be prepared to acquire such properties, particularly in countries where we have significant interests. For example, our Official Residence in London, which we at first rented from 1968, but was bought over recently at below valuation. Members may also like to know that this residence also happens to be the former residence of Earl Mountbatten. So it has also historical significance.

Generally, our preference is to lease when we set up a new overseas mission as time is needed to assess our long-term requirements. However, when our long-term requirements have been established,

The sale of overseas properties is governed by guidelines issued by, of course, MOF to ensure that the disposals do not constitute a draw on past Government reserves. The purchase of overseas properties is also governed by guidelines issued by MOF to ensure that purchases are at fair market value. There are also procedures to ensure that leases are contracted at fair market rent.

Finally, in the last five years, the total sale proceeds accruing from the sale of overseas properties was S$36.8 million, and it exceeded the total acquisition cost of S$12.5 million.

As we all know, diplomacy and foreign relations are more than just a matter of good bargains, good opportunities for better relations all round is our mission.

Round by injecting a greater sense of urgency into the negotiations. aware of the reply I gave on 18th February in Parliament to MP Mdm Halimah Yacob's question on assistance to Aceh. Work is in progress. We have spoken about the relief efforts of the SAF and non-Government organisations, such as the Red Cross Society (SRCS) - apart from Indonesia, the SRCS has also sent relief missions to other tsunami-affected areas. As these countries begin to enter into a reconstruction phase, the Red Cross Society now leads a committee comprising representatives from various NGOs to ensure that the funds collected from the public are properly disbursed for the reconstruction projects. Among the planned projects are the rebuilding of schools, clinics and hospitals.our preference is to own them, where local conditions permit, because it gives us greater flexibility. MFA currently owns a total of 135 properties in 23 countries. But remember we have relations with more than 160 countries all over the world. In addition, it leases 117 properties in these countries. Our development cashflow is in the region of S$40 million per annum between FY 03 and FY 05 and comprises about 35% for purchases and 65% for development and upgrading of existing properties. Currently, 19 of our embassies and consulates are housed in owned properties while the remaining 18 are housed in leased premises. In FY 05, MFA intends to acquire three properties to house two embassies and one consulate.

We have about 10 minutes. Any further clarifications? Yes, Dr Ong.

Sir, can I ask the Minister for clarification on the proposed Singapore-Indonesia extradition treaty? I want to ask the Minister whether he is aware that many Indonesian businessmen invest in Singapore, put their funds in

Singapore and buy properties in Singapore. Will this proposed extradition treaty frighten them off and they may be worried that wrong charges will be preferred against them and therefore they may hesitate to invest or come to Singapore with their funds? This will have a negative impact on our economy. Will he care to comment or clarify?

Let me assure Dr Ong Chit Chung that these fears are our concerns and we will make sure that, in the negotiations, these fears are fully taken into account.

Mr Ravindran, would you like to withdraw your amendment?

I would like to thank the Minister and Minister of State for their overview of the strategic outlook and for answering the specific questions on relations with specific countries. On that note, I would like to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

The sum of $287,841,660 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Main Estimates.

The sum of $46,000,000 for Head N ordered to stand part of the Development Estimates.

Head Q - Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. Mr Seng Han Thong.

Developing the Arts and Creative Community

Sir, I beg to move,

That the total sum to be allocated for Head Q of the Estimates be reduced by $100.

Sir, we all know that Singapore is a multi-cultural society. But how cultured our society and Singaporeans are exactly? If I may define being cultured at three different levels, I dare to say that our society has moved from level one to level two. And as a result of the consistent effort on the part of MICA and the people sector, we are now heading to the third level of being a cultured society and a cultured people.

Let me elaborate. Singaporeans like to eat good food. So when we enjoy good food from different cultures, like Italian, French, Egyptian, Japanese and Vietnamese, we learn many things about them, including their people and traditions. Thus, based on the many cuisines and restaurants of different cultures we can find in Singapore, we have already achieved the multi-culturalism at the first level. I call this the "input" level. Most Singaporeans are cultured at the first level. As long as you enjoy good food, you are cultured at the "input" level.

The second level of being cultured is at the "responsive" level. In the past years, we have seen an increasing number of visitors to our museums, book fairs, arts festivals and exhibitions like the bountiful sculptures of Botero, and the audiences to our concerts, operas, performances and musicals and we know that the Broadway classic "The Sound of Music" is coming to Singapore next month. Thus, Singaporeans and visitors are responding to the artistic talents and avenues found in or introduced to Singapore. I am glad that the vision, policies and strategies of MICA to promote the arts for everyone and arts at everywhere have borne fruits.

With the opening of the Esplanade in 2002, the new National Library this year and the launch of the Creative Town Initiative, I am confident that we are moving towards the third level of being

MICA is also developing the creative industry. I would like to know whether the creative industry would benefit the community and society at large. If so, how are these benefits transmitted to ordinary Singaporeans? Besides, what are the additional investments that the Government would be making to develop our cultural capital and to strengthen Singaporeans' interest and knowledge in our arts and cultural heritage?

cultured at the "proactive participation level", where Singaporeans play an active role in using their creativity and interests in the arts to contribute to the community and society as a whole. Thus, under Media 21 plans, I would like to ask the Minister on what the Government is doing to encourage, recognise and deploy the creative talents and energies of our people for community benefit and development under the Creative Town Initiative.

Arts and Culture

If Singapore wants to cultivate creative industries and promote arts and culture to a respectable level, the most critical task now is not just pouring money into infrastructure. What is needed is content which captures the Singapore spirit and the Singapore genius and an audience who can appreciate Singapore art and literature. I would like to ask the Minister what is MICA doing to help develop a museum-loving and theatre-going people among Singaporeans.

Recently, I was in Paris. I had three hours to spare before leaving for the airport. So I asked the average Parisian on the road, "What do you think I should do for the next three hours?" The immediate response was, "You should go to our museums. We have a nice collection of arts there." And they rattle off names of their French artists that are on display there. It is a natural instinct. I wondered to myself if I were to ask, as a visitor, the average Singaporean on the

Singapore streets, I think they would be shopping at Orchard Road, or food at Newton Circus. I think we should do more to encourage our Singaporeans to enjoy going to museums as a valuable leisure pursuit for the family, and to love the artworks by Singaporeans and the art works that they can catch at these museums. Can I ask the Ministry whether it is giving enough support to the National Heritage Board

in terms of funding to acquire regional art, including local art, and to stage world-class shows, especially shows that can travel well to promote Singapore art and Singapore artists? Sir, a museum cannot be a serious player in arts and culture if it does not have sufficient acquisition money. For example, the Singapore Art Museum would need about $3 million to buy the Tan Swie Hian Collection, but it could not do so because it has not the budget for it. But Tan Swie Hian is in fact one of our most celebrated artists. Indeed, in the July 21st issue of Time Magazine in the year 2003, it wrote:

"In Singapore, a country that has struggled to produce artists who excel in even one medium, it is starting to find someone like Tan who has thrived in so many different artforms and has achieved international acclaim for all."

I would add that it is even more startling to find that our own museum cannot have enough money to buy the artworks of these rare Singaporean artists.

2.00 pm

Sir, it is important for us to build up our own collection as part of our own national heritage and to enrich our cultural life. We also need to nurture our own Singapore writers. And for good writers, there needs to be an appreciation of the value of literature, not only at the ground level, but also at the policy-making level. It is not that we do not have the literary talents. We have teenage poets who have won world-wide awards in the UK,

and I believe one reason why the world knows so much about UK, Canadian, American and Australian literature is because their writers are promoted by their countries. One long-time Singaporean writer told me that he had often been invited to other countries to get to know the writers of these countries and to read the works of these other countries. And they also ---

Sorry, Ms Ng. Your time is up. Mr Zainudin.

Sir, I will start with a series of questions and I will elaborate why.

What is the Ministry doing to strengthen our heritage and capture our past history of the nation? How do we improve awareness and build a sense of belonging through our history and heritage in our young? What are the other areas of improvement being done to make our visual arts scene more interesting and exciting? What is being done to build our national resilience through heritage and culture? How can we use our historical memories and archives to strengthen a sense of our historical heritage?

Sir, we have already 40 years of independence. It is a long time, and a lot of historical happenings have taken place. Are we exploiting the new technologies to capture and use these to promote a sense of nationhood? What is MICA doing to make our visual arts to be more exciting? I am very happy to hear that there are some plans to use City Hall and Supreme Court as a visual arts museum. I think this is a very interesting development. I have seen some examples in other countries. For example, in Paris, there was a former train station that was converted into a museum which is of world-class standard. The Musee d'Orsay is now recognised as one of the most interesting places to visit in Paris.

Sir, some of Singapore's greatest assets, eg, our diverse culture, rich heritage and delicious food, are often taken for granted. Apart from sharing these wonderful attributes with eight million visitors who come to Singapore annually, we should encourage and strengthen our local appreciation of Singapore's culture, artistic and national heritage. What are the steps being taken by MICA to ensure that this is happening and Singaporeans are aware of this? How do we improve the level of awareness among the youths, of our past history and legacies, to build a sense of belonging and national pride?

Promoting Arts

Sir, whatever earlier doubts we have had when the Esplanade was constructed in meeting its intended objectives have disappeared. Sir, the Esplanade, and subsequently all the other arts venues, have done a wonderful job in promoting the arts in Singapore. We have had the good fortune to enjoy many globally popular performances, such as "Singing in the Rain", "Mamma Mia", world famous orchestras, as well as blockbuster exhibitions, such as "Ju Min" and "Botero" and so on.

Sir, however, I am a simple man. I wonder whether all these world-renowned performances and exhibitions can be appreciated by the population at large. What attempts, if any at all, were and would be made to enhance the connection with the average Singaporean? I am concerned that when the artistic venues, such as the Esplanade, bring in internationally-renowned performances, whether there are any audits done on assessing the effects on the larger community. I would also ask if the agencies that bring in such groups can plan an interaction and appreciation programme for the heartlanders. Such interaction could perhaps be worked

On the other hand, given that we have a rich cultural heritage, arts groups can play a constructive role in raising the awareness about cultural diversity in Singapore. For example, the Singapore Kairalee Kala Nilayam could perform for the Chinese High School, so that the SAP school students could learn about Malayalam art and culture. Similarly, Malay groups can perform for the other races, etc. However, some provision needs to be in place for the successful promotion of arts at the community level.

Firstly, performance venues must be readily available and affordable. For example, I have heard from the ground that such venues in Singapore are usually fully booked long in advance. Moreover, to book a venue, there is a need to place a deposit and, in the case of venues booked through NAC, full payment needs to be made two weeks in advance. Similarly, medium-sized venues, with seating capacity of between 400 and 500, are scarce. If an arts group wants to put together a performance, they would have to compete for the same venues.

Sir, next, I would like to ask for more smaller and affordable venues to be provided for arts groups to showcase their talents. For example, in Marine Parade, the Necessary Stage is partnering the Marine Parade Community Library. This provides a focus point for arts group development and performances. I would like to suggest that we expand on such partnerships in other locations around Singapore. In effect, this will bring the arts groups to the community.

However, appreciation of the arts can only be nurtured gradually and progressively. So, in order to do so, in the beginning, I suggest that all these programmes must be simple, friendly and

through with the CDCs or the other grassroots organisations. easily appreciated by the local folks. This will allow more Singaporeans to appreciate arts better.

Sir, the Creative Town Initiative was initiated by MICA recently. It was to allow anyone to express themselves artistically through interesting projects with a lasting impact on the community. Sir, to date, there appears to be little publicity on this initiative. Despite this, I believe that a number of initiatives or proposals have been put forward to MICA and a few may have even been approved.

