Apologies, affairs and allegations: Unconventional topics that Parliament tackled in 2023

Time flies when you're having fun — and 2023 sure flew by quickly.

From introducing various initiatives under Forward Singapore to President Tharman Shanmugaratnam's landslide victory in the 2023 Presidential Election, this year brought numerous memorable events in Singapore's political sphere.

At the same time, some unexpected political scandals took our little red dot by storm.

As the year comes to an end, let us take a trip down memory lane with the apologies, affairs and allegations that Singapore's political scene saw in 2023.

Tan Chuan-Jin apologised for his 'unparliamentary language'

A link to a YouTube video was posted on Reddit and showed former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin muttering "f***ing populist" in response to Sengkang MP Jamus Lim's speech during Parliament on April 17.

Associate Professor Lim had suggested the establishment of an official poverty line during a debate on the President’s Address, where Madam Halimah Yacob called for the improvement of Singapore’s social compact and strengthening of its social safety.

The clip was circulated on multiple social media platforms and prompted an apology from Tan via a Facebook post for his "unparliamentary language".

Tan added that he has also apologised to Prof Lim personally, which the latter "kindly accepted". 

PSP took down and apologised for their 'sia suay' Facebook post

A Facebook post by the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) landed Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai in hot water with Leader of the House, Indranee Rajah.

The post included a short clip of Parliamentary proceedings on July 3 and decribed them as "sia suay" - a Hokkien colloquialism used to describe embarrassing or disgraceful situations.

In the clip, Leong was raising some points of clarification regarding the ministerial statements on the Ridout Road rentals. A text overlay highlighted how Leong was asked by Deputy Speaker Christopher de Souza not to start a debate during a Ministerial Statement after Leong urged de Souza not to end the debate too early. 

Indranee criticised the post and said: "The video gives a false impression of what occurred in Parliament." 

She elaborated that the clip gives the impression that issues on the Ridout rentals "could not be fully ventilated," which was false.

The post was first edited to have a different caption, but was eventually taken down. Additionally, an apology was issued by the PSP addressing Indranee's criticisms.

PM Lee wished for "a softer exit" for Tan Chuan-Jin and Cheng Li Hui

Former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin was involved in yet another incident when the news of his and former MP Cheng Li Hui's resignations from their respective posts broke.

The resignations occurred on July 17 this year — and later that day, PM Lee Hsien Loong revealed in a press conference that the pair were in an inappropriate relationship since 2020. Both were counselled and were also told to stop the relationship, he said.

PM Lee said in Parliament the next month that he held back on earlier action as he hoped to give them "a softer exit" and avoid embarrassing their families.

"All their families are suffering. I hope that MPs and the public can empathise with and have compassion for the families, and give them the privacy and space they need to heal," he said.

PM Lee also echoed similar words for Workers' Party (WP) members Leon Perera and Nicole Seah, who admitted to having an extramarital affair and eventually resigned from their posts that same month.

Pritam Singh on how WP acted on tip-off but Leon Perera and Nicole Seah denied affair

News of former WP MP Leon Perera and member Nicole Seah having an affair broke almost immediately after that of Tan Chuan-Jin and Cheng Li Hui's.

A video clip circulating online on July 17 showed Leon Perera, 53, and Nicole Seah, 36, looking at each other while holding hands at a restaurant. It was unclear when the video was taken.

WP Chief Pritam Singh spoke to the media at a press conference two days later and said he was first alerted to the pair's involvement with each other "around late 2020, early 2021" by Perera's former driver through WhatsApp.

He proceeded to recount how both Perera and Seah had denied any semblance of an inappropriate relationship when confronted by the Singh and other party members who had also been approached by Perera's former driver.

To end off his statement, the WP chief urged Singaporeans to give the Seah and Perera "the space to heal". 

Minister Shanmugam refuted allegations of son being awarded SLA contract for Ridout Road properties

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam sternly denied that Livspace, a company in which his son is Southeast Asia CEO, had any contracts with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) for renovations to the Ridout Road properties.

This was in response to a clarification MP Nadia Ahmad Samdin raised in Parliament on July 3.

He highlighted the "established" processes for the awarding of contracts and said: "Do these people really believe that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau [CPIB] would not have found this out if it were true?".

Shanmugam also told those making false allegations to come after him if they wish to do so, but that they should leave his family alone.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com