A day after the Parliament spent hours discussing Workers’ Party (WP) MP Sylvia Lim’s motion on Singapore’s justice system, fellow WP MP Leon Perera shared on Facebook the amendment motion submitted by ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) MP Murali Pillai.
Mr Perera asked in the caption of an image showing Mr Pillai’s proposed amendments, “Which motion better captures the spirit of improving Singapore’s justice system where improvement is needed?”
The original motion filed by Ms Lim is as follows:
That this house affirms that fairness, access and independence are cornerstones of Singapore’s justice system and calls on the government to recognise and remedy its shortcomings in order to enhance justice for all regardless of means and social status including facilitating a review of the justice system
The amendment, on the other hand, says:
That this house recognises that fairness, access and independence are cornerstones of Singapore’s justice system and affirms the government’s continuous efforts since independence to build a fair and just society and remedy any shortcomings in order to enhance justice for all regardless of race, language, religion, economic means or social status.
*Changes are illustrated in bold*
You will notice that the part about “facilitating a review of the justice system” was removed altogether in Mr Pillai’s amendment.
“The Workers’ Party’s original motion called for an external review to consider changes to address gaps and shortcomings in the current justice system, particularly as relates to access to justice for all,” explained Mr Perera in his Facebook post on Thursday (5 November).
The WP politician went on to ask the public to look at how Mr Pillai’s amendments have “changed the meaning and sense of that motion”, adding that an overwhelming majority of PAP MPs passed the amendment motion instead of the original.
