ELECTION OF SPEAKER (Tribute)

3.57 pm

The Leader of the House (Mr Wong Kan Seng): Mr Speaker, Sir, on behalf of all Members of this House, it is my honour and privilege to congratulate you on your election as Speaker. With your extensive experience as a Member of this House since 1984, and as a Deputy Speaker for 4 1/2 years from January 1989 to June 1993 and as a Minister thereafter, Members have no doubt that Parliamentary proceedings conducted in this Chamber, with you in the Chair, will continue to be in accordance with the best traditions of fairness, decorum and propriety. All of us, Members of this House, pledge to support you and cooperate with you in the discharge of your heavy responsibilities.

Sir, on behalf of the Ministers and the Members, past and present during his tenure as Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Mr Tan Soo Khoon, your distinguished predecessor. [Applause.] Mr Tan had served as Deputy Speaker for nearly 4 years, from March 1985, before he was elected Speaker in the Seventh Parliament, in January 1989.

In my congratulatory speech at that time, I said that Members had every confidence that Mr Tan would discharge his responsibilities with great distinction. He indeed lived up to our expectations and we were delighted to re-elect him as Speaker for two more terms in the 8th and 9th Parliaments.

In 1989, on his election as Speaker, Mr Tan had said that "he hoped to maintain the high standards and traditions set by his predecessor (Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng).. I found myself at times trying to unravel myself from some of the complexities of the rules of procedure." Mr Tan has amply fulfilled his pledge. He indeed upheld the dignity of this House by ensuring that order and decorum were observed. Although not legally trained, I believe he has managed to "unravel himself from some of the complexities of the rules of procedure".

Under his charge as Speaker, our parliamentary debates and all other business of Parliament, including those of the Select Committees and the Committee of Privileges, proceeded most smoothly, efficiently and effectively. As some would put it, it is "like clock-work". He has guided the proceedings in this Chamber most fairly, always giving every opportunity for Members to speak. Despite some long rambling speeches made from time to time, Mr Tan was always patient in hearing them out. He was also indulgent on some Members who pressed on with repetitive questions even though the questions were already answered. He only interrupted when he thought that enough was enough.

One of the key achievements during Mr Tan Soo Khoon's tenure as Speaker is the building of this new Parliament House which was officially opened on 4th October 1999. He chaired the Parliament Building Committee, formed in 1993, which planned and built this New Parliament House. He made many study visits to other parliaments and learned from them. As a result, this House has incorporated many upgraded features which will serve Parliamentarians well into the future.

During his Speakership, Mr Tan also strengthened relations with and enhanced our status among ASEAN, Commonwealth and other Parliaments, through the various parliamentary delegations he led and conferences he attended.

To bring Parliament closer to the people, Mr Tan initiated the Parliament Internet Homepage in May 1996. Internet-savvy readers, local and overseas, can now know more about our Parliament. In 1998, Mr Tan also set up an Education Department to educate Singaporeans about the Parliament. Thousands of Singaporeans, including students, have learned more about Parliament as a result of their educational visits to this Parliament complex.

All of us here deeply appreciate Mr Tan Soo Khoon's distinguished service and achievements in this House. Mr Speaker, Sir, Mr Tan once lamented that someone had asked him why, as the Speaker, he could not speak. Now that he is no longer in the Chair, there would be no such constraint. We certainly look forward to his active participation in the debates of this House.

Sir, this Parliament now has 84 elected Members and one new Non-Constituency Member. Among the 84 elected Members, 25 of them are new PAP Members of Parliament. May I welcome all of them warmly. My advice to all the new MPs is that they should make the best use of their time in Parliament, speak their minds freely on issues which are important and of concern to Singapore and our people. Let conscience be their guide and contribute actively to the debates in this House. We certainly look forward to their participation in this Chamber.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen: Mr Speaker, Sir, I join the Leader of the House in extending to you our congratulations on this occasion of your election as Speaker.

Sir, you and I were amongst the then new Members elected to Parliament in the 1984 General Elections. There are not too many of us left. Soon thereafter, you were inducted into Cabinet and, since then, you have played a pivotal role in policy making as well as providing leadership to our nation. As we get to know you better, we have developed a high regard for your character and integrity. Your contributions all these years as Minister have earned our respect. Your election to this high office today signifies our confidence in you. And for those of us who are involved in sports, we are aware that you were a rugby player during your school years. You have developed a reputation as someone with broad shoulders, who is dependable and reliable, someone who knows when to block, when to pass and when to run. You have also developed a strong sense of team work and fair play, which you have retained to this day. I am sure you will bring these same attributes to your new capacity as Speaker. I would like to affirm that we will all give you our full support and cooperation.

