PUBLISHED ONMarch 22, 2023 11:21 AMByClaudia TanNon-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai agreed in Parliament on Wednesday (March 22) that the names of the six former Keppel executives should not be released.
Leong had posed a question to Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam in Parliament on Monday (March 20) about why the names of Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, were disclosed during the judiciary probe over their potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings.
In a Facebook post that very night, Leong alleged that Shanmugam's mention of the Parti Liyani case in his answer was an attempt to "muddy the waters", and urged members of the public to "focus on the difference between the Lee Hsien Yang and the Keppel Offshore & Marine cases".
Addressing his statement on Wednesday, the Minister for Law responded by calling Leong's claim a "serious allegation", as he had already explained that it was an illustration of a fairly similar case, where the identity of the person being investigated was released to the public.
"The essence of his statement is that I used an example which is irrelevant — that it was used to confuse Parliament. If that is what he thought, if he had said it, I would have responded immediately. But he didn't do that."
Shanmugam then asked Leong to withdraw his statement on grounds that it was "quite wrong to have suggested motives on a false basis".
During the tense hour-long exchange with Leong in Parliament, Shanmugam also called the former out for his "unparliamentary" conduct.
He said that Leong had abused his Parliamentary privileges by not raising a point when he was given the opportunity to do so in the House, but instead went on Facebook to make "improper and untrue" statements.
Shanmugam then went on to raise three previous incidents where Leong had also breached parliamentary procedure on February 25 2021, May 10 2021 and again on March 8 2022, where he was told to apologise for his improper comments.
To substantiate his claims, Shanmugam brought up Section 31(g) of the Parliamentary Privileges, Immunities and Powers Act, which states:
"No person shall publish any statement, whether in writing or otherwise, which falsely or scandalously defames, or which reflects on the character of, the Speaker or any Member touching on his conduct in Parliament or anything done or said by him in Parliament."
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Shanmugam pointed out that Leong has a pattern of unparliamentary behaviour, where "he has apologised twice before for his behaviour, and he had to apologise again today".
"Unfortunately, Mr Leong does this on a regular basis: getting his facts wrong, making allegations which are not substantiated, and conducting himself poorly in Parliament," said the minister.
In Parliament, the minister also asked Leong to delete his Facebook post and apologise.
During the delivery of his ministerial statement, Shanmugam posed a question to Leong regarding Lee Hsien Yang's return to Singapore to cooperate with the authorities' investigations.
He noted that Lee was a "valuable member" of Leong's party, and that the pair have frequently interacted with each other on social media.
In response, Leong maintained that issue at hand was "fairness and equality before the law", and reiterated that the criminal procedure had to be followed since Lee had "absconded".
He refused to answer when asked if Lee will return to Singapore.
claudiatan@asiaone.com
