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SINGAPORE GOVERNMENT PRESS STATEMENT BYC/INFS.AP.15/58 )

SPEECH BY THE ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE CHIEF SECRETARY, MR. M.P .• D. NAIR,, AT THE OPENING OF THE WORLD HE.A,LTH DAY EXHIBITION AT YIO CHU KANG

COMMUNITY CENTRE ·oN APRIL 7, 1958

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the World Health Organisation. The people al+. over the world celebrate this day as World Health Day. We in Singapore are taking part in this world-wide celebration by holding island-wide exhibiti.on. . .

This premises is the nerve centre of many day-do-day corrnnunity activities of the Yio phu Kang Village people and we are grateful indeed to the organisers of this exhibition for having selected this community centre as one of the venue of the exhibition. The people of Yio Chu Kang are happy that they are able to join with the rest of the people of Singapore on this important oc casi' on and to witness the exhibition at this ~entre. ·

. The W.H.O. 9 one of the largest of the specialised ·agencies of the Unfte'd Nations., . is dedicated to work for the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of heal th. All governments can turn to W .H. O. for expert con-sul tan ts and highly trained specialists and for methods f.or promoting exchange of knowledge, skills as· individual fellow-ships which allow doctors and nurses and other healt~ workers to undertake special studies .and research outside their own countries, aid to medical and teaching institutions, seminars, conferenceR and group training :13chemes. Singapore attaches great impertance to W.H.O .. This Organisation, is helping our country, Singapore, in the training of .our nnreas, health visitors, mental · nurses, and the University of Malaya and DElpar.tmen t of Public Heal th and Social Medicine.· W .H. o. has prov:ided us with experts and arEl still continuing to give- us considerable help. By W.H.O's cooperation and assistancEl Singapore has progressed in the field of the heal th and it is to be hoped that· more coordination, sharing of skill and experience and increased practical .assistance from W .H. o. will be forthcoming in the near future to enable our peo9le to achieve the highest possible level of helath. '

To show progress to heal th people should ,b.e free. from ignorance, wan't, squalor,' i¢.leness and di seasc. This means that heal th progress is not mvJrely the province of the Ministry of Health but of' all organisations which contribute to social and mental health. The bars to the road of health Qre being steadily removed from the masses· in Singapore. How this ·1 s done is cxpla,Jned by various organisations participating in this Exhibitions. ,.

Ignorance can only be removed by intensive and wise education policy affording · increased educational facilities for the people. T,o this end the scope and aims of education have been fundamentally altered and improved by our sleeted governm9nt. T.he number of prirmry and secondary schools has inc re~s.ed considerably since 1955 · and it will continue to grow yearly until accommodation for '?.-11 children of school going age is found. i.In addition to these schools there are technical schools and evening schools organ:is ed or ru pported by Gove rnmcn t.

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Housing has•••••••••• 2/-

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· Rousing has proved to b·e .. the mos_t difficult proble.m. in .. Singapcre. It has been estimated that the putting up of 10,000 houses a year is needed to meet increased demands for housing. One of the chief difficulties .has cotne ·-not fr9m the Government side but from . the. human factor invoJv ed a.s the peo:._)le who have to move from · slums are . usual ],y poor··people. The Gove rnmm t' s resettlement progriarrme has .,helped in .the ·rese.t.tl.emen t of a very large number . of families. You will find among the exhicits the efforts of the Singap ore Improvement Trust, the Gov ernment's housing agency, which has bfl.en able to provide accommo.dati,on for a conside r·able number of house-hungry people. Efforts in all di rec ti ons to speed up the building prog·ramme a:re being made by GdV ernmen t to remove squalid conditions ·among the people.

·Self-government would be a .mockery if the living $tandards of the people were not improved • . A great deal ha·s been done by our elected government in order _to raise the economic standards of the people. It has become absolutely essential tliat the economic system of the country should be so dra~tically reorganised, as the rate of births a·nnually is about 50,000 and all neoessi ties will have to be found for this ever increasing popula tion. There has been outstanding achievements in the field of food production. The eggs produced in the year 1954 amounted to 300 million and this total to over 400 million in the year 1956. Similarl y tbe position of pigs and poultry had also improved immensely. A comprehensive rural development plan is to be launched shortly and this Will enable to 'increase further the economic standards of the ·rural people. Government is new $tudying the proposals made by the Minimum Standard of Living COiumi ttee and it is hoped that dec.isions arising our of the deliberations will _broaden and strengthen the bas is of soci al security for every man, woman and child· in Singapore.

There has been a substant~al increase in our medical services. The · number of hospital beds has increa:-sEfd ·from 4., 600 · -ea" 6 ,100., The Government's p·olicy° of bringing medical services to the ·pcqple. will show concrete resu1, ts when the di strict 'hospitals plan ·are complete. A considerab"le increase in the number of outdoor clinics and inaternit;v and child heal~h clinics are also planned in the' coming years~ Steps for effective control of tuberculosis are well in hand and beds for t.b, patients will be increased consicte:r::ably.

This ·cxhibition ·is designed to show Singapore's i rogress towards the attainment of a high level .of re a,lth, It is not a complete plan of progress in all secio rs· but as you can see in a moment many Government departments and statutory bodies like Heal th, Labour and Social Welfare, Education, Singapar e Improvement Trust and Ci~ty Counc il have contributed tre ir time planning this work to make this exhibition a success. It is hoped that the peo-ple who see this exhibition will gain inforrra tion on the gmeral progress in Singapore. Ge tting to know the whole picture gives us a sense :of perspective. It is also hoped tm t you will take ad-vanta ge of the services offe red.·'and give cJl your consideration and appreciation. It will also help you to ·cooperate in whatever way you can in the total progress and design •

. Finally I would like to pay tribute to the imp ortant con-tribution the World Hea,l th Organisation is making· to the pe()ple all over the world and to Singapore in particular. I will be failing in my du t'y if I do not · take·. this opportuni t ;\r ·to commend the organisers of this exhibition and to all who have. participated in it to make it a great success. ·

APRIL 7, 1958. (Time issued 2000 hours).