MAINTAIN DEFENCE SPENDING, MPs URGE
Armed forces must be equipped adequately to be effective
SINGAPORE cannot rely on the United Nations to defend it should a
crisis break out, several MPs said yesterday.
Defence spending, they urged, had to be maintained to ensure that the
country's armed forces were equipped adequately to defend it effectively.
Reiterating his support for the defence budget, Nominated MP Shriniwas
Rai said: "Any suggestion that the United Nations will come to our help is a wishful
dream and an unrealistic expectation.
"It is no use building all the economic structures and economic
growth if we don't have the capability to defend ourselves."
This year, the expenditure allocated for defence totalled $7.27
billion, 0.1 per cent higher than the last financial year. It represents 5.1 per cent of
Singapore's Gross Domestic Product, up from last year's 4.6 per cent.
Non-Constituency MP J. B. Jeyaretnam had argued in Parliament earlier
for reduced defence spending, and greater reliance on defence pacts with other nations and
the United Nations to settle disputes.
Disagreeing with this view, Dr Wang Kai Yuen (Bukit Timah GRC) said
that new weapons like the recently-acquired Apache attack helicopters, for
example, needed a long lead time for orders, delivery and crew training for them to be put
in place, he noted.
Such purchases could not be deferred just because times were bad, he
said, adding: "We should look at the need for these weapon systems in our overall
defence doctrine, rather than be too constrained in our decision based on the budget
considerations."
Agreeing, Nominated MP Zulkifli Baharudin referred to Mr Jeyaretnam's
suggestion that UN intervention could be an alternative in preserving peace and security,
saying: "I hope that day will not come, because when that happens, that is the end of
the country."
(taken from The Straits Times, 11/3/99)