Parliament

On Monday (1 April), 16 Members of Parliament (MPs), including political office holders and Nominated MPs debated Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam’s ministerial statement on hate speech in Parliament.   The debate lasted for four hours, with many of the MPs in support of prevailing laws regarding offensive speech while making suggestions to strengthen these laws in order …

Debarment from participating in government contracts is a separate and distinct exercise from the court proceedings and serve a different purpose, says Second Minister for Finance Indranee Rajah. Responding to questions posed by MP Pritam Singh on the debarment procedure, Ms Indranee said that the Court will deal with the adjudication of liability and implementation of penalties for breaches of …

Senior Minister of State for Environment and Water Resources Dr Amy Khor said that there is no correlation between burning or chemical smells and the ambient air quality readings. She was responding to a question raised by Member of Parliament (MP) for Nee Soon GRC Lee Bee Wah on whether Yishun residents should be worried of the burning and pungent …

On Monday (1 April), Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam delivered his ministerial statement on hate speech in Parliament where he talked about a variety of issues including the last minute cancellation of the Swedish metal band Watain’s concert. In his statement, he quoted a number of individuals while presenting his arguments, including former Straits Times editor and author …

Despite Law Minister K. Shanmugam’s assurance that the Protection From Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill does not “deal with opinions” or “viewpoints”, and that Singaporeans “can have whatever viewpoints however reasonable or unreasonable”, media practitioners and civil rights organisations have expressed concern over the introduction of the Bill in Parliament on Mon (1 Apr). Kirsten Han, editor-in-chief of Southeast Asian …

MP Chen Show Mao of the Worker’s Party shared a photo of a hand out that was distributed in Parliament on 1 April to accompany Minister K Shanmugam’s ministerial statement on restricting hate speech to maintain racial and religious harmony in Singapore. The hand out was a list of so-called ‘offensive’ lyrics that Mr Shanmugam used to illustrate what offensive …

The Singapore Parliament will sit at 12:30pm on Monday, 1 April 2019, for the 102nd session of the 13th Parliament. *51 oral questions and 32 written question had been scheduled to be asked. There will be two Ministerial Statements presented in this parliament sitting: 1. Restricting Hate Speech to Maintain Racial and Religious Harmony in Singapore – Minister for Home …

Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong said on 12 February (Tuesday) that Singapore may consider coming up with new laws to counter foreign interference, as it is “especially vulnerable” to these exploits which stir up distrust and threaten its democratic processes. He was responding to a questioned asked by MP Cheng Li Hui in Parliament. She asked PM …

In light of calls for the Government to devise “more universal and permanent schemes” for Singaporeans instead of what some have dubbed as temporary schemes tailored to lure in voters before every General Election, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin said that contrary to such opinions, the Government already has a history of implementing such long-term schemes in the past. In …

The Government will pilot designated priority cabins for vulnerable commuters, which are meant for seniors, persons with disabilities and families with your children, on one of the rail lines, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng announced during his Committee of Supply speech on Thursday (Mar 7). The minister said that other commuters are encouraged to give way …