Could the Minister provide more details on this and tell us what has been the response to the Creative Town Initiative and what are some of the interesting projects that have already been approved? What will his Ministry do to create greater awareness of this initiative and to encourage more to participate in this project?

Sir, for arts to flourish, depending on foreign visitors is not enough. It needs a local following. It needs the support of our heartlanders. We have to promote arts in the HDB estates. We should introduce arts to our young so that they grow up loving arts. This is especially so for our museums. They are great places to visit. They have improved in practically all aspects, eg, physical environment, display, content, activities and service. I applaud our museums.

But how do we get Singaporeans to visit them and enjoy them? First, we have to create the awareness. But awareness is not enough. Many people visit the museums only to take a quick walk-through, a quick glance at the exhibits and to declare they had visited. They have to appreciate what they see. I believe that if visitors already know something about what they are going to see, they will take time to look, read the

May I also ask the Minister when the museum next to the former National Library will reopen to the public? I hope that it will retain the name "National Museum". This name has a certain ring and familiarity. Singaporeans will still remember fondly of the former museum. The name has been deeply etched on the minds of Singaporeans, and is one that they can associate with. Furthermore, will we see all the former exhibits displayed again in the restored museum?

explanation and enjoy the exhibits. May I therefore suggest to MICA and NHB or the museums to organise talks in the heartlands for our grassroots organisations. They could then arrange for residents to tour the museums. In this way, residents will find the museums more interesting. They can bring their children and share the information with them. The interest shown by the parents will rub off on the children. It will strengthen family bonding, especially the children's respect for their parents.

Mr Chairman, it is said that the 21st century will be the century of cities as, for the first time in history, over 50% of the world will live in cities. In Singapore, of course, we are a city-state. So, naturally, the percentage is much higher. The challenge in many countries, including Singapore, is to make cities more desirable places to live in. On the one hand, we must recreate elements of the community or kampong spirit, a sense of place and belonging, a degree of collective security and continuity.

On the other hand, it is also necessary to achieve urban buzz to connect and maximise the possibilities of trade, of meeting people, absorbing a diversity of lifestyles and cultures and, of course, of just having plain fun. We must have civic creativity and an urbane society, all

On this note, may I first digress and congratulate the Minister and the Ministry for being involved in the London project to showcase Singapore's creative talents this year in London. I hope that this will bring excellent results of cooperation with London companies and Singapore companies and artists, so that we can grow our creative industries further.

But there must be a greater awareness, in that the creative sector must be recognised as an integrated sector. Theatre, visual arts, music or fashion, film-making, etc, they are all now interconnected. There is great convergence and symbiosis among the creative arts that never existed before. Sir, this means that there is an urgent need to create the conditions necessary, not just the development of our creative industries for the sake of economic growth, but also for the sake of our social growth and for a more gracious and interconnected society. It is in this context that I would like to ask the Minister whether there are plans to implement one of the Economic Review Committee's key recommendations, ie, developing the Creative Town Initiative. I rather prefer to call it Creative Community Initiative or Creative Communities Initiative, but that is only by the way.

Firstly, may I ask the Minister, as with Mr Charles Chong, whether the initiative

Secondly, it is always said that we should promote social entrepreneurship that would connect individuals, enterprises and community groups to enhance community bonding. How does MICA see its role in promoting this social entrepreneurship? What sort of projects would it approve? For example, would there be funds available to help grassroots organisations which have developed projects, such as a web portal, to link businesses, grassroots organisations, schools, grassroots leaders and residents to each other? We started a project of this type in Woodlands, and I hope that the Minister will consider giving us money to maintain such a site. Sir, I declare my interest at this point.

In this context, Sir, I also hope that the Minister and his policy makers would be open-minded and supportive of all forms of creativity.

2.15 pm

To make a successful partnership between the arts culture and urban regeneration, we need a more imaginative understanding of arts and culture and the way they work for each other.

working for the common good. Only recently has it been recognised that the creative industries can be one of the key drivers of the modern economy, representing as much as an average of 4-5% of GDP in developed economies. In a city like London, for example, nearly 700,000 people work in the creative industries, which comprise 15% of London's economy. It nearly represents 20% of the workforce and has a turnover of between 25 - 30 billion pounds. Over 11,000 companies are classified as being cultural industry companies. I believe that London is really a model to look at. would see the light of day soon? Would there be funds to help launch and promote projects that are within the creative industries as without?

Policy makers must realise that there is great connectivity between high art, low art, popular art and community art. For instance, each has something to offer the other and together they all offer the population a taste of what art and culture is really about. I do hope that the Ministry would not be too stringent in their qualifying rules on this Creative Town Initiative and that they would be prepared to be open-minded about the types of projects that would be put forward for funding.

Sir, there is now widespread acceptance and in the 21st century, it will

be creativity and innovativeness that will determine the future success of societies and cities. Cities like Singapore have only one resource, its people. How clever we are, how ingenious, how motivated, how rooted, how imaginative, how creative, we hope that the Minister ---

Sorry, Prof. Chin. Your time is up.

Enhancing Arts Infrastructure

Sir, after two years of operation, the Esplanade is creating more than a symbolic impact on our local art scene. We have now a cultural icon in Singapore, acknowledged by the international art community as a world-class venue comparable to the best in the world. Many world-class performers and companies have been attracted to perform here to the joy and pleasures of the audiences. Singaporeans showed that they have discerning taste and will pay the price to watch highly acclaimed performances. I must add that even HDB heartlanders have not been ruled out. And I read with interest that a number of them are attending the concerts and the shows in the Esplanade.

Sir, we have had a very good start for the Esplanade and we need to keep up the momentum, building on its early success. We showed that in the case of the Esplanade, the scale, design and accessibility are the basic ingredients creating its success. The challenge remains in having to fully occupy the capacity and filling the seats in both the Theatre and the Concert Hall.

I think it is also time for us to consider an equivalent icon for the visual arts as much as the Esplanade is the icon for the performing arts. I therefore wish to commend the Ministry for persuading the Government to allow the Supreme Court Building and the City Hall to be converted

In November last year, Minister Lee Boon Yang laid the foundation stone for the redeveloped National Museum of Singapore and this will be due for completion some time in 2006. I read with interest the kind of arrangements laid out and activities in store for this National Museum and perhaps the Minister can elaborate for us what we can expect.

In time, we will have quite a number of museums with exhibition facilities in Singapore. The other notable ones are the Singapore Art Museum, Asian Civilisations Museum and others. We will need to have a lot more visitors to make the investment in these museums worthwhile. I would like to know what are the innovative ways that the Ministry can bring in the crowds and traffic to the cultural venues.

I would like to ask the Minister to share with us their plans for the art gallery at the former Supreme Court Building and City Hall and how this would tie in with the other major museums and the exhibits displayed. How can we develop a distinctive Singaporean and the values and aspirations we share as a nation and have them portrayed in our cultural facilities? In promoting cultural diplomacy, as Prof. Chin has alluded to, the Singapore Season in London and the other exchanges with other countries, how can we involve more Singaporeans so that they can benefit in broadening their horizon and perspective in the field of the arts and translate them to better appreciation of the arts and enhancing their quality of life?

into a world- class art gallery. I think for the Government to allocate these precious monuments for the art gallery is exemplary.

Sir, the Ministry plans to convert the Supreme Court and City Hall buildings into a world-

class art gallery. With all due respect to my hon. colleague, Mr Loh Meng See, I worry about this. Does our museum attendance really justify expanding the museum? The New Paper proclaimed that our new museum will have 11,000 square metres of space, rivalling London's national gallery which is only 10,500 square metres. But do we have a collection to justify this bigger space? Let me echo my hon. colleague, Mr Alex Chan. It is not true in this area that we build it and they will come. This does not work for museums. Let me share with Members the attendance at the Singapore Art Museum. In 1998, it was 183,000. Every year thereafter, it fell to a low of 127,000 in 2002. It recovered slightly to almost 150,000 in 2003.

Before we commit the Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, I ask the Ministry to please compare the attendance per square metre of space at our Art Museum with major art museums in other leading cities. Can we really justify this use?

Arts School

Sir, the Arts School for students aged 13 to 18 was announced last year. May I ask the Minister to update us on this project?

Sir, with a growing and more vibrant local arts scene in Singapore, parents now see that there is good future for their children in the arts. Will the Government do more to encourage greater interest, education and participation in the arts in Singapore?

I believe that the interaction, influence and exchange of creative ideas and energies between local and foreign students in the Arts School would result in a Singapore-trained artist getting more value-added experiences and multi-cultural perspectives. May I know what are the intake criteria of the Arts School for both the local and foreign students, and how

Sir, with the official opening of the new Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) Campus at Bencoolen Street later this evening, and the new National Library later this year, the arts quotient and vibrancy of the civic district is expected to be enhanced further for Singaporeans and for tourists alike. May I ask if there are any plans to create greater synergies among arts institutions here by linking up the Arts School with NAFA and other arts institutions perhaps via the through-train scheme for students?

the school would benefit the locals as well as the foreigners in this respect.

Sir, I would like to thank the hon. Member who spoke before me for asking all the questions that I wanted to ask about the Arts School. I would just like to ask the Minister now whether the programmes for the Arts School have already been developed and, if so, could he provide some details to it? Perhaps, the Minister could also tell us what is the expected intake of this Arts School.

Mr Chairman, Sir, I thank the hon. Members for their comments and support for MICA's arts and heritage programmes. They have asked very thoughtful questions about what MICA is doing to develop the arts and to nurture a creative community. Before I answer these questions, let me put MICA's arts and heritage mission in perspective in the context of what we are ultimately trying to achieve as a nation and, at the same time, also to sketch a broad picture of the strategy that we need to achieve our mission. As the Prime Minister has set out during the debate on the President's Address, what we are working for is a better life for all, not just in economic terms alone, but also in having a nation

In the last decade, Singapore's sustained investments in the arts, heritage and cultural development have enhanced the quality of life for Singaporeans, young and old. Singapore has also become a more attractive city for international talents, and for business and leisure visitors alike. We have come a long way but we cannot claim to have arrived. We must continue to work on strengthening and enhancing our cultural capital to support economic development and distinctiveness as a global city. The competition is growing and it is not just about achieving economic competitive advantage. More importantly, we must continue to build a cohesive and resilient society firmly anchored to our history, our heritage and our shared values, a Singapore where Singaporeans are actively engaged in the community and able to express their creative energies.

Today, more and more Singaporeans are taking part in arts, heritage and cultural activities. Last year, more than 700,000 people visited our museums, of which two-thirds are Singapore residents. This is more than twice the number 10 years ago. Our arts and cultural events also attracted a growing audience. Many Singaporeans find these events entertaining, meaningful and stimulating. For example, last year, the Singapore Arts Festival attracted a record high of 916,000 people. Also, last year, about 5.8 million people visited the Esplanade, mostly Singaporeans. Many are justifiably proud of the Esplanade, not just for its unique architecture but also for the diversity of its programmes which have contributed to the vibrancy of the arts scene in Singapore. All this clearly indicates that more and more Singaporeans are showing an interest in "food for the soul".

Sir, these are just some of the results of the programmes we have put in place over the years. All these efforts will continue. We are also setting up our first specialised Arts School, which I will say more about later. Beyond the Arts School, we will continue to build up the capacity of Singaporeans for lifelong learning in a globalised world. Here, the National Library Board will have a key role which the Senior Minister of State will explain later, when addressing other Members' questions.

