Indranee demands PSP take down 'sia suay' Facebook post, prepare apology 'acceptable to Parliament'
Was it a case of misinterpretation, or was the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) hinting at something else?
Leader of the House Indranee Rajah raised a point of order in Parliament on Wednesday (July 5) afternoon regarding a Facebook post from PSP.
The post from the opposition party, uploaded on Tuesday, consisted of a clip from Monday's Parliamentary proceedings, where Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai was raising some points of clarification regarding the ministerial statements on the Ridout Road rentals.
A text overlay in the video pointed out that Leong was asked by Deputy Speaker Christopher de Souza not to start a debate during a Ministerial Statement after Leong urged the latter not to end the debate too early.
The post's caption also reads: "In what some online commenters are calling another "sia suay" moment. The PSP's Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa are here to do whatever it takes to ensure that the voice of the people is heard."
"Sia suay" is a Hokkien colloquialism used to describe embarrassing or disgraceful situations.
Addressing the House, Indranee, who is also the Second Minister for Finance said: "The video gives a false impression of what occurred in Parliament."
Indranee elaborated that the clip gives a false impression that issues on the Ridout rentals "could not be fully ventilated".
She first pointed out that the exchange in the video was not a debate, but rather a time for MPs to seek clarifications about the Ministerial Statements that were delivered.
"The video [also] does not point out what happened after that," she said, adding that Leong had actually asked 11 questions on Monday.
Indranee also questioned the use of the phrase "sia suay" in the post.
"So there has to be something embarrassing. What is this embarrassing thing that it goes on to say that the PSP's Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa are here to do whatever it takes to ensure that the voice of the people is heard?"
"And then you have that blurb which suggests that they were being shut down and a debate was not allowed to take place."
In her speech, Indranee also reminded the other MPs present about the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, which states that "no person shall publish any statement, whether in writing or otherwise, which falsely or scandalously defames the proceedings or the character of Parliament".
She also brought up Leong's previous infractions in Parliament on several occasions, where he was made to apologise for his unruly behaviour and retract statements he made.
Ending her statement, Indranee then posed a question to Leong, who is the secretary-general of the PSP, about why such a misleading post was put up.
'Just an expression': Leong
Responding to the Leader of the House, Leong claimed that the video was merely an "expression".
He added that the use of "sia suay" is "what the people has used to refer to [him]".
"We are saying that 'Oh this is another example of sia suay' but actually what Leong Mun Wai was trying to do was to ask more questions to get more facts," he said.
After seeking clarification that the phrase "sia suay" was meant to describe Leong's behaviour in Parliament on Monday, Indranee then asked that the PSP take down the video and come up with an apology "in a form acceptable to Parliament" by Thursday.
"I will go back and we will discuss [this] within our party. And we'll respond to the [Parliament] as soon as we can," said Leong.
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claudiatan@asiaone.com
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