Sir, with your indulgence, may I take some time at this juncture to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr Tan Soo Khoon, who had presided over the proceedings in this House for the past 13 years. When I first entered Parliament, Mr Tan had already earned a reputation for wit and clarity in giving speeches, a reputation well earned as we listened to his speeches as new MPs. His election to the Chair in January 1989 was a loss to the subsequent batches of Members, as they had one less master to learn from. Nonetheless, for those of us who travelled with him on official visits, we could attest that he is a speech maker par excellence. His discourse always puts Singapore in good light in front of Parliamentarians from all over the world. It is also well known that Mr Tan has a great singing voice when he let his hair, or whatever is left of it, down. In fact, at this very moment, the tune of Blue Suede Shoes is ringing right in my ears.

As Speaker, Mr Tan had presided over the proceedings during his tenure exceedingly well. His grasp of the Standing Orders is complete and thorough. Members who stepped out of line would invariably feel his wrath. Furthermore, his handling of Mr J B Jeyaretnam, the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament, who adopted a belligerent stance in this House, earned our great admiration. When it came to Members trying to catch his eye, Mr Tan had been most fair, giving equal opportunity to everyone, new and old. This is very important to us Backbenchers as a point, no matter how substantial, made a second time, would have lost its impact. We had all, at one time or another, experienced the sharp edge of the knife when he applied the "guillotine" when we rambled on past our allotted time. However, one could not complain, as Mr Tan applied the knife even-handedly, be it a Backbencher or an office holder. All in all, I think I have the support of this House when I say, "Mr Tan, we will miss you in the Chair."

It would be amiss for me if I do not touch on Mr Tan's crowning achievement, and it is the construction of this new Parliament Complex. The Leader of the House has already touched on this. New Members should bear in mind when they enjoy the convenience and the comfort of this new complex. As I recall, when the new Parliament Building was first contemplated by the Government, it was indeed a very modest concept. It was Mr Tan who planted the seed that we not only should have one that embodies the principles of freedom and democracy that Singaporeans hold dear but one that is worthy of the achievements of Singapore as a modern nation. Therefore, we were all pleasantly surprised that this piece of prime land was allocated to Parliament for this new complex.

To ensure that we had the best building possible, Mr Tan led several study trips to overseas parliament buildings to learn about their features as well as their shortcomings. During the construction of the building, Mr Tan was also instrumental in setting the requirements upon which the architect would flesh out the design. He was also tireless in chairing the many meetings of the building committee to ensure that future generations of Singaporeans have a great building that we could be proud of. Even though it is the Government that built this complex, we are nonetheless indebted to Mr Tan for the role he played.

It would take some time to get used to the fact that Mr Tan is no longer in the Chair, Sir. Looking at the bright side, he is now back on the Backbench and we look forward to hearing from him once again.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to the two new Deputy Speakers, Mr Chew Heng Ching and Mrs Lim Hwee Hua.

An hon. Member: You cannot say that, as they have not been elected.

Dr Wang Kai Yuen: I understand that they have not been elected yet. They are two very able Members who have earned our admiration.

Sir, as reported in the papers, the Leader of the House is prepared to lift the Whip more often in future. With this change, we would expect that the debate in this House will become more vigorous and robust. We all look forward to lively sessions of the 10th Parliament with you in the Chair.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I wish to put on record that over the years, Mr Tan Soo Khoon, as Speaker of the House, has won my respect for being fair most of the time, if not all the time. I have served in some Parliamentary Committees and also a Member of some delegations to overseas visits, in which Mr Tan Soo Khoon was the leader. Being a non-PAP Member, I have not felt discriminated, and I think this is important as he was the Speaker.

Last, but not the least, I did sometimes flout the parliamentary proceedings rules and, of course, I got a public lecture from Mr Tan Soo Khoon. I think sometimes he got pek chet with me - he was irritated - but I realise that he did not take these things personally unto himself. For that, I wish to congratulate him for being professional in his conduct as the Speaker of Parliament.

Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio): Mr Speaker, Sir, first of all, let me take the opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment as the seventh Speaker of the Singapore Parliament. I have known you for the past 18 years, since 1984, when I served as a grassroots leader in Siglap, the constituency where you first got elected as a Member of Parliament. In fact, it is you who inducted me into politics and subsequently convinced me to stand for election.