Going forward, we will enhance our efforts to reach out to the people to deepen their appreciation and enjoyment of the arts. We will also encourage and support creative activities at the community level. This will be done in parallel with our effort to develop the creative industries and to generate new economic opportunities for Singaporeans. I will elaborate on this later. For our arts and creativity works to inspire and reach new heights, we must be inclusive and we must engage all Singaporeans. Sir, we have the potential and we have a rich heritage to work from. MICA will help Singaporeans to leverage on the arts and culture as we move into the next chapter of the Singapore story.

Sir, in terms of arts infrastructure, MICA recently announced our plans to transform the City Hall and Supreme Court Building into a world-class art gallery, as several Members have noted. This is a major project which highlights the Government's support for the arts. Just as the Esplanade has had a great impact on the performing arts scene, this new art gallery will also contribute to an even more vibrant visual arts scene.

Another strategic thrust by MICA is to help our more successful artists and arts companies gain recognition abroad. Indeed Singapore's efforts in globalisation must include our artists and our artistic

Mr Chairman, Sir, I have given a broad outline of MICA's direction to develop the arts and heritage, nurture creativity, support life-long learning and present our arts and creativity to the world. MICA will actively pursue these programmes, projects and initiatives to achieve our vision of a creative people, a gracious community and a connected Singapore. Development and deployment of our cultural capital will result in a vibrant creative economy with more opportunities for our people. Sir, I will now proceed to address the issues raised by hon. Members.

First, Mr Seng Han Thong, Prof. Chin Tet Yung, Mr Charles Chong and Dr Ong Seh Hong sought information on MICA's effort to promote creativity at the community level. I am pleased to inform this House that we will launch a new initiative to support and nurture creativity among our people at the community level. We call this new initiative "Creative Community Singapore". The working title reflected in our Addendum to the President's Address was "Creative Town Initiative". We have decided that the title "Creative Community Singapore" better describes the mission of this initiative.

Creative Community Singapore will be launched in the second quarter of this year. MICA will allocate $10 million over three years, between financial years 2005

Creative Community Singapore is steered by a partnership comprising members from the public, private and the people sector. The Community Development Councils (CDCs) have also taken a keen interest in Creative Community Singapore. The Community Development Councils are an effective outreach channel to engage and to meet the needs and expectations of the community. We are therefore very happy that all five Community Development Councils are part of the Creative Community Singapore partnership. They are helping us to ensure that this programme will better meet the needs of their residents.

"where everyone belongs, where each person has a role to play, and where all can live in dignity". community. Last year, the National Arts Council supported 45 artists and groups as they participated in major arts events around the world. This year, we are making a bigger mark on the international stage, through the on-going inaugural Singapore Season in London. Beyond London, the Singapore Season model will be used to showcase our talents and creativity to other major cities. In 2006, the Singapore Biennale will be launched and will connect Singapore to the international arts circuit, providing international and local artists opportunities for cross cultural exchanges.and 2007 to support Creative Community Singapore. The objective is to provide opportunities for Singaporeans from all walks of life to express their creativity and deploy their creative energy for community benefit. Creative Community Singapore's aim is to build a creative and connected community where arts, culture, business and technology converge to empower and to engage individuals. Creativity Community Singapore will provide a variety of support, including funding to implement creative ideas.

2.30 pm

By supporting the realisation of creative ideas for the benefit of the community, Creative Community Singapore aims to touch more than 50,000 Singaporeans over the project period of three years. It will support the growth of the creative industry by recognising and enhancing the creative capabilities and skills of at least 5,000 Singaporeans. It will also support the creation of jobs and encourage business start-ups in creative areas. More importantly, Creative Community Singapore will instil confidence in Singaporeans to test out their creative ideas. We want to show that anyone, a 16-year old teenager, a retiree seeking to jazz up his retirement, a professional looking to a career switch, or

To answer Mr Charles Chong, MICA has already tested out the Creative Community Singapore concept on a small scale last year. We have attracted very encouraging response of 36 project proposals. 14 proposals were vetted. After vetting, 14 proposals were supported by the partnership and this first set of projects will be launched over the coming year. They will involve more than 15,000 people and provide training and skill enhancement to more than 1,000 participants.

Let me briefly describe some of these projects. Time does not permit me to cover all 14 of them. "Jam Series" is an idea proposed by a non-profit group of youth activists barely out of their teens. This group is called "Arts for Us All". This project will comprise a series of basking events, which address the point about high art and low art made by Prof. Chin. This basking event would be held in different parts of Singapore which aims to showcase our local musicians and talent and, at the same time, raise funds for charity and community work. The next one is "Saturday@Clementi Central". This is a Southwest CDC project, envisaging a monthly performance and arts bazaar to showcase local musical talent and providing budding entrepreneurs with opportunity to sell their own creative products. A third project is

The Creative Community Singapore initiative also recognises the multitude of ways in which Singaporeans connect and form communities and would provide support for good creative ideas including those in cyberspace. An example of a cyberspace project that is supported is the Dream Factory. Dream Factory is an integrated web portal for youth to submit their creative ideas or their dreams in the creative industry and to receive guidance and mentorship to realise these dreams. Another example is Age-Invaders, a project that aims to combine technology and new media art into an interactive game to encourage young and old to play together in this interactive game. Such projects illustrate the multi-faceted ways in which Creative Community Singapore will reach out to the people in our heartlands.

So with the public launch of Creative Community Singapore in the second quarter of this year, we expect to see many more ideas and proposals to expose Singaporeans to the opportunities and the possibilities in the creative industry. Online projects, such as the one mentioned by Prof. Chin in his constituency, will certainly be considered for co-branding and even co-funding. I would urge Prof. Chin to get his community leaders to put up a proposal for the partnership to consider in due course.

Mr Chairman, Ms Irene Ng asked important questions about what needs to be done to create a museum-going,

Ms Ng asked about the acquisition of local and regional artworks. The National Heritage Board has an acquisition budget which allows it to make selective purchases. She mentioned why is it that we do not have enough money to buy the collection from our foremost artist, Tan Swie Hian. The budget is there, but it is never enough. Funds for purchasing arts and heritage artifacts will never be enough and so it is up to the National Heritage Board to decide how they should deploy the budget. What I want to point out is that we do not rely on acquisitions alone to build up our national collection. In fact, the National Heritage Board works closely with patrons, donors and sponsors to build up our art collection. For example, last year we received from the Liu Kang family a substantial donation of the late Liu Kang's artworks, valued at more than $18 million. We also received a donation of 150 artworks from Mr Lim Tze Ping and his patron, Mr Koh Seow Chuan. As a result of these and many other donations, as well as careful acquisitions over the years, we now have an art collection of about 6,500 artworks, mainly local and Southeast Asian artworks.

Sir, having a good collection of artworks is not enough. We need to be plugged into the international arena, to expose Singaporeans to the richness of the world's cultures. This is why we have established close cultural cooperation with countries such as Malaysia, India, China and even further away, Turkey. We will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a cultural organisation in the UK shortly. Such bilateral cultural cooperation enables

Have we succeeded to attract visitors to our museums? I am pleased to highlight that more and more Singaporeans are appreciating the arts, and visiting museums. Visitorship to our national museums has increased by 43% over the past decade from 1993 to 2003. In addition, last year, more than 750,000 people attended the Heritage Festival performances and educational programmes conducted by the National Heritage Board to showcase, highlight and promote our heritage.

Sir, this trend is positive and encouraging. MICA will continue to support these outreach programmes for more Singaporeans to be appreciative of the arts, culture and heritage.

I agree with Ms Ng that MICA should encourage more public projects to enhance Singaporeans' sense of ownership. MICA supported many arts projects regardless of whether they are initiated by the public sector, the Government or by the private sector. Good examples of public art are the Land Transport Authority's Art-In-Transit project along the entire North-East MRT Line and the Singapore Tourism Board's presentation of SingArt - A Brush with Lions - in the city areas.

NAC encourages schools to engage artists to work with their students to paint murals for their schools or to brighten up the walls of neighbouring HDB apartment blocks. Increasingly, the corporate sector has been installing artworks in their buildings and offices to enhance their image, to increase the desirability of their premises and facilities and, of course, also to signal support for the arts. NHB has a

To enhance Singaporeans' sense of ownership in our heritage institution, I just want to give one example from Asian Civilisations Museum at Empress Place. They have a scheme to encourage people to make a small donation of $200, upon which the donor's name would be inscribed on one of the bricks in the external walls of the museum. So if you go around the ACM at Empress Place today, you will see a lot of bricks with names engraved on them. These are in recognition of people who have made a small personal contribution. And I think these are ways which we will continue to engage our community, our people and build up a sense of ownership. I would ask the museums to continue to explore other avenues of enhancing this sense of ownership.

Mr Zainudin asked what are we doing to strengthen national resilience through our heritage and our culture. Sir, our heritage and culture play a very important role in defining and deepening our national identity. Hence, the National Heritage Board adopts a multi-dimensional approach to deepen appreciation of our history, recall and remind us of the adversities that our forefathers had to overcome and also our successes. National Heritage Board's programmes also bring to life the practices and traditions derived from our diverse cultural heritage which characterise our society and underpin our shared values. Such programmes have strengthened our social resilience and sense of nationhood, as noted by Mr Zainudin.

Each year, NHB organises many activities to cater to different audiences. A good example is the HeritageFest, which I have just mentioned in response to Ms Irene Ng's remarks. This HeritageFest reached out to more than 600,000 people in July last year. During the course of the HeritageFest, Singaporeans had fun and became more aware of our heritage watching re-enactments of ethnic weddings, traditional wayang kulit, experiencing henna staining on their hands, and listening to old stories told in the old traditional street-corner storyteller sort of way. The event was held at various locations including shopping malls and bus interchanges. It attracted, as I said, 600,000 people from all walks of life. NHB is planning another HeritageFest this year which will build upon the experience of last year's event and will, hopefully, promote even greater awareness of our diversity in our culture and heritage.

2.45 pm

Sir, our museums are also presenting interesting exhibitions. We do conduct public talks and workshops to enable Singaporeans, especially children, to learn in a fun and interactive way.

a group of youth activists wanting to do something for the benefit of the community, they could have the opportunities to initiate and start projects which will benefit the community. Creative Community Singapore aims to inspire the community by encouraging social entrepreneurialship and showcasing how creativity could be beneficial and applicable to all. In addition, projects drawing inspiration from our home-grown creative capability, our culture and our heritage will certainly strengthen community bonding, national pride and also our sense of identity. the "National Youth Poetry Slam Competition" organised by a company called "Wordforward Limited", a non-profit organisation, with a passion for this increasingly popular new literary art form, where people compete on writing and performing poetry. The competition aims to work with schools involving 99 youths and to reach out to an audience of about 12,000-15,000 students.theatre-going and arts-loving people. Let me assure this House that as the Government continues to invest in our arts and heritage infrastructure, we would place equal importance on ensuring that Singaporeans could enjoy our arts, culture and heritage.us, for example, to stage, the exhibition "From the Lands of the Ottoman Sultans", at the Asian Civilisations Museum last year. I understand it was a very well received exhibition and they were good quality artifacts from the Ottoman Empire period.scheme to provide double tax deduction for donation and display of sculptures in public places and also to encourage more companies to come forward, the same double tax deduction will apply, if corporations are prepared to adopt public sculptures, which they did not donate in the first instance, but adopt these public sculptures and pay for the upkeep and maintenance of these public sculptures.

