REVISION OF TIMES OF SITTINGS (Business Motion)

The Leader of the House (Mr Wong Kan Seng): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move,

That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, with effect from this day's sitting, -

(a) every sitting of Parliament shall begin at 12.30 p.m. and the moment of interruption at each sitting shall be 4.30 p.m.; and

(b) the existing times in the Standing Orders referred to below shall be revised as follows: Standing Order Existing Time Revised Time 1(3) 11.00 a.m. 12.30 p.m. 19(3) ) 21(2) ) 12 noon 1.30 p.m. 86(2) ) 1(4)(a) 1.00 p.m. 2.15 p.m. 1(4)(a) 2.00 p.m. 2.45 p.m. 22(3) 2.30 p.m. 3.00 p.m. 4(1) ) 3.00 p.m. 3.30 p.m. 86(2) ) 4(1) ) 3.30 p.m. 4.00 p.m. 86(2) ) 87(12) 3.45 p.m. 4.15 p.m. 1(5)(a)) 86(2) ) 4.00 p.m. 4.30 p.m. 89(4) )

Sir, since the last session of Parliament, Parliament has been sitting from 11.00 am to 4.00 pm with a one-hour lunch break. You will recall, Sir, when we introduced television into Parliament we wanted to give SBC enough time also to come out with a programme in the evening. Hence we advanced the time of sitting to 11.00 am.

Arising from feedback from Members who wish to have a little more time in the morning to attend to their work or to their profession, we now propose that the sitting time be changed from 12.30 pm to 4.30 pm without a break and still allowing the SBC enough time to put out a programme in the evening. The other changes are consequential to the change from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm, Sir.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That, notwithstanding the Standing Orders, with effect from this day's sitting, -

(a) every sitting of Parliament shall begin at 12.30 p.m. and the moment of interruption at each sitting shall be 4.30 p.m.; and

(b) the existing times in the Standing Orders referred to below shall be revised as follows: Standing Order Existing Time Revised Time 1(3) 11.00 a.m. 12.30 p.m. 19(3) ) 21(2) ) 12 noon 1.30 p.m. 86(2) ) 1(4)(a) 1.00 p.m. 2.15 p.m. 1(4)(a) 2.00 p.m. 2.45 p.m. 22(3) 2.30 p.m. 3.00 p.m. 4(1) ) 3.00 p.m. 3.30 p.m. 86(2) ) 4(1) ) 3.30 p.m. 4.00 p.m. 86(2) ) 87(12) 3.45 p.m. 4.15 p.m. 1(5)(a)) 86(2) ) 4.00 p.m. 4.30 p.m. 89(4) )