ELECTION OF SPEAKER

3.56 pm

The Leader of the House (Mr Wong Kan Seng): Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of the Members of this House, may I extend to you our congratulations on your re-election as Speaker. This re-election signifies our continued confidence in you as Speaker of this House.

During the last Parliament, you have guided our proceedings smoothly and efficiently. You have been fair and firm to all Members. You have also ensured that order and decorum were observed. I am sure all the Members here will continue to give you our full support so that the business of this House is conducted with dignity.

We are also priviledged to have Mr Eugene Yap as our Deputy Speaker again when he is duly re-elected next week.

Sir, we have been elected by the people to look after their interest. As I have said in this House about six months ago, a high standard of personal integrity and honesty is expected of Members of Parliament. We must perform our duties seriously, and not abuse the privileges conferred upon us.

If you recall, Sir, in the Fifth and Sixth Parliament, the Committee of Privileges had to be convened on several occasions to discipline a Member who had breached parliamentary privileges. In the Eighth Parliament, the Committee of Privileges had to look into the breach of privileges by some strangers. We hope that no Member or stranger will give us cause to convene the Committee of Privileges in this Ninth Parliament. I have no doubt, Sir, that you will not hesitate to take any Member to task if he abuses parliamentary privileges.

Finally, on behalf of the senior Members, may I also extend a very warm welcome to the new Members who have just joined this House. They will find this an enriching and rewarding experience. We look forward to their maiden speeches. Indeed, I hope that all Members will participate actively in the proceedings of this House.

Mr Bernard Chen: Mr Speaker, Sir, I have the privilege of first meeting you exactly 20 years ago in May 1977 when I first entered the House as a new Member. I have also observed you, first, as a Backbencher from May 1977, Deputy Speaker for the period March 1985 to January 1989, and the Speaker of this House since 1989. Through these years, I have come to hold you in high regard and respect for the clarity and conciseness of your speeches and your absolute fairness to all.

Much has been said about the Speaker's eyes which we must catch before we are allowed to speak. They range from selective viewing to myopia and sometimes complete closure. I can assure Members, especially those who are new in this House, that the Speaker's eyes are crystal clear at all times. You have given opportunities to all who wish to address the House, be they Ministers, Frontbenchers, Backbenchers, NCMPs and NMPs. I should, however, add my caution to new Members in this House that the Speaker is deadly serious when he said, "Speeches should be short and sweet." You would not want to test his patience unduly.

On this note, Mr Speaker, Sir, may I add my congratulations to your re-election.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Mr Speaker, I wish to congratulate your election again as Speaker of the Ninth Parliament. I have found you to be a fair Speaker at the last Parliament and I believe you will continue to be fair in this Parliament.

Sir, I also wish to seek a clarification. I wrote to Parliament requesting to sit together with my Secretary-General, J.B. Jeyaretnam, and the reply dated 12th May 1997 from Parliament was that the Speaker had not acceded to the request. Would Mr Speaker clarify and explain the rationale for not acceding to my request?

Mr Speaker: Mr Low, I do not think this is the appropriate moment to raise such a matter. This is the occasion for you to make your speech on a different topic, which you have done. We will leave that for another occasion.

Dr S. Vasoo (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I join my Parliamentary colleagues to commend you on your re-election as the Speaker. I must say that you are a very passionate as well as a very patient Speaker. For my new Parliamentary colleagues, I hope that they will learn what our Speaker is passionate about so that they will be able to discuss and present topics which are of interest to the House as a whole.

Sir, I have known you for more than a decade. When I first started, I had been rather long in my speeches but over the years, I have learned to be precise, because I kept watching you and having acquired the art of looking at your eyes now, I manage to be precise and concise. I hope that my new Parliamentary colleagues and others would not hesitate to bring up various topics which are of interest to the House as well as to Singaporeans. I am sure, Mr Speaker, Sir, you will continue to be patient to allow Members to express various viewpoints which will be of interest to Singaporeans. You will have more good years in listening to what we have to present. And I wish you all the best for the sessions you would be chairing.

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam (Non-Constituency Member): Mr Speaker, Sir, as a Member returning to this House after some absence, may I also add my congratulations to your election as Speaker of this House.

Mr Speaker, Sir, by your election, you have accepted a responsibility for the people of Singapore. We need to remind ourselves that this is the people's assembly. It is to this House that the people will look for their grievances, for their hopes, for their aspirations to be met and discussed. And I am sure, Mr Speaker, Sir, that you, in the discharge of your responsibility to the people, will give adequate recognition to the need for the people's voice to be heard in this Parliament - their grievances, their complaints, their hopes and their aspirations for Singapore.