For example, towards the end of last year, during the Botero exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum - the exhibition is still ongoing - after the children have gone through the exhibition, seen Botero's sometimes whimsical, inflated paintings and sculptures of people and animals, they were encouraged to draw pictures of animals. They were given the opportunity to display their paintings which got them even more excited. In the process, they had an opportunity to learn about Botero, why he has this characteristic style of presenting people and animals in an inflated way. They also learnt something about art.

Mr Zainudin also asked whether technology is being used to bring heritage alive, make it even more compelling for the audience. I agree with him. I think we should do so, if we are not doing it. We are, in fact, exploiting every available technology to ensure that our museums are attractive and compelling and are always up to date. For instance, the Asian Civilisations Museum at Empress Place uses talking heads to guide visitors around the museum. So it is just not voice over recorded tape. You can actually have a video presentation to explain the artefacts and the exhibits.

Mr Loh Meng See also raised the same point about how we are going to present our exhibits in the National Museum when it re-opens in 2006. Let me assure both Mr Zainudin and Mr Loh Meng See that we will use the state-of-the-art technology in the new National Museum and in all our other museums to give visitors a more meaningful, lively and educational experience each time they visit our museums.

Sir, I fully agree with the comments made by Dr Ong Seh Hong and Dr Tan Boon Wan that Singapore's historical and cultural heritage, and our vibrant arts activities, should be appreciated by as many Singaporeans as possible, including our heartlanders. Besides the Heritage Festival which I had mentioned earlier, the National Heritage Board (NHB) organises other events to bring heritage to our heartlanders. If they do not go to the museums to experience our heritage, we bring our museums' contents to them.

I just like to mention two examples apart from the HeritageFest which I have cited earlier on. First, is the Heritage Express. In this project, NHB transformed two SMRT trains into "moving museums". These trains carried 102 information panels, brightly illustrated with good graphics and also notations, depicting different heritage themes. The routine journey of thousands of commuters from November 2003 to January 2004 became

Sir, another example is the Heritage on the Move, an interactive travelling exhibition depicting the myths and legends of Singapore, which reached out to 160,000 people last year. NHB will continue to explore new ways of promoting our heritage to our people.

NAC also has an active Arts Education Programme, which reaches out to students in more than 350 schools each year. In addition, more than 300 schools participate in NHB's Museum School Membership Scheme, which encourages student group visits to the museums and offers them the opportunity to have informative conducted tours to these museums.

Each year, the NAC also organises a variety of events such as the Concerts in the Park series to bring the arts to a wider audience for free. Last year, more than 100,000 people attended such events. NAC also partners grassroots organisations to bring the arts to the man-in-the-street. For example, NAC and Central Singapore CDC co-organised a street festival called "Arts@Tekka". This is an arts belt street festival. I will ask NAC to explore further collaborations with CDCs and to make more efforts to bring the arts to our people in the heartlands.

On making museum visits and arts performances more interesting and meaningful, I like to point out that we do offer customised packages catering to specific needs. This is to address the point made by Dr Tan Boon Wan. For

Dr Tan Boon Wan suggested that we organise major outreach programmes to bring heartlanders to the museums, and to organise talks at the constituencies, before their museum visits. I will ask NHB to study Dr Tan's suggestion to organise pre-visit talks and to also explore other ways of attracting more people to our museums.

Sir, in the area of performing arts, I am pleased to note that more and more Singaporeans are showing keen interest. Dr Ong Seh Hong asked how many Singaporeans had actually benefited from the shows at the Esplanade. Last year, attendance at ticketed shows was more than 400,000, which means tickets were sold to more than 400,000 people to attend shows at the Esplanade. The Esplanade's survey showed that 77% of the audience at these shows were Singaporeans, and 46% of them were our heartlanders. So, obviously, our heartlanders have come to love the durian and are enjoying the fruit!

Dr Ong also asked for more smaller arts venues. I think this is a valid request. This is something which MICA and the National Arts Council are looking into. Members have already seen how we have increased the availability of smaller art venues by converting none other than our own Old Parliament House into an Arts House with small venues for recitals, experimental plays and small exhibitions. We will continue to look around to see how we can have such additional small

Finally, Dr Tan suggested retaining the name of the National Museum. I am pleased to inform the House that the redeveloped Singapore History Museum at Stamford Road will revert to its original name, "National Museum of Singapore", when it re-opens in 2006. I agree with Dr Tan that the name "National Museum" is deeply embedded in the minds of Singaporeans, particularly the older generation. We certainly want the new and larger National Museum to have this link with the past. And many of the old exhibits that are in NHB's collection will certainly be presented in this new National Museum, but they will be presented in a more updated and contemporary context, so that it tells a more interesting story to our visitors.

Mr Loh Meng See asked what is MICA's strategy to promote the performing and visual arts. He also would like to know whether the arts reflect Singapore values, aspiration and heritage. Our strategy is to ensure that Singapore becomes an international hub, serving and benefiting from global economic network and business connections in the arts and, in the process, to offer many opportunities to our people.

Sir, we stand at the crossroad of East and West, North and South, where many cultures and influences meet. We cannot close our minds to the changes and the developments that are taking place around us and beyond our immediate region. Yet, we must remain firmly rooted to our Asian heritage and culture. This is our unique proposition. This is what will distinguish us.

Our artists, whether performing or visual artists, must imbibe these values, even as they draw inspiration from external trends and developments. They must remain Singaporeans at heart so that their art will reflect our uniqueness and our national identity. They should tell the Singapore story through their artistic eyes and creative interpretation. Their commentaries and artistic insights should remain relevant to our ethos in order to contribute to our cultural capital.

3.00 pm

Indeed, Singapore's arts scene has acquired a buzz and attracted international attention. For example, since its opening, the Esplanade has received many accolades internationally, as noted by Mr Loh. Mr Loh has also commented that the challenge

imperceptibly a heritage experience. We were bringing parts of the museum into commuters' daily travel. Without making any effort, they could see something and, hopefully, learn something. We hope that through such engagements, we can interest some of them to make a trip to the museum to see more of the artefacts which might have stimulated their interest.example, Community Clubs and Residents Committees have visited the Asian Civilisations Museum, as part of the special "Harmony Tours" organised with the People's Association. I would urge more grassroots advisers to organise such tours to the ACM or some of the other museums, so that they bring their grassroots organisations' members and also their residents to learn something about our heritage. venues for performances. I would like to inform the House that when the new National Library opens towards the end of this year, it will incorporate a new drama centre which will, in fact, provide a much needed venue for presentations that will attract a smaller audience.

is to fill up the seats in both the theatre and the concert hall in the Esplanade. I am pleased to inform the House that for the period between April last year to January this year, the Esplanade achieved an occupancy rate of 90% for the concert hall, and 83% for the theatre. I think this is an extremely good occupancy rate. Many hotels would love to enjoy such an occupancy rate. Many shows enjoyed sold-out performances, such as "Mamma Mia" and, before that, "Singing in the Rain" and, more recently, the flautist Sir James Galway's Concert. Not all sold-out shows are international. I hasten to point out that local shows have also put on good sold-out performances at the Esplanade. For example, the local acapella group "Budak Pantai" and concerts by our most famous jazz musician, Mr Jeremy Monteiro, enjoyed sold-out performances at the Esplanade. Of course, there were also shows that did not go down well. These include both international and local shows.

But this is a reflection of the variety of arts programming and shows that are available to Singaporeans today. Singaporeans have a lot to choose from. They

We have to remember that the Esplanade is less than three years old. And, yet, it has already established a reputation as a place where big names in the international arts scene would like to perform. These big names are attracted here by the quality of the venue and the prestige associated with performing in the Esplanade in Singapore. The Esplanade has clearly contributed to a significant jump in the number of arts activities in Singapore, including both local and international shows.

Our local performers have benefited from this new dynamism. Some are able to stand their ground on the international stage and have been invited to participate in many international arts festivals, eg, Jacintha, the very well-known singer and Wild Rice, the theatre company, were invited to perform at the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, going along with several other Singaporean artists, performers, ceramic artist Iskandar Jalil, and writers. MICA is committed to help more of our accomplished artists to present their works on the international stage.

In January this year, Singapore sculptor, Miss Han Sai Por was a prize winner at the XIth Indian Triennale in New Delhi. Her works were presented along with works from 33 other countries. There were only 10 prizes awarded for

Sir, promoting Singapore arts and culture on the international stage will remain a key priority in our strategy for making Singapore a Global City for the Arts. Hence, MICA has launched a major cultural diplomacy initiative called the Singapore Season. This is to present Singapore as not just another business city, albeit a successful business city, but also a city for the arts to the international audience. The on-going Singapore Season, taking place in London, is the prototype of our cultural diplomacy. It is a concerted effort to showcase Singapore's artistic and cultural achievements. Prominent Singapore artists and arts companies are being featured in prestigious venues in London. Singapore Season brings together the Singapore Dance Theatre, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Tang Quartet, theatre maestro Ong Keng Seng, painter/calligrapher Tan Swie Hian and many others for a six-week festival. In total, 250 artists and performers are involved in the Singapore Season. On top of the arts programme, we have added several other events designed to present Singapore in a holistic manner to enhance our image as a land of opportunity with an integrated work, live, play and learn environment. In the future, other key cities will be identified for the Singapore Season, where artists, with proven track record, will be our cultural ambassadors and will be given the opportunity to showcase their works. Sir, I believe that such exposure to international audience, at times a critical audience, will challenge our artists and performers to attain a higher level of artistic excellence and creativity.

Looking ahead, MICA has several new projects to involve more Singaporeans and to broaden their interest and appreciation of the performing and visual arts. One new project is the Singapore Art Show, scheduled for September of this year. This is an art exhibition for both outstanding and up-and-coming local artists to showcase their latest works from various genres and media. We are also planning a River Arts Mart to provide a platform for creative and artistic talents to showcase and sell their best original arts and crafts. Next year, the inaugural Singapore Biennale, which is an international visual arts event, will enhance Singapore's presence in the regional and international arts scene. It will serve to plug Singapore into the international art circuit and enhance our status as a Global City for the Arts. NAC will continue to deliver an improved programming at our annual Festival of Arts and collaborate with partners to present new events in performing arts. I understand that, for this year's Arts Festival, NAC has made special arrangements for advance booking for their key performances, such as "Swan Lake" by the Royal Ballad of UK and a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra. They had put out tickets for these events for advance sale. I have been told that tickets have been selling very well. In fact, for these two particular events, I have been informed that about 60% of the tickets have already been pre-sold. So you can see that, obviously, there is a demand and there are many Singaporeans who are interested in the arts. They are prepared to pay to attend such performances and they will continue to support such performances.

Let me now turn to MICA's plan to transform the City Hall and Supreme Court Building into a major art gallery. I thank Mr Loh Meng See and Mr Zainudin for their support of this proposal. This gallery will reflect Singapore's artistic

Prof. Ivan Png questioned whether we need another museum. I agree with him that, in a cultural institution, it is not a question of building it and people will come. It is building, providing the facilities, having the infrastructure and making the effort to attract an audience. One cannot presume that people will turn up on their door step. As I explained earlier on, that philosophy underpins MICA's arts and heritage programme, that means, we have active outreach programmes to reach out to our people and the community to tell them about what is going on, to encourage them to come and visit, to interest them in the events that are taking place in our museum and various arts venues.

