Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday (15 Apr 2019). Source: Bloomberg

TOC went through the Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings to examine the attendance records of MPs in Parliament for last year (2018).

The Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings are the official minutes of the proceedings of Parliament, including the proceedings of the Committee of the whole Parliament. It contains a record of attendance of the Members, announcements by the Speaker, papers presented to Parliament, all orders and resolutions of Parliament and, if a division is conducted, the division list.

Altogether, there were 32 sittings held in Parliament last year:

  • Jan – 3
  • Feb – 5
  • Mar – 9
  • Apr – 0
  • May – 6
  • Jun – 0
  • Jul – 3
  • Aug – 1
  • Sep – 1
  • Oct – 2
  • Nov – 2
  • Dec – 0

The top 3 absentee MPs from Parliamentary sittings were from the People’s Action Party, with Mr Iswaran missing 9 sittings or 28.1% of the total 32. Prof Fatimah and Dr Ng Eng Hen both missed 8 or a quarter of the Parliamentary sittings last year:

  1. Mr S Iswaran (West Coast GRC) – 9 (28.1%)
  2. Prof Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) – 8 (25.0%)
  3. Dr Ng Eng Hen (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) – 8 (25.0%)

Mr Iswaran is currently the Minister for Communications and Information while Dr Ng Eng Hen is the Minister for Defence.

At $16,000 a month or $192,000 a year of MP allowance, this works out on average that the MPs were getting $6,000 per Parliamentary sitting for last year.

As for the Ministers, it was revealed by the Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean that the range of the pay component over the past five years (2013-2017) as:

Performance bonus: 3.4 – 4.9 months. Average – 4.1 months
National bonus: 3-6 months each year. Average across all political appointment holders over five years – 4.3 months
Annual Variable Component: 0.95 to 1.5 months. Average – 1.3 months.

Which meant an average annual pay of 21.7 months. This translate to an annual salary of $2.03 million for the DPM and $1.9 million for Ministers such as Mr Iswaran.

Other MPs who were absent from Parliamentary sittings 2018 were:

Mr Teo Ser Luck (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) – 7 (21.9%)

Mr Lee Yi Shyan (East Coast GRC) – 7 (21.9%)

Mr Masagos Zulkifli (Tampines GRC) – 7 (21.9%)

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson) – 6 (18.8%)

Mr K Shanmugam (Nee Soon GRC) – 6 (18.8%)

Ms Grace Fu Hai Yien (Yuhua) – 5 (15.6%)

Dr Lam Pin Min (Sengkang West) – 5 (15.6%)

Mr Lim Swee Say (East Coast GRC) – 5 (15.6%)

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin (Marine Parade GRC) – 5 (15.6%)

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry (Nee Soon GRC) – 4 (12.5%)

Dr Teo Ho Pin (Bukit Panjang) – 4 (12.5%)

Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling (Fengshan) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Cedric Foo Chee Keng (Pioneer) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Heng Swee Keat (Tampines GRC) – 3 (9.4%)

Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar (Ang Mo Kio GRC) – 3 (9.4%)

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan (Hong Kah North) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Lim Hng Kiang (West Coast GRC) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Aljunied GRC) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam (Jurong GRC) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai (Marine Parade GRC) – 3 (9.4%)

Mr Amrin Amin (Sembawang GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Chen Show Mao (Aljunied GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Dr Chia Shi-Lu (Tanjong Pagar GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Gan Kim Yong (Chua Chu Kang GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Dr Koh Poh Koon (Ang Mo Kio GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Dr Mohamad Maliki (East Coast GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim (Nee Soon GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Ng Chee Meng (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Png Eng Huat (Hougang) – 2 (6.3%)

Ms Sim Ann (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Sitoh Yih Pin (Potong Pasir) – 2 (6.3%)

Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Teo Chee Hean (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Zainal Sapari (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) – 2 (6.3%)

Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Chan Chun Sing (Tanjong Pagar GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Miss Cheng Li Hui (Tampines GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Khaw Boon Wan (Sembawang GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Desmond Lee (Jurong GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Ong Ye Kung (Sembawang GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Ms Sun Xueling (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong (Radin Mas) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

Mr Alex Yam Ziming (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) – 1 (3.1%)

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