SINGAPORE: “Six empty MP seats?” Singaporeans are reacting to a news forum thread started by an online user. Singaporeans took to the comments section to share their two cents on the shocking events that have transpired in a relatively brief period.
An online user created a Reddit thread on Wednesday (July 19) titled, “Six empty MP seats?”
“Tan Chuan-Jin, Marine Parade; Cheng Li Hui, Tampines; Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Jurong; Raeesah Khan, Sengkang; S Iswaran, West Coast; Leon Perera, Serangoon,” the netizen named the people who held those six seats. Five have already resigned. “No GE elections in sight for 2 more years. Means normally we don’t need so many MPs is it? Sumore some MPs like TPL can take side job. MP just a fluff role?”
The netizen’s sentiments opened the floor to other Singaporeans who shared their thoughts on the number of parliamentary seats that were left vacant in a whirlwind of a week.
“It’s okay cause we get to save some money,” said one netizen while another said, “lack of urgency to replace obviously means lack of work”.
Another commenter touched on the issue of MPs’ salaries. “Absolutely,” the comment read. “Do we really need 93 seats in parliament for a country of this size? It’s like, well, what do they do?!
“Truly, the MPs’ salaries are excessive for part-time commitment. If it’s their full-time job, maybe it’s well deserved. But for mere part-time, allowing them to continue with their respective careers outside, they are overpaid, and because they do not commit themselves full-time, we ‘need’ 93 seats? Not very sound logic.”
Another netizen went as far as to say, “You’re right. At this rate, we can probably do away with the GRC system. I dont see a point in having so many MPs when they just shrug it off and say ‘You will still be well cared for by others on the team.’ Does this mean we are wasting taxpayers money on too many MPs?”
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