I believe Prof. Ivan Png asked about the attendance in terms of per square metre of space, how does it compare with well-known major art museums elsewhere. I am glad to inform this House that if we take Prof. Png's measurement, actually we compare quite well. The Singapore Art Museum received 172,771 visitors in 2004, which means 115

So I like to point out that the Singapore Art Museum is in fact a very small museum - just 1,500 square metres of exhibition space, compared to the 17,500 square metres in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. So it would naturally translate into a higher visitor per square metre ratio. I hasten to add that we should not be too complacent because we have a better visitor per square metre ratio compared to Musee D'Orsay. In fact, because it is very small size, as I

This space limitation is, in fact, a key constraint and that is one reason why we need to develop better facilities, a newer but differentiated art gallery to serve our own people as well as to increase the buzz in the city. So the City Hall and Supreme Court Building offer us an unique opportunity to develop a new and major cultural institution. I have explained earlier on in response to Ms Irene Ng how we have built up a strong collection of Singapore, Southeast Asian and other artworks over the years.

can now choose from very popular performances to the more niche and experimental type. It also reflects the willingness of show presenters and promoters to stage new shows at the Esplanade and at our other performing arts venues, despite the risks of failure. And that is a good sign that we have more entrepreneurial promoters and impresarios who are prepared to make an investment to stage and promote shows, notwithstanding the business risks that they are taking.the Triennale with artists coming from 33 countries. She was one of the 10 prize winners. So NAC would play an active role in supporting and securing participation of Singapore artists in major arts exhibitions and arts festivals in China, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Korea, India and many other cities in the world. development and achievements. More importantly, it will enable us to showcase the works of artists who had made an impact on the development of art in our journey to nationhood. This new gallery will enable us to present our extensive collection of South East Asian art. We will also be able to devote significant space to host major international arts exhibitions to reinforce Singapore's position as an arts hub in the region. By locating the new art gallery in these two very important and historic buildings, we will also be making them more accessible to Singaporeans. Through such visits, many more people will better understand the historic events which took place in and around these buildings. Like the Musee D'Orsay in Paris, cited by Mr Zainudin, and the Esplanade, mentioned by Mr Loh, the new art gallery has great potential to be another inspiring cultural icon for Singapore. visitors per square metre of exhibition space. This is higher than, say, the National Gallery of Australia which, by the same yardstick, had 53 visitors per square metre and the celebrated Musee D'Orsay in Paris had 103 visitors per square metre. Yes, of course, we are still below that of the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Before its closure for renovation, the MOMA in New York received 152 visitors per square metre. That is the target that we should be shooting for. Here, I would like to point out that, although Prof. Png mentioned that visitorship to the Singapore Art Museum has been falling, I think this must be seen in perspective. It did come down some years. But the visitorship to the museum could become lumpy because of the ability and capacity to mount major international exhibitions. That is why from year to year, there can be a significant difference. I would expect, like this year, we have got an increase in visitorship compared to last year because we have mounted an exhibition of "Ju Ming". We also have got the ongoing Botero exhibition and Russell Wong, our celebrated Singapore photographer. So we have attracted a lot more visitors. So there is certain lumpiness in the visitorship. We have to look at it on a more long term basis. It also become a chicken and egg question. If you have a very small museum, you are not able to mount a major exhibition, then you are less likely to succeed in attracting a big crowd. said earlier, there is a limit to the kind and scale of exhibition that the Singapore Art Museum can organise which will draw a higher attendance of both Singaporeans and also tourists.

We have, as I said, 6,500 pieces of artworks in our collection. Hon. Members may be surprised to know that the Singapore Art Museum, with its 1,500 square metres, can only display about 200 pieces of artwork at any one time. That is going to take a long time for us to turn over our collection, as a result of which, much of our collection is not seen and cannot be appreciated by our people. On top of that, because of the space limitation, Singapore Art Museum is constrained when it reaches out to the international art exhibition circuit to try to attract major art exhibitions to Singapore. We do not have the space to do justice to these major international art exhibitions.

3.15 pm

Sir, Singaporeans' interest in the arts has grown over the years. I believe it is timely for us to have a bigger art gallery to cater to the growing needs and to add to the buzz in our city.

Sir, both Mr Seng Han Thong and Mr Charles Chong asked for an update on the development of the Arts School. Last year, also in the Committee of Supply, I informed this House that the Government had agreed to set up a pre-tertiary Arts School for artistically talented students

Sir, I am also pleased to announce that the Steering Committee has selected a site at Kirk Terrace, flanked by Cathay Building and Paradiz Centre for the School. Kirk Terrace is just at the beginning of Selegie Road. With such a location, the school will find synergy with the rich cultural and knowledge resources in the vicinity, such as the museums, the arts colleges, arts centres, Singapore Management University and the new National Library. The location will provide the students with a dynamic and inspiring environment for creativity and learning. The Committee has started work on the design of the School.

Mr Seng Han Thong asked if the School will be ready by 2007 and what facilities will be provided. The Committee on the Specialised Arts School had earlier proposed that the School start in 2007.

Mr Seng also asked about the School's intake criteria and whether the School will benefit both local and foreign students. In terms of admission criteria, artistic talents and interest will be of paramount importance, and intending students will be auditioned or will be required to produce their portfolio in the case of visual arts, to qualify for admission. Prospective students will also be assessed academically for their ability to achieve the International Baccalaureate qualification which the school is offering. As for student profile, the vast majority of the students will be Singaporeans, as the Arts School is part of our national education system. However, we can also expect the School to attract and accept some students from around and beyond Asia. This is particularly important for the Arts School and its students. The arts and creativity thrive upon diversity, and cross-cultural interactions contribute to this process. The Arts School will provide its graduates - our future artists, creative professionals, and arts supporters - with the benefits of interactions and engagements with cultures other than our own during their development stage. This will be good for our young artistic talents.

With regard to Mr Seng's suggestion for the Arts School to facilitate entry of its students to institutions, such as NAFA and LaSalle, MICA will consider this idea. The Arts School's main focus is to prepare students for the International Baccalaureate. But if some of the students want to go on to NAFA and LaSalle,

Sir, to sum up, the arts and culture have done well over the past decade. Singapore is now a more vibrant and engaging city. MICA has developed and implemented a clear and targeted strategy to promote the arts and culture. This will continue to enrich the quality of life of our citizens and strengthen our national identity and resilience. I thank hon. Members once again for their support of our programmes and projects.

aged between 13 and 18 to pursue an integrated arts and academic programme. Sir, we have made good progress since then. In May 2004, MICA appointed a Steering Committee comprising private, public and people sector representatives from the arts and education communities to oversee the implementation of the Arts School Project. I am pleased to announce that the Steering Committee, after a comprehensive search, has appointed Mrs Rebecca Chew as the Principal-designate for the School. The Steering Committee found Mrs Chew, with her track record and training in education and the arts, very suitable to help plan and manage the School. Currently, Mrs Chew is the principal of Naval Base Secondary School. She is both an accomplished educator and administrator who has been a strong advocate for arts education throughout her career. We have started involving her in the planning for the Arts School and she will take on the role in a full-time capacity in December this year. After careful consideration, the Steering Committee has decided to target for a January 2008 opening to allow more time to design and build the School and to develop its curriculum before receiving the first intake of students. The Arts School will be designed to provide an academic programme, together with all the visual arts, music, dance and drama studios and related facilities for the arts curriculum.we will explore with these institutions how we can have a formal linkage to facilitate such movements.

Order. I propose to take the break now.

Thereupon Mr Speaker left the Chair of the Committee and took the Chair of the House.

Order. I suspend the Sitting and will take the Chair again at 3.40 pm.

Sitting accordingly suspended

at 3.21 pm until 3.40 pm.

Sitting resumed at 3.40 pm

Debate in Committee of Supply resumed.

Head Q (cont.) -

Literary Arts

(In Mandarin): Sir, many literary artists or writers in Singapore are having the feeling that the Government has placed too much emphasis on promoting the performing and visual arts, at the expense of the literary arts. I believe writers in the Malay, Tamil and English languages share

Financial assistance;

Space for activities and promotion of the literary arts; and

Endorsement and recognition of literary arts.

When Chinese writers publish their works, conduct activities and attend international conferences overseas, they rarely receive any support from the National Arts Council. Invariably, they have to dig from their pockets to pay for participating in these activities. For example, once in a few years, they would organise the ASEAN Literary Camp. They have to raise their own funds to organise such activities. I hope the Government could provide funds for local literary arts bodies, such as the Singapore Literary Society, the Writers' Associations, etc, so that they could organise more local and international activities, and publish more local works. These works can then be promoted in the HDB heartlands, schools, and even exported to foreign markets.

On more space to promote literary arts, I hope the Government would consider allowing some disused Government buildings to be used by these literary organisations. We should encourage libraries, schools, community clubs and the media to cooperate with the local literary arts organisations. In addition, more local writings should be included in the curriculum of our school and in the textbooks.

On endorsement and recognition, in Malaysia, our neighbour, the Chinese literary circle has been holding the "Hua Zhong Literature Award" for many years, and it has become an international award, attracting literary works from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In comparison, we

the same sentiments. I hope the Government would give them help in the following aspects: have not had such an award. I urge the Government to support the holding of a National Literature Contest to encourage and reward local writers. Moreover, distinguished writers could be awarded National Day Awards. There used to be a vibrant Chinese literary scene in the past, with high standards. In fact, Singapore was, at one time, termed as the vanguard of Southeast Asian Chinese literature.

National Library

Sir, first, on the subject of the National Library. Singapore aspires to be the centre of learning in the region. We are also interested to develop the education sector. We see a growing number of universities and learning institutions,

both local and overseas branches, being set up here. These give our students more choices in the variety of courses and in attracting foreign students from the region and beyond.

The National Library can play the pivotal role in enhancing the spirit of learning in Singapore. It is a significant symbol in our nation's drive for knowledge and learning. The new National Library building due for completion this year will give a further boost in encouraging Singaporeans to cultivate the interest and passion for learning and reading widely.

We have read from press reports of survivors in the recent tsunami disaster on how their lives were saved because of the geographical knowledge and survival instincts.

Our educational system is increasingly focusing on the core curriculum and the National Library can augment the learning as an important and useful information and resource centre. We wish to encourage students and the public to explore and learn new fields to broaden

Sir, there is a new trend towards "reality TV" programmes, like the Survivors, Amazing Race and the Apprentice. These are new trends in TV programming, using ordinary people behaving in different situations, and this mode has attracted world-wide audiences. Sir, interactivity is a new method of attracting interest. I just wonder how much of these interactive features will be replicated in attracting more people to our libraries and use the facilities.

As we encourage more Singaporeans to learn, to listen and to speak but not read Chinese and Malay languages, the National Library needs to adapt to this requirement and to provide for more audio facilities for those who choose to listen rather than to read. Will these be accommodated in the library facilities?

Singapore will be celebrating its 40th year of independence this year. We have over the years, books written by Singaporean authors and biographies featuring Singaporeans on their work and their lives. We need to celebrate the contributions of these Singaporeans towards nation-building through the books written. We should also be interested in foreign books written about Singapore and understand the perspective of others have of us. I hope the National Library can over time build up a collection of these precious resources, whether books and other materials, so that subsequent generations of Singaporeans can appreciate the contributions of Singaporeans, past and present, and the development of Singapore as a nation.

I wish to ask the Minister the following questions: What are the plans for the new National Library building which will be completed sometime this year? How will this library contribute to

Challenges in the ICT Sector

Sir, the next subject is on the challenges in the ICT sector. Since the article, entitled "Does IT Matter" appeared in the Harvard Business Review, it started the intense debate in the press and journals on the value of IT investment and the benefits derived from the never-ending heavy IT investment that could be more hype than real.

