SINGAPORE — On Monday (Jul 17), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced that Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin and Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui have tendered their resignations from both parliament and the People’s Action Party.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has accepted both of their resignations.
In the letter addressed to PM Lee, Mr. Tan acknowledged the mistake he made in Parliament, where he used rude and unparliamentary language. He publicly expressed remorse for his behavior and personally conveyed his regrets to the MP involved.
The incident has sparked significant concern and raised questions about his impartiality as Speaker. Mr. Tan recognizes that, as Speaker, he should have held himself to higher standards.
“For me personally, this recent episode has added to the hurt I have caused my family. I have let them down. We have spoken about my personal conduct before. ”
“There are areas where I have fallen short. I need to take responsibility for them, and help heal my family. We need space to recover and work through the issues, “he noted that he have discussed the matter with his wife and agreed he must step away from politics and devote himself to his family.
“I apologize to my fellow Singaporeans, residents, volunteers, colleagues and friends for having let them down.”
PM Minister Lee issued a statement confirming that he has accepted Mr. Tan’s resignation from the PAP.
“His resignation is necessary, to maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years. My exchange of letters with him is attached.”
“I thank Mr Tan for having been a member of my team, and wish him and his family all the best in his next phase of life.”
In place of Mr Tan, Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Second Minister for Law and MP for Marine Parade GRC will take care of the residents in Kembangan‐Chai Chee ward in Marine Parade GRC.
Cheng Li Hui is a Member of Parliament for Tampines East and Tampines GRC.
“I am very sorry to be resigning in these circumstances, and would like to apologise to the party, as well as to my residents and volunteers,” she wrote in the letter.
In response, PM Lee said, ” Her resignation is necessary, to maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years. ”
In place of Ms Cheng, Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development, Second Minister for Health and MP for Tampines GRC will take care of the residents in Tampines East ward in Tampines GRC.
Since their resignation, the social media accounts of both PAP MPs, including their Facebook and Instagram pages, have been taken down.
Before Mr. Tan deactivated his personal Facebook page, it had amassed 138,000 followers, while Ms. Cheng‘s page had 12,000 likes.
As of Monday 2 pm, Ms. Cheng’s personal Instagram account was still active, but Mr. Tan‘s account, with 99,000 followers, is no longer accessible.