Sir, I have known you to be a fair person willing to listen to all views. Your track record as an MP and Minister for the past 18 years is testimony of your ability and of what you can achieve, and I am confident that you will once again excel in your new role as Speaker.

Sir, today, we are seeing a changeover of a very key position and that is of the Speaker of Parliament. Since 1989, for a span of 13 years, our outgoing Speaker, Mr Tan Soo Khoon, had been at the helm and, today, the hon. Mr Tan is handing over the baton, or should I say the Mace, to you. I have known Mr Tan since 1991 when Siglap became part of Bedok GRC. Having interacted with his grassroots leaders, I have heard many good things about Mr Tan. His grassroots and community leaders hold him in very high regard, and they have always spoken of him as a very friendly, people-oriented person. The residents have also considered him a friend to everyone in the constituency he was elected in. And since I got elected into Parliament in 1997, I got to know Mr Tan personally and know him much better, having the privilege of interacting with him in the House and outside the House, especially when we went for a number of overseas parliamentary trips. Although we, Members of this House, seldom had the chance to listen to him because the Speaker seldom has the chance to speak, the few times when he spoke, he did so with very clear and thought-provoking words and, at appropriate times, adding a tinge of humour and wit to keep everyone in good spirits.

I have always wondered whether the Speaker really listened to our speeches, especially to some of us who have the tendency of making long speeches. I am sure he must have heard the same arguments repeated many times over the many years. While I confirm that he was indeed listening to the speeches that we made when I read the Sunday Times' interview two Sundays ago, in the interview, Mr Tan analysed a number of MPs' speeches and the style of arguments, and I must say that he was right. Now we know that he was listening all along and not sleeping with his eyes open. But, seriously, many times after each sitting of Parliament, Mr Tan made it a point to stay back and sit around the table in the Members' Room with a number of Members each time to discuss issues. During those sessions, Mr Tan used to discuss the contents of debates and speeches with the Members present and always giving his views and, more importantly, giving pointers to Members, especially to new Members, on how we should handle debates and discussions in the House. His many years of listening to and analysing many arguments have always been a great source of knowledge which I found useful for my future speeches. Talking about pointers, one of the more significant things I remember and cherish of Mr Tan's role as Speaker is his reaching out to the new Members of Parliament. As a first-time MP during the last term, I really appreciated his friendly approach with the new Members, helping us to quickly learn the ropes of being a Member of Parliament, both inside and outside the House. He readily helped, coached and mentored many of us so that we could in a short period of time start making contributions towards the parliamentary process. With his proactive approach of connecting with the new MPs, it made all of us feel very much at home and allowed us to quickly become more effective in doing our jobs as Members of Parliament. Especially for us Backbenchers, we also picked up skills on how to handle a debate and how to make Question Time more effective in getting the answers we were looking for from the Ministers.

One thing that I also cherish about Mr Tan, as Speaker, is how lively he is outside the House, especially when we go for overseas trips. One can understand the need to be lively, especially after many hours of sitting and listening to speeches. I can safely say that Mr Tan is the liveliest of all the Speakers in the ASEAN Parliaments, and I am sure this is also the opinion of all the ASEAN MPs who attended our yearly AIPO Conference. As Dr Wang mentioned earlier, entertaining everyone with his songs of the 1960s and 70s, we always enjoyed the functions held after each of his conferences. You have to know your rock-and-roll when you are with Mr Tan on one of his trips. If not, then you have to dance, maybe a Bhangra dance, which I had to do in one of those trips with him. Perhaps singing was the way Mr Tan let off his stress accumulated after listening to many speeches.

Finally, Sir, I am sure that we are all looking forward to the former Speaker finally speaking up in Parliament during this current term. Now is your chance, Mr Tan, to get back at some of us for the long speeches that we made while you were in the Chair. You have earned the right to make long speeches this time round, although I hope you do not. I personally look forward to seeing you in action to contribute towards the making of a lively Parliament during this term. Now, whenever you have itch to speak, you do not have to hold back, as you did when you were sitting on the Chair. Mr Tan should know all the tricks of how to catch the Speaker's eye, and I am sure he is going to get quite a lot of attention from the new Speaker of the House.

On behalf of all the former and current Members of this House, I would like to thank Mr Tan for all that he has done for the Singapore Parliament and for Singapore. I am sure all Members will join me in wishing him all the best and success in whatever he chooses to do in the future. Mr Tan, a big thank you for your excellent contributions to the country.

Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): Sir, I would like to join the Leader of the House and the other speakers in congratulating you on your election as the Speaker of this august House. You have been a sportsman, and we have also read and known you as the Minister for Sports, and I am sure the Opposition will be very confident that you shall be a very fair person in dealing with the proceedings in this House.

Sir, I have read in the papers that your advice to Members is to be "short and sweet" in their speeches, and I can assure you that the Opposition shall do that, no more six-hour speeches as in the past. So far, anyway, the Opposition has always made their speeches short and sweet. I know you shall be a very efficient and fair Speaker and we shall look forward to more fair debates in this House.

I also take this opportunity to thank Mr Tan Soo Khoon for his job as Speaker. I had complained once or twice to Mr Tan Soo Khoon that I failed to catch his eye when I put up my hand. But I think he was too busy looking elsewhere. Nevertheless, I have known Mr Tan very well through our official visits to the ASEAN areas, in AIPO conferences, and, as other speakers have said, before we go to these meetings, we have to brush up on our singing, because this is one of the things that he loves to do. I was once caught unawares when he was announcing the Singapore delegates' programme in one of the ASEAN conferences - I believe it was in Bali - and he suddenly called my name to represent Singapore in a singing event. Can you imagine, I have to stand up and sing in front of an international crowd without preparation? Well, this is Mr Tan. But, anyway, we have lots of fun and we come to know each other very well. And I must say that he is not only respected in this House but he is respected in the region as well. Everywhere he went, I noticed that Members of the other Parliaments in the region all respected him. I have got to thank Mr Tan for a job well done.

Mr Tan Soo Khoon (East Coast): May I join the other Members in congratulating you on your election as Speaker of the House. Sir, I have known you for a long time and I am confident that you will carry out the duties of Speaker with distinction and bring honour to the Chair.

Sir, I have been the Speaker for the past 13 years and it has been a privilege and an honour to serve. Sir, this is your election, the moment is rightly yours. And although I have expected some words of thanks, I did not foresee the kind of tributes that Members have paid to me a while ago and I am indeed very humbled by what they have said. I think that I would not have been able to carry out my duties as Speaker for the past 13 years the way I had done if I had not enjoyed the confidence and their trust. It is the Members of this House who have made my job easy by upholding the finest traditions of Parliamentary practices, by upholding decorum and by respecting the rules of the House and the authority of the Chair. For that, I am really grateful.

Sir, I am the first Speaker in our Parliament to return to the Backbench, but this is not new in other Parliaments. And I hope that in the years ahead, I will be able to humbly demonstrate that there is life after Speakership in this House. I would therefore like to assure the Leader of the House, and most certainly the Frontbench, that I, with your kind permission, Sir, will be around to make more than a few speeches and certainly to ask more than a few questions.

Mr Speaker, Sir, if I may just take a few more moments to say something about the Speakership, particularly for the benefit of the newer Members of the House. The Speakership is unique in every country. It is found in all Parliaments in the Commonwealth that have adopted the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. The Speakership is as old as the history of Parliament. In England where it all started, the first designated Speaker was in the year 1377, although long before that there were others who held the position but they went by other titles. The Speaker in those early days had a different role to play. He was not the arbiter of proceedings as we know him to be now. The Speaker in those days, his primary duty, was to convey to the King the resolutions of the commons. And you can well imagine that during those times, when the ruler was the absolute monarch of the land, he was usually not too pleased to receive news from the Speaker, especially when what the Speaker had to convey impinged on the rights and privileges of the King, particularly his royal purse. Quite often, the King would know how to show his displeasure, and it was recorded in history that his displeasure was often manifested through a very simple act - the beheading of the Speaker. And between the 15th and 16th century, as many as up to 10 Speakers lost their poor heads because they delivered news that the ruler did not want to hear. The situation got so bad that in the year 1510, two Speakers lost their heads on the same day! Hence, today, in the English Parliament, we have this faint reluctance on the part of the aspirant to the post of Speaker. Because they are afraid of what will happen to them.

But, Sir, today, times have changed. We do not have kings and queens, not in the other countries of the Commonwealth, but in their place we have a government, duly elected by the people. The role of the Speaker has also changed. He is now the one who conducts the proceedings of the House and he ensures its orderly conduct. The Speaker has also become known as the guardian and the protector of the privileges of the Members of the House. In this respect, Sir, I would like to recall again another event in English history which has a bearing on how Speakers conduct themselves everywhere.

