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SINGAPORE – Workers’ Party (WP) MP Sylvia Lim will not speak about the high-profile case involving former maid Parti Liyani, who was recently acquitted of theft, when Parliament meets next Monday (October 5). ).
Instead, Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng will speak on the issue of protection against second-hand cigarette smoke in homes in his motion to adjourn.
Parliament Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that Ms. Lim and Mr. Ng were in Parliament to witness the vote, which the latter won.
When more than one deputy has presented a motion for adjournment, the deputy who can speak in a session is decided by vote.
Three other MPs had also tabled motions for postponement, which are intended to raise additional issues of public interest and are assigned to one MP for each session of Parliament.
The trio is made up of Ms. Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC), Ms. Carrie Tan (Nee Soon GRC) and Dr. Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah (Jalan Besar GRC).
Ms. Parti’s criminal case, in which the family of former Changi Airport Group Chairman Liew Mun Leong accused her of stealing $ 34,000 worth of items, sparked an uproar after a judge from the Superior Court determined, on appeal, that his conviction by the trial judge was “unsafe” for various reasons.
These included the way the police handled the evidence and the motive for the allegations made by some members of the Liew family.
It led to questions about how the criminal justice system treats the underprivileged.
The Attorney General’s Office, the police and the Ministry of Labor have said they are investigating the matter to see if, among other things, further action is needed.
However, it appears that the issue will be discussed in next Monday’s session, as several parliamentarians have submitted parliamentary questions on the case. Among them are Mr. Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok), Mr. Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) and Dr. Tan Wu Meng (Jurong GRC).
Earlier this month, Legal and Internal Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam also said he would make a ministerial statement in Parliament on the matter, but did not specify when.
The motion for postponement submitted by Ms Lim, MP from Aljunied GRC, is titled “Justice for All: Improving Fairness in the Criminal Justice System”.
It is intended to discuss aspects of the criminal justice system and the challenges faced by underprivileged people in navigating it, a WP statement said earlier this month.
A motion to adjourn takes place at the end of the session, with 20 minutes allotted to the MP and 10 minutes for the minister to respond.
Those who are not elected can stand again for the next vote that will take place in the next session of Parliament.
Regarding Ng’s motion for next Monday’s session, he said in a Facebook post on September 12 that more people have been affected by secondhand smoke, such as during and after the blackout period earlier this year. year, and asked for comments on the problem.
From January 2019 to July 2020, a total of 71 cases involving passive cigarette smoke were registered with the Community Mediation Center, Shanmugam said in a parliamentary response written on September 4.
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