We have seen the waves of IT innovation from the years of development in phases over the years and, recently, the focus has been on the adoption and use of IT applications and the infrastructure to support them. Instead of installing them on their own, the option of outsourcing IT infrastructure is becoming more common using the "utility" model to buy IT services. Indeed, corporations have become increasingly vigilant and attentive to ensuring that there is a business case for IT investment and track the performance to ensure that the purported benefits are realised.

The consumers in Singapore, however, have been more carefree in their spending on mobile phones and portable devices. We have now a phenomenal penetration rate of 97% on mobile phones in Singapore. We recently saw the highly successful nation-wide 3G network roll-out which I believe surpassed the expectation of the three mobile operators.

IT security risk and invasion of privacy are still areas of concern to Singaporeans. The press report of the weakness of the

In recent years, there was near-stagnation in global IT spending, but Singapore was able to grow in this highly competitive ICT sector. The outlook seems bright, considering the rise in global IT spending by companies and governments. The purchase of personal computers by companies and individuals is expected to increase. This augurs well for the players in this sector.

I am pleased to read the report of Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) that Singapore is the world's fourth most attractive outsourcing location and ranked first based on the number of offshoring projects relative to population. With this, we are successful in keeping jobs in Singapore. It shows that we could still be very competitive even though we are a high cost location. It is the total value that businesses look for and not just on cost alone. It is important that we build a critical mass in this area so that we can enjoy further economies of scale.

I wish to ask the Minister:

Are there ample growth opportunities in the ICT sector in Singapore? What is being done to capture a larger share of the ICT market, both in Singapore and in the region?

What is the Government doing to connect homes and increase the level of Internet usage and web applications among Singaporeans?

Do we have enough IT professionals to support the ICT sector and what more could be done to provide training and learning opportunities for Singaporeans who want to deepen their knowledge in IT to maximise the features and power of the personal computers?

their minds, living and working in the globalised world. The National Library is able to give access to our people the wealth of knowledge built over the years. our lifelong learning strategy and help our citizens to prepare for the challenges of the rapid changes and transformations taking place in the world around us? Will the role of the regional libraries change in the process? What new activities and materials can the public expect in the new library? Can we look towards having the National Library being connected to the top libraries of the world? Social Development Unit (SDU) portal does not help in giving confidence to the users. Those who have given personal information feel exposed when breaches take place. This was explained as an isolated incident. But more can be done to ensure the integrity of the system and make very secure that private and confidential information contained in any system is not easily accessed by others and by determined hackers.

Mr Chairman, the proliferation of digital media or new media is a testimony of their popularity, especially among youths. With the current availability of infrastructure, we see advancement at blazing speed of media formats - mobile devices, weblogs, SMS, MMS, video streaming and many more.

Sir, the technology for network convergence or the combining of voice, data and video networks into a single system is already in use and within reach for the masses. With the inevitable convergence of telecommunications, media and information technology, the abuse of technology could cause undesirable social changes. We must be prepared to face the challenges in the regulation of converging media technology. I echo the concern of Mr Loh Meng See about the security, safety and privacy of users. We must also build our capabilities and capacities to manage this onslaught.

I would like to ask the Minister: what are the challenges faced by the authority with this new media and what is being done to build capabilities and capacities to tackle such problems?

I would also like to know whether such new media have been used for illegal purposes. And if there is, what can be done to prevent the technology from being used as such?

Sir, I want to thank the hon. Members, Dr Ong Seh Hong, Mr

2005 will be an exciting year for book-lovers because a new National Library building will open its doors to the public. Mr Loh Meng See has noted the importance of reading and the pivotal role of the library and asked how the library will serve the public.

The new National Library building will have something for everyone. It will offer a greater access to printed and digital collections, and a wide variety of reading materials and learning programmes which will cater to young and old Singaporeans. To answer Mr Loh, there will be audio materials.

The new library building is hardware to serve the reading public. It needs a new energised management to serve as software. I am pleased to inform the House that the NLB has just completed its five-year strategic plan or L2010. Under this plan, the National Library will offer users access to knowledge, help users build up their ability to assimilate knowledge, be it to satisfy their curiosities for personal development or for research.

As NLB continues to inculcate a reading culture amongst Singaporeans, it would also help users of our libraries to actively deploy the acquired knowledge for personal, social or economic benefit. That is why the new NLB building will also house facilities like the new Drama Centre of the National Arts Council and facilities that will inspire learning and knowledge application such as an observatory pod, a programming zone, exhibition spaces, living gallery and an events plaza. Over time, I expect the new NLB building to become an icon of learning and knowledge in Singapore.

I am also happy to report on a major development within the National Library building. The new National Library will

Loh Meng See and Mr Zainudin Nordin for their cuts.incorporate a new and major research institution - the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library. The establishment of the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library was made possible by the generous contribution of the Lee Foundation of $60 million to the NLB. The LKC Reference Library will occupy most of the space in one of the blocks at the new National Library. It will offer a collection of 500,000 items. This reference collection will focus on a wide range of topics from business to the arts.

It will have a Singapore and Southeast Asian collection, a point that Mr Loh noted, the importance of collecting books on our local heritage.

Mr Loh Meng See also asked about the connectivity and networking of the library to complement the printed material collection. NLB would be increasing its electronic material collection from 36 databases, almost double the 19 databases, it offered in 2004, to provide users with more information resource through its digital library services.

Over the past three years, NLB has signed MOUs with several libraries overseas, allowing it to widen its access to collections outside Singapore.

4.00 pm

Finally, Mr Loh Meng See also asked if the role of the existing regional libraries will change. I would like to reassure him that our regional libraries will continue to play their important role. The libraries in NLB's network complement one another and are located in different parts of Singapore to reach out to the community, thereby making it more convenient for Singaporeans to access the knowledge of the world.

Ms Irene Ng and Dr Ong Seh Hong were concerned about another aspect of books, namely, the writers of books, the literary artists. A few weeks ago, at a function, I was urged by a well-meaning

Our literary artists, whether writing in English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil, need people to buy their books. That is the real support they need. In a globalised world, this is a difficult challenge. Chinese writers compete in the market with writers from China and Taiwan, Malay writers with those from Malaysia and Indonesia. Tamil writers from those in Tamil Nadu. And those who write in the English language, they have to compete with everybody, with writers from the whole world, because famous authors who write their works in a non-English language would have their works translated into English. Writers now serve a global market, and the same book, the Da Vinci Code, is the best seller in Singapore and many countries around the world, including non-English speaking countries.

Singapore literary artists must write for the regional and global audience. Some Singapore writers have succeeded in doing this. Eugene and Yen Puay Noi in the Chinese language, Abdul Ghani and Masuri in the Malay language, J M Sali in the Tamil language, are well-known overseas. Tan Tee Hwee's second novel, Memo Inc, was internationally acclaimed and was on the W H Smith's top 20 Best Sellers list in Asia for more than two months.

MICA has schemes to help and encourage Singapore literary talent. The idea is to give them an opportunity to get a start, so that Singaporeans with the talent of Dan Brown, the author of the Da Vinci Code, would have an opportunity to emerge and take their place on the regional and global literary scene. MICA

Dr Ong also suggested a literature award for writers. I am pleased to inform the House that last year, NAC supported the National Book Development Council in organising the annual Singapore literature prize. In addition, NAC organises the biennial NAC-SPH Golden Point Award, which provides a national platform by identifying literary arts talent in the four official languages.

Sir, Mr Loh Meng See was concerned about the health of the infocomm sector and asked if Singapore's IT sector could grow when there was near stagnation in global IT spending. I am happy to say that our IT sector is healthy. Singapore's infocomm industry remains one of the key engines of growth for the economy. The pipeline for investments remains strong. Last year, the infocomm and media cluster was the second strongest contributor to investment commitments in the service industry, with $647 million in business spending, generating $1.3 billion in total value-add and 3,000 professional and skilled jobs. Revenues from the infocomm sector are expected to grow by

There are new growth opportunities in the infocomm sector, as pointed out by Mr Loh. Business process outsourcing (BPO) is a growth area and we have enjoyed success in this area. As pointed out by Mr Loh, Singapore is ranked No. 1 in the world for offshore projects per million population and ranked 6th globally in absolute numbers. Our high quality telecoms infrastructure, conducive regulatory environment, and well-educated workforce make us a very competitive location for higher-end outsourcing processes and services. These include business continuity, disaster recovery, IT strategy and security implementation.

The use of infocomm technologies is pervasive in Singapore. Singapore's Internet penetration rate is one of the highest in the world, with two out of every three households and three out of every four companies, having access to the Internet. More than 42% of households have a broadband connection.

Mr Zainudin has pointed out that the technologies IT and media sectors are converging and asked what MICA is doing about that. The next few years will be exciting ones, with opportunities for the innovative as the telecoms, broadcast and media and IT sectors converged. Convergence could very well shake up all the sectors. But the shake-up will provide opportunities for those who are innovative. For the consumers, convergence holds exciting promises. Some time in this exciting future, on a mobile one could talk to another person in New York at a fraction of the cost today because the voice information would be digitalised and sent across the Internet using VOIP technology. Or, one could watch the news or a movie on one's handphone or

The infocomm, media, and broadcast sectors are overlapping and merging. To promote growth in this new merged sector, MICA and its statutory boards, the IDA and the MDA have adopted a multi-pronged strategy. IDA has been actively facilitating the deployment of infrastructure that will enable Singapore to employ these new technologies.

Sir, young people today could look forward to an exciting world that technology is creating for them. Sir, some Members may remember the excitement we enjoyed during our National Service days playing "Space Invaders" at the canteen in SAFTI. Young people today have not heard of "Space Invaders". They play computer games on Playstation 2 in near virtual reality with movie screen quality images. Members in this House communicate with email. The young talk to the world on blog sites. We think in terms of SDU to meet new people. They link up to the Third Degree on Friendster. It is a really cool world for young people.

While these technological advances are exciting, we must protect the vulnerable young from being exploited and prevent technology from being used for illegal purposes. To address these challenges, MDA already has in place a light touch class licence regulatory framework that ensures the industry maintains some minimum standards with regard to the Internet, SMS, MMS, and other forms of new media services. We also have deterrent legislation like the Computer Misuse Act and the Penal Code to prevent the illegal use or abuse of such technologies. MICA also intends to introduce a legislation to control spam this year. But there is a limit to what

Sir, the infocomm and media sectors offer great opportunities for our economy and new exciting lifestyles for our young. With the light regulatory touch, MICA's goal is to maximise these opportunities and minimise the downside. I have presented an overview. In our digital age, for more information, Members could log on to www.mica.gov.sg. I thank the Members for their cuts.

Singaporean that we should do more for our Chinese literary artists. So I asked him when was the last time he bought a book of Chinese fiction written by a local author. He was stumped by the question and he said he read the Chinese newspapers but was too busy to read Chinese fiction. supports the local literary arts scene through programmes managed by the National Arts Council (NAC). The NAC provides financial assistance to writers through publishing grants, training and travel grants, as well as project grants for literary arts events and projects. In FY 2004, financial assistance to writers through these grants increased by 16%. So in reply to Dr Ong's request for aid to writers, I am happy to let him know that last year, $325,000 was given to literary artists to support their work. In addition, we are also helping them with housing. The NAC supports the literary arts, through the Arts Housing Scheme, which subsidises arts premises to literary arts groups, such as the Sin Sheng Poet Society and the Association of Singapore Tamil Writers. 6% in 2004 to $34.7 billion and to grow by 7.4% this year to $37.3 billion. The number of infocomm professionals employed is expected to grow by 3% to more than 108,000 in the coming year. plug one's handphone on a plasma screen to watch a movie - a service that could be provided by one's telecoms operator. Or one could have wireless broadband through WIMAX, a service provided by one's broadcaster. legislation could do in an environment where information travels across borders in bits and bytes. We need to educate parents and children to become more discerning and responsible end-users. We also need to educate organisations to pay more attention to security and the use of the same default passwords on the SDU website was a contributing factor to the lapse in security at that site. So MDA is working with companies and volunteer groups like Parents Advisory Group for the Internet (PAGi) and Touch Community Services. To help the community deal with Internet security, MDA has provided over $2.3 million in funding support for activities and programmes that help the community deal with dangers on the Internet.

