MR PHEY YEW KOK, MEMBER FOR BOON TECK (Revocation of Leave of Absence)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr Speaker: On 31st December, 1979, the Member for Boon Teck, Mr Phey Yew Kok, wrote to me for leave of absence from Parliament on the ground that he had been charged in court. The Member asked for "leave of absence from any Parliament sitting until the court case is over.". His letter was received in my office on 2nd January, 1980.

To enable the Member for Boon Teck to defend himself in court, I granted him permission on 4th January, 1980, to be absent from sittings of Parliament, or any committee to which he had been appointed, the leave of absence to be until 31st March, 1980, in the first instance.

However, the Member for Boon Teck failed to appear in court on 7th January, 1980, when his case came up for mention, and he has since become a fugitive from the law. The purpose for which the leave of absence was granted to the Member no longer holds, and such permission has therefore become invalid. I accordingly revoke the leave of absence granted to the Member for Boon Teck with immediate effect.