Sir, this took place in the year 1642. The King of the day was Charles I. The Speaker of the English Parliament was a gentleman by the name of William Lenthall. Charles I had more than his fair share of bad days with Parliament. And the occasion came when he decided to teach Parliament a lesson. He wanted to arrest himself five parliamentary leaders. So he marched to Parliament and he demanded the identification of the five members that he wanted. Of course, in those days, they had no photographs. So he asked everyone, and he was met with stony silence. Then turning to William Lenthall, he asked the Speaker to identify the five Members. And this was Lenthall's reply: "May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, except as the House, whose servant I am directs of me, and I beg Your Majesty's pardon that I have no other answer to give except this to what Your Majesty demands of me".

Sir, in those few well chosen but historic words, William Lenthall expressed unequivocally where his first duty and obligation as Speaker lay. He told everyone, and he established the principle, that his allegiance was to the cause of parliamentary liberty. And with parliamentary liberty lies the privilege for all of us in the House to make our speeches, to express freely our views and our opinions, subject to the rules of the Standing Orders and to the unwritten rules that govern our conduct as honourable gentlemen and honourable ladies. And that, Sir, is what I hope to see in this House.

Sir, William Lenthall's words have become a kind of creed for Speakers of the Commonwealth. These are words that we recall whenever Speakers meet. I hope, Sir, that the principle which he has established will also guide you in the conduct of the proceedings here. During the course of time, as I have experienced, you will no doubt get many requests from Members. You will also get advice from both sides of the House, some are well-intended; some perhaps with agenda of their own. But I am hopeful, Sir, knowing you so well, as you were my Deputy for some years, that you will be able to be fair in your judgement and be very balanced in the way you conduct the proceedings of the House.

Sir, I am sure that, if you do so, you too will earn the respect of all of us here and of Singaporeans in general. And I am hopeful that when the time comes when you have to leave the Chair, you too will be able to leave with your head held up high and, of course, still firmly fixed on your shoulders. Much obliged, Sir. [Applause.]

Mr Speaker: Honourable Members, I would first like to thank the Leader of the House and Dr Wang, Mr Low, Mr Chiam and Mr Inderjit Singh for their very kind words and congratulatory messages. I also like to thank Mr Tan for his discourse on the history of the Speakership and I am indeed glad that times have changed because I do intend to retain my head on my shoulders!

Honourable Members, I wish to thank you for electing me to this high office. This is my 18th year as a Member of the House, and in those years I have been privileged to serve first as a member of the Backbench, then on to the Frontbench and now, with this election, on to the Chair of the House. Honourable Members have indeed done me a great honour.

I shall do my utmost to fulfil the trust and confidence that Members have put in me to preside over the proceedings of this House and to preserve the dignity and role of this august institution. I shall be impartial as Members expect me to be. In these, I have the fortune of having learnt from previous Honourable Speakers, particularly from Mr Speaker Tan Soo Khoon, when I was one of his Deputies from 1989 to 1993. He had served with distinction indeed. And this House owes him a great debt of gratitude for his leadership and guidance when he was in the Chair for the past 13 years.

I would like to warmly welcome the new Members of this House. With 26 new Members representing a wide variety of professions, experiences and interests and coupled with a greater willingness to articulate differing views, we can expect a livelier and more vibrant Parliament from now on. As new Members, I would urge you to acquaint yourselves with the rules of debate and conduct in this House. Speak honestly, speak sincerely and without fear and let your conscience be your guide. But be as concise as you can and try hard to avoid repetition. Long and rambling speeches, especially when short on substance, tend to receive little attention from the benches and may even evoke a subtle frown from this Chair. As in economics, such speeches are also subject to the laws of diminishing returns! So let us conduct ourselves as befits the status and dignity of this Parliament. But this does not mean that I am averse to Members including wit and good humour in your speeches, where they are appropriate. Not only will they add sparkle to what you say, but also help to lift our spirits and eyelids particularly on long drowsy afternoons!

Talking of new Members, I remember Mr Speaker the late Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng lamenting that he had only the shape of the spectacle frames of Members to help him recognise them by. I am afraid that this method will help me little, given the proliferation of rimless spectacles now among Members in this House. So, if I have trouble matching names to faces, initially, please bear with me as I grapple and struggle with the whims of fashions in eyewear.

Apart from this possibly small difficulty and with Members' help and cooperation, I expect our proceedings to run smoothly and our debates to be robust and meaningful. I look forward to a fruitful session and I wish Honourable Members all the best in the performance of their duties and responsibilities as Members of Parliament of the Republic of Singapore. [Applause.]

I wish to inform Members that the President will be present in this 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.

Sitting accordingly suspended at 4.35 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.