Singapore Parliament speaker apologises for insulting opposition MP

Singapore, Jul 11 (PTI) Speaker of Singapore’s Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin on Tuesday apologised for using “unparliamentary language” to insult an opposition lawmaker after calling for an Indian-origin MP to speak.

Tan muttered “f****** populist” in April this year after he called for MP Vikram Nair from the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) to speak, following a speech by MP Jamus Lim of the opposition Workers’ Party, Channel News Asia reported, citing a Reddit thread.

Jamus spoke in Parliament on April 17 and voiced support for President Halimah Yacob’s call to improve Singapore’s social compact.

He said Singapore has yet to establish an “official poverty line”, something he found “both puzzling and exasperating”.

“There is a recording of a Parliament sitting in April this year that has been circulating. I had to listen to the recording as I did not recall the occasion,” Tan wrote in a Facebook post.

“Based on the clip, it appears that I had a reaction to a speech made in the chamber,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Tan said what was said were his private thoughts, which he had muttered to himself and not to anyone.

“However, I should not have expressed them aloud or in unparliamentary language, and I apologise for that,” he wrote.
Tan said he has also spoken to Jamus and apologised to him.