SINGAPORE: Singapore’s newest Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng called on Members of Parliament (MPs) to be vigilant in their personal conduct, after being sworn in on Wednesday (Aug 2).
Mr Seah becomes the country’s 11th Speaker in the wake of his predecessor Tan Chuan-Jin stepping down over an extramarital affair with fellow People’s Action Party MP Cheng Li Hui, who also resigned.
Just a week before that, Mr Tan also had to apologise for using “unparliamentary language” in response to an opposition lawmaker’s speech in the House.
Mr Seah, 61, pledged to perform his duties “impartially, firmly and fairly”, in a speech after his oath-taking.
He briefly paid tribute to Mr Tan’s efforts to demystify parliamentary processes and engage younger people on the institution of parliament.
“We are all too human, and as recent events have reminded us, our weaknesses are not only physical but also spiritual,” he said.
“I say this not to join with the chorus of sanctimony, but to reflect, first, on the need for us all to be vigilant in our personal conduct and choices.
“Vigilant with ourselves first of all, but also with our colleagues. To hold one another to account, not to fear to tell truth to power, nor be slow to listen to hard truths.”
He also stressed the importance of MPs performing their parliamentary duties responsibly.
“You and I, we are here for a day, for a fleeting number of terms. But our words here and our work here, they live on far beyond us.
“We must therefore remember and bear the weight of our office with dignity and a constant sense of duty,” he said.