Finally, Mr Speaker, Sir, may I say, speaking for myself, that I am delighted to be back in this House of the people. And my delight is all the more when I see the joy on the faces of the Frontbench opposite me.

Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): Please allow me to join the other colleagues in congratulating you once again to be elected as the Speaker of Parliament. This is my 13th year and I have found no difficulty in catching your eye. Now that I have been moved to the front, I think that task of catching your eye is even much easier.

Mr Speaker: Honourable Members, it has been a privilege for me to serve as Speaker in the last two Parliaments and you do me a great honour by re-electing me as Speaker of this Ninth Parliament. I am overwhelmed by the generous sentiments expressed by the Leader of the House and the other Members and for their assurances of cooperation. It is this spirit of cooperation that made my task easy in the past and I hope that with your support again I will be able to discharge my duties fully and responsibly and in a manner worthy of the confidence you have placed in me.

This House is an august place where Members argue and debate, probe and query, and criticize and defend policies and laws. We bring our collective wisdom and experiences together to lay down policies and legislate laws that reflect the will and meet the aspirations of the people who have elected us. Members should let their conscience be their guide and speak their minds freely, but in doing so we must be aware that we have rules to abide by and we must uphold decorum in the House. Our proceedings are governed by the Standing Orders. Complex these rules may be at times, but the Standing Orders provide an important mechanism for the functioning of the House and ensure that our proceedings are carried out expeditiously and in a fair and orderly manner. Above all, we must always bear in mind that we must conduct ourselves in a manner befitting the dignity of this House and never abuse the privileges accorded to us as Members of Parliament.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the 23 new Members. Like you I was once new in this House but I found my older colleagues more than willing to help me adjust to Parliamentary life. I am sure that you will find your senior colleagues ready to assist you. The staff of Parliament will also be on hand to provide you with the necessary assistance.

I know that you are all raring to partake in the cut and thrust of Parliamentary debate and we look forward to hearing your maiden speeches. Parliamentary debate is serious business and at times it can be tedious. We should not play to the gallery but we can bring some sparkle to our deliberations by adding zest and occasional humour. Speak as much as you need to and as is permitted by the Standing Orders, for that is what our citizens expect you to do. Do remember, however, that good speeches do not necessarily mean long speeches. A long rambling speech, as has been pointed out by some Members already, can be a bane to the Speaker. And as a fellow Speaker once told me, a Member in his Parliament who once made an unnecessarily long speech somehow encountered immense difficulty catching his eye thereafter.

On this point, if Members would bear with me, permit me now to tell you a story. This is about Calvin Coolidge who became President of the United States of America when his predecessor died in office in 1923. His political slogan was "Keeping cool with Coolidge", which stood for, amongst other things, the fact that he was not easily ruffled. Coolidge was often brief and to the point, in fact, so brief that he was noted for his closed-mouth and was nicknamed `Silent Cal'. Well, the story goes like this. A reporter once asked him, "Mr President, what do you think about Prohibition?" "No comment", replied Coolidge. "Will you say something about unemployment?", asked the reporter again. "No", came the reply. "Will you give us your views of the world situation?", persuaded the exasperated reporter. "No", was the reply from the President. Just as the disappointed reporter started to leave, Coolidge said, "Wait". Hopefully the man turned around with earnest anticipation, only to hear Coolidge remind him, "Please don't quote me.".

Another story has it that a lady who sat down next to Coolidge at dinner told him: "Mr President, I've just made a bet with a friend that I can get you to say more than two words to me by the time this meal is over.". Turning to the lady, Coolidge replied, "You lose." and kept quiet the rest of the evening.

There is more to the story of Calvin Coolidge. It seems that when he died and the announcement of his death was made to the press, a reporter stood up and asked, "Are you sure?".

Coolidge's disinclination to speak did not hurt him. In fact, so popular was he that in 1924 Coolidge was elected to another term in one of the biggest landslides in US Presidential elections history.

The moral of the story is this. We need not have the taciturnity of `Silent Cal' but you see, Honourable Members, brevity does have its virtues.

I therefore wish Honourable Members well and look forward to your participation in the business of the House. [Applause.]

I wish to inform Honourable Members that the President will be present in the Chamber at 8.30 pm to deliver his Speech at the Opening of Parliament. I therefore suspend the sitting until 8.30 pm this evening. Order.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.12 pm until 8.30 pm. Sitting resumed at 8.30 pm

The President (accompanied by two A.D.C.s) entered the Chamber, accompanied by Mr Speaker, who was preceded by the Serjeant at Arms (without the Mace), the Principal Assistant Clerk (2), the Principal Assistant Clerk (1) and the Clerk.

On the Clerk announcing "The President", the President delivered his Opening Speech.