Like other interested, well-behaved and kiasu Singaporeans staying at home while the Covid-19 daily cases surged and hit the 800s, I had time to watch Parliament live on Tuesday (Sept 14). Apart from toilet breaks, I followed the debate on jobs, foreign talent and free trade agreements all through the 13 hours. This is my humble straightforward report.
Lawrence Wong will be our next Prime Minister, surely
His frontline participation in the debate was a second, crucial test on his leadership skills as a 4G contender to succeed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. In the first still ongoing test, Wong has been seen as de facto leader of the Multi-Ministry Task Force handling the Covid-19 pandemic which was already a do-or-die mission. He has not buckled in the public spotlight of the MTF press conferences held to update Singaporeans on the battle against the virus and its variants.
In Tuesday’s lengthy Parliamentary debate, he gave a fairly well-crafted speech on his own motion, one of the two tabled. The other motion was that filed by the Progress Singapore Party’s NCMP Leong Mun Wai.
The PSP’s motion said job losses have been due to the overwhelming influx of foreigners. It called on the government to take some concrete action to restore the balance and address widespread anxiety among Singaporeans on jobs and livelihoods caused by our foreign talent policy and some provisions of FTAs, in particular CECA.
Wong said we cannot afford to change tack and send out the wrong signal that foreigners are not welcome. Singapore has to continue being open to foreign investment and talent in the quest to become a global hub. It will address the problems caused by structural dislocation or disappearing jobs.
His YNWA clincher (my opinion) in words that every Liverpool fan will identify with:
“I promise all Singaporeans especially those who are displaced.
You will never be alone. We will continue to invest in your capabilities and skills, help you stay competitive and walk this journey with you through the rest of your career.” :
“When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of a storm
There's a golden sky
……Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone.”
- Anfield anthem: You’ll Never Walk Alone
The curious case of Leong Mun Wai
Contrary to Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan’s off the cuff remark, the PSP NCMP is
not illiterate. He is quite an achiever, having been a Singapore Overseas Merit Scholar. His career path is not unimpressive: MD of OCBC Securities, Director of Merrill Lynch HK and Investment Office at the GIC. His Parliamentary biography says: “At OCBC, Mun Wai was an industry leader in the local stockbroking industry where he led the company through multiple acquisitions and integration to become the top three stockbrokers in Singapore.”
To summarise: He is neither desk-bound nor tongue-tied. He meets people, he talks to them, he speaks in public. He cannot be what one may call reticent (an accusation once levelled by two 1G leaders at former Minister and NTUC secretary-general Lim Chee Onn).
So what happened on Tuesday exactly? I think he simply refused to be brow-beaten, under the patient but still ruthless pressure from Law Minister K Shanmugam. Yahoo Singapore carried an excellent detailed report on the exchanges. Just to give a sample of the to-ing and fro-ing:
(a)
“Shanmugam: And (Ong Ye Kung) has said that there is no free movement allowed and we are entitled to apply our work pass rules, and that this is how it has been operated… since CECA has come into force and likewise for the FTAs.
Which part of that statement does (Leong) disagree with?... Maybe he can look at these statements and say which part of it he disagrees with. Does he disagree that we have applied it this way? Does he say that the minister was lying in Parliament or does he say that the interpretation that the minister had given was inaccurate and that we should in fact be obliged to give free movement for all Indians into Singapore?
Leong: What I'm saying is that I'm focusing on the
economic effect of those provisions. And looking at the economic effect, there are some initial doubts whether the movement is easier than what the Government has represented or not. But we still cannot come to a conclusion yet, because we need more data from the government and the government is withholding the data.”…
(b)
“Shanmugam: What is the meaning of the statement that ‘DBS is still without a homegrown CEO’? We are not talking about succession plans here. I'm just asking for an interpretation of Leong’s words.
Leong: What I was referring to was, at the point of appointment... he was still a foreigner. But anyway, when I made that statement, I was not, in any way, having Mr Piyush Gupta (DBS CEO) in mind. I was just talking about the many CEOs that DBS have got, and (it) never had a succession plan. That was the intention but okay, being one of the top lawyers in Singapore, maybe the Law Minister could make some interpretations and ask me in that way. ”
The more curious case of Vivian Balakrishnan
He made two unnecessary remarks which were inadvertently picked up during the debate between Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and Leong: "…he's illiterate" and "Seriously, how did he get into RI?... Must have been a lousy school".
The Foreign Minister has apologised for these remarks which went viral. Leong has accepted the apology.
Why did he have to open his mouth, in the first place?
Conclusion of this week’s column
Having Parliament live is possibly the best thing that has happened to Singapore politics. It will force our politicians to up their act (like not be caught unawares, unprepared or sleeping) and, at the same time, work out an unspoken code for civilised conduct. Debate with facts - and empathy and respect.
Tan Bah Bah, consulting editor of TheIndependent.Sg, is a former senior leader writer with The Straits Times. He was also managing editor of a local magazine publishing company.
