Have you heard? Singapore’s parliament sittings will now be screened on Channel 8 as the new 9 pm drama.
We’re kidding, but you have to admit, the parliament sittings have been rather entertaining recently. If you haven’t already heard, the newest episode is this: Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin muttered “F***ing Populist” under his breath during a parliamentary sitting in April.
The comment was targeted at Jamus Lim. Cockles of his heart not so warmed now, are they?
The Leader of the House, Indranee Rajah, has since responded to the Speaker’s hot mic saga. Here’s what you need to know.
A Summary of Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin’s Hot Mic Saga Thus Far
Here’s the clip of the Speaker’s now-notorious “F***ing Populist” comment, targeted at Jamus Lim, if you haven’t already seen it.
We can’t tell if this or Dr Balakrishnan’s “illiterate” comment back in 2021 is worse.
This clip was taken from a sitting on 17 April this year amid parliamentary debates regarding President Tharman—eh paiseh; we meant President Halimah Yacob’s address.
Since then, the Speaker has apologised to Jamus Lim for the “unparliamentary language”, which the Workers’ Party member has accepted.
The Speaker added: “When I listen to speeches made, like everyone, I do form views on them. What was said were my private thoughts which I had muttered to myself and not to anyone.”
Hmm… Not so private if you’re surrounded by mics.
Jamus Lim might have accepted the Speaker’s apology, but the Speaker isn’t getting away so easily—he’ll have to account to the Leader of the House, Indranee Rajah, first.
You see, if the Members of Parliament (MPs) are students, then the Speaker of Parliament is the teacher, and the Leader of the House is the discipline mistress.
The “discipline mistress” has acted against unparliamentary conduct before—it’s part of her job to speak out against such conduct.
Perhaps the most iconic of such a moment is this: when the current Leader of the House, Indranee Rajah, was so angered by a comment made by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai that she threw her files aside.
Leong is the MVP here—first, he took out Dr Balakrishnan, then Mr Shanmugam, and finally, the “discipline mistress”.
Power lah.
Suffice it to say, Leong probably had to visit the discipline mistress’ office. At least don’t need to call parents.
You can watch this video to find out more about Leong’s brush with the “discipline mistress”:
Now that Leong’s turn is over, it will soon be the Speaker’s turn to meet the “discipline mistress”.
Indranee Rajah will address this incident at the next parliamentary sitting in August.
However, if you’re curious, it is unlikely that this will escalate further to, say, a Committee of Privileges case akin to that of the Raeesah Khan debacle.
“The Speaker’s conduct cannot be condoned, but there are also other significant matters that Parliament needs to give its time to,” said Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University.
Essentially, Parliament has other things to do besides dealing with “unparliamentary language” lah.
You can read this to learn more about Tan Chuan-Jin’s hot mic saga.