The Online Citizen Asia

During his speech on Singapore's COVID-19 response, Workers' Party MP Gerald Giam argued that the Singapore government initially advised against wearing masks not because they believed it was less effective than hand-washing, but because of a shortage of surgical masks. Mr Giam noted that it took a leaked recording of a Minister at a closed-door meeting in February 2020 to reveal that Singapore was rationing masks to save them for healthcare workers. However, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung clarified to Parliament that the initial advice was due to the lack of understanding of the virus and was based on WHO recommendations.

An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people are afflicted with chronic rare diseases in Singapore and the Rare Disease Fund (RDF) has supported nine patients, which represents about 0.4% of Singaporeans with rare diseases, since its establishment in 2019.

A heated exchange between Singapore's Home Affairs and Law Minister, K Shanmugam, and Non-constituency Member of Parliament, Leong Mun Wai took place in Parliament on Wednesday which lasted over an hour, with the two trading questions and speaking over each other. The debate was sparked by Mr Leong's Facebook post, which criticised Mr Teo Chee Hean's disclosure of the police investigation into Lee Hsien Yang and Mrs Lee Suet Fern, and Mr Shanmugam's use of the word "absconded" to describe the couple's departure from Singapore. Mr Shanmugam accused Mr Leong of violating parliamentary procedures and asked him to withdraw his statements.

Malaysia's Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has instructed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to take further action on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) project after the previous prosecution was deemed insufficient. Speaking in Parliament, he emphasised that the previous prosecution did not cover the main culprits behind the project's issues, and a second-round prosecution would take place. The Prime Minister was responding to a question from an MP about the government's seriousness in taking action against non-transparent governance, including the LCS.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's Budget 2023 was approved via a voice vote in Parliament. The largest on record, it allocates RM388.1 billion, with RM289.1 billion for operating expenses and RM99 billion for development spending.

The Dewan Rakyat debate session became heated as Khoo Poay Tiong, a member of parliament from the Pakatan Harapan-Kota Melaka party, made allegations against...