Statement by Deputy Leader

The Deputy Leader of the House (Mr Zaqy Mohamad): Mr Speaker, Point of Order.

Mr Speaker: Please proceed.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Mr Speaker, during yesterday’s proceedings, you made a statement in Parliament to respond to the Facebook comments put up by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Mr Leong Mun Wai yesterday, shortly after the conclusion of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM)’s Committee of Supply (COS) debate.

Mr Leong has, subsequently, put up a video and further post at about 6.55 pm yesterday, captioned: "This is How The Speaker Prevents A Member From Speaking".

This video is accompanied by a further post in which he claims that he was “deprived of the opportunity to respond to Tan See Leng’s (TSL) 'red herring' statement made last Friday”, that you did not allow him “to speak using the cut-off time as an excuse”, that “there is flexibility because the Parliament schedule is ahead of time this year”, that other Members of Parliament (MPs) were “allowed to speak before” him and that you should have known that he “had an outstanding issue from the previous Friday’s sitting”.

This video shows the exchange between Speaker and Mr Leong just before the conclusion of MOM’s COS debate yesterday.

Mr Speaker, given that Mr Leong’s post raised questions about the basis of Speaker’s decision not to call him to seek further clarifications, I would like to seek a ruling from Speaker as to the basis for proceeding with the conclusion of MOM’s Committee of Supply (COS) debate, despite Mr Leong rising to make further clarifications.

Mr Speaker: Hon Members, I do wish to confirm in this House that the Guillotine Time for the debate on the Ministry for Manpower was Monday, 7 March 2022 at 12.40 pm, as all of you are aware.

The Guillotine Times were made pursuant to Standing Order 92(7)(a) which states that: "The Speaker shall fix the time on any allotted day at which the consideration of any head of expenditure shall, if not previously disposed of, be concluded. If the time so fixed is reached before the head concerned is disposed of, the Chairman shall forthwith put every question necessary to dispose of that head."

Members were all informed before the commencement of COS of the total time allocated to the debate for each Ministry, and the start and end times of the debates. Members were also informed that if the discussion of a head of expenditure is concluded before the Guillotine Time stated, the head next following will be entered into straightaway.

Members were informed of the Guillotine Times for MOM last week, on Thursday, 3 March 2022, through Notice Paper No B003 of 2022 and this information was published in the Daily Working Paper for Monday, 7 March 2022.

Thirty-and-a-half minutes were allocated for clarifications, but I allowed the clarifications to continue for 48 minutes till the Guillotine Time of 12.40 pm. There were no time savings for the debate on MOM based on the Guillotine Times.

Ten MPs made clarifications, including four Opposition Members, Mr Louis Chua, Mr Gerald Giam, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim and Mr Pritam Singh and one Nominated MP, Mr Abdul Samad. So, in total, five Government MPs and five Non-Government MPs spoke and raised their clarifications.

Mr Leong Mun Wai was not the only MP who could not ask a clarification at the end of MOM’s debate. There were other MPs who had raised their hands or had indicated that they wished to speak, including Mr Edward Chia, Mr Louis Ng, Ms Janet Ang, Mr Melvin Yong, Mr Leon Perera, Ms Yeo Wan Ling.

I wish to emphasise that under Standing Order 92(7)(a), the Chair is under the duty to end the debate when the Guillotine Time for that Ministry is reached. As the Chair of the Committee of Supply, I will continue to ensure that the proceedings in the COS are undertaken in a fair and orderly manner.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: I thank Mr Speaker for his ruling.

Mr Speaker, the COS for MOM took place yesterday, 7 March 2022. In the course of the COS, the Ministers from MOM addressed the cuts and queries filed by MPs. After the Ministers’ speeches, there was time to take some further questions but not all, given the number of hands raised by Members.

At the end of the time allotted for this head of expenditure, which had been made known to all Members beforehand in the Guillotine Time Notice Paper and the Daily Working Paper, Mr Leong Mun Wai, along with several other MPs, still wanted to ask further clarifications. However, as time was up, you, as Chairman of the Committee, invited Mr Desmond Choo to withdraw his amendment so that the COS for MOM could be brought to a close.

