Point of Order
Speakers
Summary
This point of order concerns a request by Non-Constituency Member Mr Leong Mun Wai for Mr Speaker to reinstate Question Time to ninety minutes. Mr Leong Mun Wai argued that an extension was necessary to address public concerns regarding Character and Citizenship Education lessons on the Israel-Hamas conflict. He noted that the Minister for Education previously indicated these questions would be addressed and requested priority for them in future sittings. Mr Speaker declined the request, maintaining the 30-minute allocation to ensure the Committee of Supply debate proceeded according to the original schedule. Mr Speaker concluded that the topic had been discussed in previous sessions and advised that any remaining questions be dealt with under existing Standing Orders.
Transcript
10.30 am
Mr Speaker: Order.
Mr Leong Mun Wai (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, can I ask you to exercise your power under Standing Order 22(1) to reinstate the Question Time today to one and half hours for the Parliamentary Questions (PQs), so that the PQs on the issue of the Israeli-Hamas content for the Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lesson can be clarified.
I am sure many Singaporeans would like to know more. But looking at the order of the Oral PQs today, the related PQs are unlikely to be answered today.
So, can I have my request, Sir?
Mr Speaker: Our Question Time has been allocated as 30 minutes. I would like to keep it as it is. If there are questions which have not been addressed adequately, they can always be filed. I recall there was quite a bit of discussion earlier in the previous few days of debate. So, I would like to keep it as it is, so that we do not change the timings that were originally allocated for the rest of the Committee of Supply (COS) debate.
Yes, Mr Leong.
Mr Leong Mun Wai: Sir, this is a very important issue which has attracted a lot of concerns from Singaporeans. I think the Minister for Education had mentioned during the COS that the PQs will be addressed today as well.
It is just a simple act of yours to extend the timing. The PQ timing, anyway, was originally one and a half hours. If you do not want to exercise that, then can I have your assurance that the related PQs will be at the top of the queue at the next Sitting?
Mr Speaker: Mr Leong, these questions, as I recall, indeed were addressed during the Ministry of Education (MOE) COS debate and I think there were certainly questions and clarifications that were sought during the COS debate.
I will keep it as that. As I have said, I would like to keep our Question Time to what had been allocated from day one of the COS. If the proceedings today are fast enough, we can cover as many questions as we can – which is how I have always tried to progress all debates. In fact, you yourself, sometimes ask very long clarifications and that takes up time.
My style is to allow as many PQs as possible to be addressed at each Question Time. I have always asked, whether it is during Question Time or during the COS, to keep clarifications short. Likewise, I ask for the responses from the front bench to be also short.
So, let us try to progress as fast as we can. As I have said, I think there was some discussion earlier on this subject. If there are other PQs to be raised in subsequent Sittings, it will be dealt with in accordance with the rules and Standing Orders.