Media Development Authority Programme

Sir, one lesson we learned during post-tsunami relief was the diminishing and diluting of Singaporean's ability to converse in Malay, as commented by Minister Mentor. I quote, "Up to the 1970s, in our markets and hawker centres, bazaar Malay was the lingua franca. Everyone could understand and speak some Malay because of our bilingual policy. Today, the lingua franca is English or Singlish. Few non-Malays can understand or speak Bahasa. We must remedy this."

Sir, what could we do to bring back some of the warmth of the kampong days when everyone could communicate in a little of each other's language? Sir, one

Sir, in this light, I urge the Media Development Authority to consider promoting the setting up of an additional Malay language television channel.

way I think is to learn Malay through TV programmes. However, I was a little surprised when I found out that there is only a free-to-air Malay channel, Suria. My grassroots leaders have pointed out that even if they apply to pay television such as cable TV, there is only one Indonesian and one Malaysian channel, supplying them programmes with a setting and content not entirely familiar to them. The lack of more Malay television channels also undermines the effort of the community to promote Malay language and culture. The call for an additional Malay channel is not to reduce the importance of Suria. On the contrary, it highlights the important role played by television. In the earlier years of Singapore, television shows featuring P Ramlee could be appreciated by almost all Singaporeans. Maybe it is high time to promote the use of the Malay language through more entertaining and easy-to-understand Malay television progammes. The new channel should also focus on bringing in more educational programmes like Discovery and Animal Planet channels dubbed in Malay.

Radio Airtime

Sir, Singapore is trying to develop its creative industries. Animation, film, TV and video, scriptwriting and even games are getting the best clothes to go to the grand ball known as Media Hub. But, left behind among the cinders and ashes is our own version of Cinderella - local music.

To a local musician like me, even though my CD is only sold overseas, only a fairy godmother could help the local music scene to take off. How could it,

There is some hope. Our Prime Minister, no less, has called for diversity and urged our youths to follow their passions. So, would Cinderella get her just rewards after slogging so hard? She has what it takes.

Last year, several local musicians performed at the first "Made in Singapore" concert. A friend of mine was duly impressed and told me our musicians just need a platform to be heard. I am very happy to hear that Creative Community Singapore would further encourage projects like Jam Series by Arts for Us All. Anyway, along came a pumpkin-turned-stagecoach called Singapore Idol, which carried Taufik Batisah to the crown, with lots of support. The lesson is clear. To succeed, Singaporeans need opportunities. To follow our passions, we need space.

There is space on TV. MDA supports local programming because it is socially relevant and creates national identity. Local music does the same. So, why not have local content requirements for radio airplay? I would like to ask if MDA could look into this.

In theory, some might think the direction of the local music industry should be market driven. But that is a vicious cycle. Fixed playlists mean local musicians could not compete fairly, even if they wanted to. Radio airplay is the most influential factor in music purchases. The public is more interested in a band whose songs they have heard on the radio. It gives them something to identify with and makes them perceive the band as successful.

And should cultural imperatives be left entirely to the market? In practice, the quota system works for the music industry. Canada, South Africa, France

Musicians had more resources and incentives to produce better music. Quotas increased as more local music could be supported. It is a virtuous cycle. Germany, on the other hand, rejected quotas. Its music industry shrank and it is now having a rethink.

Whether it is a voluntary system, as in New Zealand, a minimum percentage of hours a week, or number of songs per clock hour, as in the Philippines, the mechanism could be worked out. There are many options, even a tier-system for different genres. We could consult the stakeholders. I would be happy to take ownership and get involved, as long as we consider the idea and do not dismiss it out of hand. Else, talk of diversity and following our passions would turn to ashes.

Captioning of TV News

Sir, I was very happy when the Prime Minister, at his swearing-in, held up a caring and inclusive society as part of his vision for Singapore. Hence, I would like to raise an old issue, which under the new dispensation should be looked at more kindly.

The hearing-impaired community would love to feel included, and part of Singapore. One crucial way to do this is via TV captioning or subtitling of the news and other programmes. Many people think mistakenly that the issue is about access to information.

when our radio stations hardly play local songs, especially English ones? and Australia introduced quotas. Musical infrastructure, royalty payments and domestic sales grew, some to record highs.

We have newspapers, Teletext, the Internet, as they say. But reading the newspapers, like surfing the Net, is a solitary activity. Watching TV, however, can be a shared and favourite pastime, especially among families. Just imagine if you were to go home tonight and find your family

4.15 pm

TV captioning is about equal participation in society. It is about integrating the hearing impaired into our society. It has been said that not having captioning or subtitling is like a blind person not being able to read Braille.

So, for a start, I would like to ask whether MDA can ensure that the daily local news on all channels have either subtitles or captions. Please consider that we are an ageing population. Almost 400,000 or 11% of our population are 60 years and above. The elderly are the fastest growing category of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Captioning would also help the overall development and education of our hearing-impaired children. There are about 5,300 people registered with the Singapore Association for the Deaf. The total number of hearing impaired here probably is higher. This is similar to New Zealand, which has a smaller population base and 7,700 hearing-impaired people. Yet, it captions at least 65 hours of programming a week. Australia has a Bill that requires above seven hours of captioned programmes daily, including the news and current affairs shows. In 2010, all programmes are to be captioned.

What do we have, save for one-off occasions like the National Day Rally? It is one thing to say we consider the needs of our hearing-impaired. It is another to provide for it.

While costs may be a concern, there are more options now than before. Newsrooms are becoming electric. Scripts can be entered into a computer network and broadcast as captions. If

The point is, let us have something, anything, on a long-term basis. We are limited only by our creativity and political will. I would be most happy to work with MDA to enact a Bill on this, if necessary.

enjoying a TV show. What if you cannot share in that moment because you cannot hear and you cannot understand what is happening? needed, breaking news can be excluded, given the greater difficulties. Advertisers can come on board to generate goodwill. MDA collects $95 million in annual radio and TV licences to pay for public service broadcasting and support national and community interests. We could use this. Maybe each channel could select one show each week to caption too.

Sir, I would like to thank Dr Ong Seh Hong for raising the question of the need to have Malay language programming for cable TV.

In Singapore's broadcast landscape, Malay TV and radio audiences are served by Suria, a Malay TV channel, and two radio stations (Warna and Ria) operated by MediaCorp. StarHub Cable Vision has two channels targeted at Malay viewers. These are TV1 from Malaysia and the Indonesian channel TVRI.

Suria has done well in catering to the needs of the Malay community. Its programme has grown and improved over the past five years. Suria's strength is in the local programmes. It provides news, current affairs, children's drama, and variety programmes. These programmes are funded by MDA, which provided $17.4 million last year.

We have taken note of Dr Ong's suggestion on having more Malay programming on cable TV. While there are already Malay programmes on both Suria and also SCV, we agree that the programming could be improved to

Let me now move to the question of giving radio air-time for local musicians raised by Ms Olsen. Sir, our Singapore radio stations do provide a respectable amount of air-time representing the music of local artistes. The newly-launched Lush 99.5 FM station has a dedicated weekday 7 to 10 am time belt which features local musicians. Power 98, in its Sunday 5 to 7 pm slot, also features local musicians.

The Chinese stations Y.E.S. 93.3 FM, Dongli 88.3 FM, and UFM 100.3 FM have similarly devoted air-time to local artistes. The Malay stations Warna and Ria play at least one local song per hour, or an average of 20 local songs are played each day. In addition, a weekly programme on Ria called Artis Kita aired on Sundays also showcases local talents.

Given this, it is not necessary to stipulate a minimum number of hours of air-time to be devoted to local music. The stations need the flexibility to select music that appeals to their listeners, and this would include the works of both local and foreign musicians.

Notwithstanding this, we will examine how to provide more support to local musicians, especially the budding ones. Some of our musicians have made it to the world stage and we should show them through our radio.

On subtitling or captioning for the hearing-impaired raised by Ms Olsen, I would say that it is difficult for pro

Instead of subtitles, broadcasters currently do provide captions summarising the key points in news bulletins aired on Channel NewsAsia and Channel 5. This represents a good balance between addressing the broadcaster's operational constraints, and allowing the hearing impaired and senior citizens to follow the news programmes. Viewers who want greater elaboration can turn to Teletext or the CNA news website which is updated regularly.

Sir, since 2003, the MDA has worked with MediaCorp to subtitle the Prime Minister's National Day message, something which Ms Olsen said is not a big deal, but we have made a start. MDA is also working out an arrangement with the broadcaster to provide subtitles for official scripted speeches that are carried live such as the President's Address at the opening of Parliament. MDA will continue to explore with the broadcaster on the possibility of providing subtitles for other selected information programmes on CNA and Channel 5.

On Ms Olsen's suggestion of providing subtitling of non-English programmes, many TV programmes shown in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil already have English subtitles. However, MDA will look into this matter with the idea of implementing it, not just studying it, bearing in mind the constraints that the operator will face.

provide viewers with greater variety and choice. This will require investment in content and programming by the cable operator. If SCV finds it viable and is able to offer another pay cable channel with programming for the Malay community, it should work with MDA who will consider the application on its merits, including the ability to provide localised and differentiated programming to cater to the needs of the Malay community.grammes, like news bulletins, to be accurately subtitled, due to their on-the-air nature and time sensitivity. Nowadays, news bulletins are a mixture of reads by newsreaders, video-packages and "live" cross-overs to correspondents. The content of "live" cross-overs is unscripted. These practices make subtitling very difficult.

Sir, I would like to clarify a couple of points. First, I did not say that it was not a big deal. What I meant was that it was a one-off

As regards radio air-time, I asked what percentage of local music has been stipulated. Or is there a percentage of local music that has been played on the radio?

thing and whether we could see that it is more sustainable. I also said that there are a lot of different methods nowadays that are very cost effective, and a lot of countries have studied it as well. I understand that there is Teletext and everything, but what I was referring to was more inclusiveness, in terms of family togetherness for the hearing impaired.

Sir, let me answer the second question first.

As I have said in my reply, it is almost difficult for us to stipulate to the broadcaster the percentage of local music that ought to be played every day. Because the different radio stations would cater for different needs, and some of them would have greater need to play local music. Let me give the Member an example. Between Warna and Ria, we have more local music played by Warna than Ria, because the tendency of Ria listeners is to listen to more westernised or rock music.

As for the Chinese and English radio stations, I think they are making real effort. They are getting more feedback on the types of music that the locals wish to hear. They even went to the marketplace and interviewed local people to know how some of the local music would be presented on the air.

On the question of captions, I wonder how the New Zealand broadcasters managed to do it. But as I explained earlier, the modern TV presentation on news is such that when you have the news carried, say, by Channel NewsAsia, we have the news reader in Singapore reading the news from a prepared text

Sir, I think to avoid listeners from having a truncated form of the news which is being packaged in the form of news, interviews, commentaries and inputs, we will have to look into better technology to have subtitling or captioning incorporated. But I am not saying that we are not going to do it. We will be studying the technology to see how we could overcome the serious hindrances and achieve Ms Olsen's dream.

which is captionable. We then cross over to Indonesia to get the CNA Indonesian correspondent to give a live interview, say, with the President of Indonesia - that is not captionable. And then the correspondent goes to interview Indonesian listeners for their views - that is not captionable - and then back to the studio.