Mr Leong interrupted this repeatedly, saying that he would like to ask questions. And you informed Mr Leong that the time was up and asked Mr Choo to proceed. The MOM COS duly ended at 12.40 pm, the Guillotine Time.

Subsequently, Mr Leong Mun Wai made two comments on his Facebook profile as follows.

On 7 March, 12.52 pm: “Now I’m at the budget debate for the Ministry of Manpower. Following from Minister Tan See Leng’s (TSL) comments 'red herring' comments (sic) last Friday, I have a number of clarifications to make. But the Speaker didn’t even give me the chance. I will show you the video later when the volunteer has done it for me.”

On 7 March, 12.53 pm: “Completely ridiculous!” That was his comment.

Later in the day, at around 4.14 pm, as Chair of the Committee, you brought these two Facebook comments to the attention of Members and explained the following: (a) the parliamentary process for COS; (b) that COS proceedings are subject to timing deadlines known as the Guillotine Time under Standing Order 92(7)(a); (c) that when the Guillotine Time is reached for each Ministry, the question for the approval of the head of expenditure must be put and the COS concluded; (d) that there were other MPs who also wanted to ask further clarifications but could not do so as the time limit had been reached.

Notwithstanding this, at 6.55 pm yesterday, Mr Leong Mun Wai proceeded to post a video of the end of the COS with the caption “This is how Speaker prevents a member from speaking”. It was accompanied by a post which stated as follows: "Today I was deprived of the opportunity to respond to Tan See Leng’s (TSL) 'red herring' statement made last Friday because Speaker did not allow me to speak using the cut-off time as an excuse. The cut-off time is decided by the Speaker before the session but there is flexibility because the Parliament schedule is ahead of time this year. Many MPs were also allowed to speak before me. He should know that I had an outstanding issue from the previous Friday’s sitting (please view the video clip below)."

Mr Speaker, this was despite your clarification earlier in the afternoon and the fact that it was clear that the Guillotine Time had been reached and that, under the Standing Orders, you were required to bring the COS to an end.

Mr Leong’s posts and his video have impugned the Speaker and the processes of Parliament and have misrepresented how the COS proceedings for MOM were ended yesterday. And this is by suggesting that you could have called on Mr Leong but deliberately did not do so for improper reasons. This is dishonourable and a contempt of Parliament, and breaches the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act.

Mr Leong has had the benefit of your remarks yesterday and has now also heard your ruling. I therefore request that Mr Leong do the proper thing and:

One, take down the video and the accompanying caption and post.

Two, take down his two Facebook comments of 12.52 pm and 12.53 pm on 7 March 2022.

Three, apologise before this House, and also via a Facebook post, for his words and actions in the following terms:

"I sincerely and unreservedly apologise to the Speaker and this House for my Facebook comments of 12.52 pm and 12.53 pm on 7 March 2022, and the video I posted at 6.55 pm on 7 March 2022, and the statements therein which impugn the Speaker and the processes of Parliament without any basis.

I have taken the posts down. I withdraw what I said in them, and undertake not to repeat such words and actions again.

I acknowledge that I had not set out all the facts in my posts and thus, gave a misleading impression. In fact, many MPs filed to speak both in the Budget debate and the Committee of Supply of the various Ministries. Every MP is given the same amount of time. The Guillotine Time for each Ministry is announced ahead of time and based on the MPs who have filed to speak. It is standard Parliamentary procedure that when the time that is allotted to the Ministry ends, Speaker will require that the votes on that Ministry be taken and the debate move to the next Ministry, even if some MPs’ questions have not been answered. Specifically, for the Ministry of Manpower debate, questions from several MPs could not be answered because the allotted time was up. I acknowledge that I have every opportunity to raise, during subsequent Parliamentary Question times, the questions which I had wanted to ask in the Committee of Supply for the Ministry of Manpower."

Mr Speaker, I request that Mr Leong Mun Wai do these by the end of today’s Parliament’s Sitting on 8 March 2022. Thereafter, Parliament can decide whether and if so, what further steps may be necessary depending on how Mr Leong responds to my request.

I note that the Member is not in the Chamber. We will formally notify him of this Statement and my request to ensure that it is brought to his notice. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker: Order. The Clerk will now proceed to read the Order of the Day.