Sir, I would like to thank Senior Minister of State Dr Balaji for answering my cut on literary arts. I just need to seek a few clarifications.

First, on the funding by NAC to literary writers for publications and their activities. He mentioned that $300,000 was granted last year. I would like to know what is the breakdown of this amount given to the different language groups of writers. Because in our dialogue with local Chinese literature writers, they always lamented that, first, the quantum they get is very small whenever they want to publish a book or organise big events. Secondly, they also find that the administrative process for getting the grant is very tedious.

The other clarification is regarding the National Literature Award. I would like to thank the Senior Minister of State for pointing out that there is this Golden Point Award for the literature writers in the four official languages. I just want to know how does he gauge the success and prestige of this award. I understand that

in the past, Singapore used to have the Golden Lion Award (jin shi jiang), which is actually very well known internationally and attracts a lot of international writers from China, Taiwan as well as Hong Kong and Malaysia to participate. For this Golden Point Award, do we have the same type of standard and prestige? [Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr S Iswaran) in the Chair]

4.30 pm

Sir, I would like to correct Dr Ong. I said $325,000, and not $300,000. He has reduced it by $25,000. The grant was given as publishing grant, international touring grant, translation grant, writer in residence grant, overseas writing programme, Iowa writing fellowship programme and mentor access programme. I do not have the information, in terms of breakdown by language groups, but we can look at that and provide him the information.

With regard to medals with prestige, I would like to point out that we give Cultural Medallions to writers, and about 14 writers have won the Cultural Medallions for their contributions. In terms of whether the award that he is talking is more prestigious, or whether the Cultural Medallion is more prestigious, that would be subjective. But really the recognition a writer gets depends on the quality of the work. No amount of medallion honours that we give can compensate for the quality of the work that he produces. And what MICA does is to give people the opportunities so that their works can be published and seen. And if the work is good, people will buy. But writers have to realise that, in a globalised world, they are competing in a globalised market, and competing in a global market is difficult.

Sir, as outlined in the Renaissance City Report, we need to strengthen the Singapore heartbeat

through the creation and sharing of Singapore stories, and through films and other media. Can I get some update on the local production and the Minister's view on the quality of our local production? What is MDA doing to further improve the development of our local production?

Sir, under the Renaissance City project, we set out to develop the arts, heritage and culture in Singapore. As I explained earlier in my reply to several Members, we have made much progress although I hasten to add that we also have not yet fully arrived. There is still a lot of work left to be done. MICA will be launching new projects, like Creative Community Singapore; NHB will be organising new activities that will promote our heritage to our heartlanders. These are programmes that will continue. Promoting the arts and culture is not a one-year or five-year effort. It is a long haul. It is more than a marathon. It is almost an unending race. It is something that we have to do. We have to renew the interest and remind each generation of our history and heritage and get them to value what has taken place in the past, to understand why it happened, the difficulty and adversity that our forefathers had to go through before we arrive at this point in time. So it is a very long-term effort. We will continue with the Renaissance City project and its successive programmes will carry on the good work.

In terms of production, I take it to mean the film production that the hon. Member is referring to. This is a growing area. The film industry is still at its infancy at this point in time. We have had some successes with local production. The most prominent, of course, is Mr Jack Neo and his series of films, which are, by now, very well known. In fact, we are showing one of his films in the Singapore Season in London. I think it is "I Not Stupid", Xiao Hai Bu Ben. I think it was a very popular

In terms of co-production, the Media Development Authority has supported several film makers. I recall a recent example, that is, "House of Harmony", which was a co-production between a Singapore film company and a German television company. The film has been completed. It is shot entirely in Singapore. It stars Fann Wong as the leading star and leading lady in the film. It is a period film set in Singapore, in the 1920s, during the colonial era. It is a romantic film. I have seen the rough cuts of the film. It is quite an interesting film. I think it should appeal to a wide audience. It will be released, first, in Germany because that is the agreement under their co-production venture. But we will be able to see the film, I think, soon after the release in Germany. There are several other joint ventures and co-productions underway. And we hope some, if not all of these, will succeed, and some of them could become international hits. In fact, on Monday, 7th March 2005, I am attending the premiere of the first Singapore-made science fiction movie, "Avatar". I am looking forward to enjoying the movie. I hope that this is an indication of things to come that our film makers will branch into different areas. They will go into period films, like the House of Harmony. They will go into more fashionable, science fiction, using the latest computer generated imaging technology to produce special effects.

So we are making some headway. But as I said, at the beginning, the industry is still in its infancy. We have international players entering the sector in Singapore. Lucasfilm has set up a studio in Singapore; an Indian film producer has set up a digital studio in Singapore. So we should see a gathering of momentum in the years ahead. And Media Development Authority will continue to support Singapore's co-production effort to

film. So we are showing it in London in the Singapore Season. encourage our film producers and directors to work with international parties so that we can have a greater outreach and also to learn from these more experienced international film producers and tap their distribution network.

I thank the Senior Minister of State for pointing out that the amount is $325,000, and not $300,000 that I misquoted. Does he agree that this is very small compared to the amount that we spent on visual arts and performing arts? Second, I would also like to point out that the Senior Minister of State has misunderstood me when he talked about the prestige of the Cultural Medallion. That is not what I am referring to. I am referring to the Golden Point Award that he mentioned, which is more for art writings. It is actually a literature writing competition. I am asking: what does he think of the standard of this Golden Point Award, compared to what we used to have in Singapore, which is called the "Golden Lion Award" (jin shi jiang), which was in the 1980s and 1990s? I remember, in those days, it attracted a lot of good writers from all over the world. Did our current Golden Point Award, or Golden Point Competition, or whatever you call it, manage to do the same? If not, what does the Ministry intend to do to raise this standard further because we used to have something so good? Why are we not following up on that?

Sir, we give our award to the best local writer that we can find. This is to encourage our local writers and we must give recognition to our local writers as best as we can. It is not fair to compare this award with the award that you want to give to the whole region where you have overseas people competing in it. In which case, our authors may not have a chance to get recognition and may defeat the purpose.

With regard to what we are doing to help the writers, we are doing more than just giving the grant of $325,000. We are trying to plug our writers into the global marketplace. So we have schemes to help our writers get into the regional and global markets. Among the schemes, our efforts include cultivating and engaging the overseas publishing houses so that they will be interested in publishing the works of our writers, exploring internships of Singaporean publishing professionals at international publishing houses for the purpose of understanding how these markets work. We are also reviewing our current grant schemes to enhance support in areas like translation, so as to make it more conducive for our publishers and writers to get their works translated so that the market for their works should be greater. We are working with our MOU partners to identify key festivals overseas so that their works can be showcased. Also, we are working with our MOU partners abroad to see if we can profile our writers abroad so that their market reach is greater. I think what we have to do is try to increase the market for our writers so that people will buy their books and, thus, the best support that they want and need.

One quick question to the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. I would just like to ask what is the difference between insisting that MediaCorp has to farm out at least 285 hours of local production as a condition and insisting that radio must play a certain amount of local music.

Thank you for the request for further clarification. I think there is a difference between TV requirement versus radio requirement. It is slightly different in the sense that we are talking about songs, as compared to a mix of production genre. For the television programmes, you may have current affairs, or scenes that capture Singapore's culture, its people, which

have a tremendous value, in terms of social education and nation building. In terms of songs, there is a slight variation. I am not saying that songs do not have a role in nation building. It does tremendously, if the theme of the song covers mainly the love for the nation, love for the people, the leaders, and so on. My answer is that, what makes it different is that the TV programme has a requirement because it directly affects nation building. Whereas for radio, there is less requirement. But I must say that there is a greater realisation on the part of our local broadcast station to play more local songs. I would say that, compared to five years ago, we have done quite a lot. Apart from just playing local songs, some of the radio stations even have certain times of the day to play some songs. I will give you an example. Station UFM 100.3 FM, for example, every Sunday, between 10 pm and 12 midnight, for three hours, you have all the airings of local songs. Three hours per week may not be much, in terms of percentage or proportion. But I would say that if you have one Chinese radio station that allocates a certain amount of hours for Chinese local songs, that is a progress. Of course, we will persuade them to have more time.

Sir, I would just want to add a little supplement to what the Senior Parliamentary Secretary has said. It is not as if MICA and Media Development Authority are not doing anything at all to encourage or cajole our broadcaster along the way to show their support for the local music industry. I am sure Ms Olsen will know that in early January, in fact, MediaCorp Radio launched a new station, called "Lush 99.5". Lush is a station that took over the frequency of Passion Radio in the past, which was the Arts Channel. In fact, MediaCorp was allocated this channel to run a new station, and MediaCorp has indicated that they will also do what they can to

promote both

the local arts scene, including local music on the new station Lush 99.

5. So, I would suggest that Ms Olsen tune in more frequently to Lush 99.5 and see whether it is doing its job promoting local arts and local music.

4.45 pm

Sir, on the question of subtitling the news broadcast, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, in answering Ms Olsen, said that we will wait for the technology to improve, then we can subtitle the local ones and the foreign newscasts. Why has it got to be all or none? Yesterday, in this House, hon. Members talked about the short sarong - you cover the top, you expose the bottom; you cover the bottom, you expose the top. I recommend we cut the sarong into half - cover top and bottom and, at the same time, bare the midriff! It is quite acceptable.

So, why do we not go ahead and just have the subtitling for the local part and, as for the other one, wait until technology is available, and then bring it on. That way, at least, if I am deaf, I am only half deaf and not fully deaf.

Sir, a sarong is a sarong. Once you cut it into two, it becomes two pieces and it is no more a sarong! It would not reflect the entirety of our culture.

But, seriously, Sir, we are not saying that the TV station is not ready for that. What I am trying to explain to the House earlier is that the news is presented in a packaged form. For example, if you want to carry a report about tsunami, you have a newscaster reading, giving the figures, taking some shots of the scenes, then you go down to Phuket or Meulaboh and you interview the people there. It may come in the Malay language. From there, the newscaster will project the viewpoint. In the end, after one minute of looking at the

But I think we can learn from other major broadcasters. We have seen CNN doing part of that. We have seen CNBC doing that too. But the difference here is that they do it with delayed broadcast. In other words, if you want to carry the captioning from Meulaboh and Phuket, we can do it. But we delay the news by one or two hours to provide the captions together, so that the totality of the news remains intact. So, we have a choice. Do you want to have the news in real time or do you want to have the news in delayed time?

news, you get a totality of the news. Having just our portion of the news caption and carrying it into the air amounts to having the sarong cut to one-third. Then, you miss covering the bigger part, which could be a crucial part of the news.

Sir, if I may reply to the Senior Parliamentary Secretary.

I think this is one of the problems in modern management. We always put the problem as you can either have A or B. Why can we not have both A and B?

Sir, in fact, that is what we are doing. It is not black or white. It is always some shades of grey. So, you will notice that we do provide captioning and, in fact, crawlers are used extensively, particularly on Channel NewsAsia. Crawlers are the running line of words at the bottom of the screen, and crawlers would give you an update on the news headline and key events that are shaping up in Singapore and around the world. So, it is not as if the hearing-impaired have got no access or contact with real-time news broadcasting. But to go extensively into subtitling is a totally different ball game.