The buzzwords for this week have to be the “COP” findings and “GST”. For those whose heads have been buried in the sand, “COP” stands for the Committee of Privileges, who have finally released their findings on the long-running Raeesah Khan lying in Parliament saga.
In sittings that almost resemble reality TV, the public was riveted with the daily “needle in a haystack” interrogations by the Peoples’ Action Party’s (PAP) Edwin Tong on the charismatic Leader of the Opposition, Pritam Singh.
COP vs. WP
The COP recommended that former Workers’ Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan be fined S$35,000 for lying and abusing parliamentary privilege, while the WP’s Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap be referred to the public prosecutor for possible criminal proceedings.
When these results were released, the Internet was alight with indignation, with many voicing their displeasure that a COP which was ostensibly convened to investigate the lies of Raeesah Khan became seemingly more fixated on “fixing” the WP’s top brass.
Despite public outrage, the Parliamentary session on Tuesday (Feb 15) ended unsurprisingly with Parliament agreeing with the COP’s recommendation. With the PAP’s supermajority in Parliament, the result, however unfair it may seem to netizens, was par for the course, reigniting concerns about the PAP’s dominance which sees it adopt the seeming “ownself check ownself” process.
Indeed, the younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang wrote on Facebook on Thursday (17 Feb) that the “conduct of the COP was extremely disturbing”.
Is this COP really convened to get to the truth, or is it a convenient way to tarnish the reputation of the WP?
It, therefore, seems ironic that Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin can say straightfaced that it was “regrettable” that this matter has been politicised. Isn’t it the PAP-dominated COP that seemed so much more interested in the WP’s leadership than in the perpetrator of the lie? Isn’t it the PAP heavy COP, the one that is relying on the words of a proven liar to tenuously indicate that the WP leadership lied? If this isn’t politicking, what is?
GST Hikes!
As for GST hikes, this was an issue that was first publicly mooted in 2018 when the Government announced that GST would be increased sometime between 2021 from 2025. These increments were heavily criticised at that time with arguments that the GST, being a consumption tax, would penalise the poor far more than the rich.
Many opposition politicians had criticised the plans at that time. However, once again, because of the overwhelming majority of PAP MPs in Parliament, this criticism fell on death ears, and fast-forward 4 years, we are where we are.
As reported by Channel News Asia, Minister for Finance, Lawrence Wong has announced that GST will be increased in 2 stages. The first increase from 7 per cent to 8 per cent will take place on Jan 1, 2023, while the second increase from 8 per cent to 9 per cent will take place on Jan 1, 2024.
It is important to note that the GST hikes are taking place amid a time of rising prices and costs of living increases, which will no doubt be a harder squeeze in the middle and lower-middle classes.
It will also hit local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hard, with the Straits Times reporting that SMEs have to bear not just the tax increments but also shoulder the brunt of the fallout of rising energy prices. It might well be that many SMEs close their businesses for good.
Singapore, Disneyland of the death penalty
Another noteworthy development this week is the unprecedented move of the President to delay the execution of two men sentenced to death who are believed to be mentally disabled.
From a Singaporean context, this is pretty much unheard of and could hopefully be the harbinger of positive change in the issues of crime and punishment in Singapore, which has often been labelled as the Disneyland of the death penalty.
This week in politics
As the week draws to a close, it has been announced that Singapore’s second-strongest opposition party, the Progress Singapore Party’s Kumaran Pillai, is stepping down as communications chief and party spokesman due to health concerns, including a frozen shoulder sustained during a walkabout in 2020.
On a more disturbing note, WP’s Chair, Ms Sylvia Lim has said that she has received a threat warning from Apple that her iPhone could be under threat of hacking by state-sponsored attackers.
Minister for Home Affairs, K Shanmugam has confirmed that Ms Lim’s phone was not hacked by Singapore state agencies. Yet in the same vein, Channel News Asia has reported that despite confirming that Ms Lim’s phone has not been hacked by Government agencies, Mr Shanmugam also stated that it is “normal practice that the Government does not confirm or deny” because MPs have “no immunity in this sense”.
What does this mean?
Does this raise questions about whether Ms Lim’s phone had been hacked during the time of the COP?
Gossip of the week
It would seem that the President of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) Tan Chuan Jin has taken a leaf from the movie “Mean Girls” by blocking Champion marathoner Soh Rui Yong from Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, “for reasons only known to himself.”
Quoting Mr Soh: “While he (Tan Chuan Jin) is well within his rights to block whoever he wants to block, it’s hard to resolve disputes when the leader of the SNOC himself is not open to communication.”
To make matters worse, Mr Soh who set a new national record last December, running the marathon in two hours, 22 minutes and 59 seconds, ten minutes faster than the qualifying time set by the SNOC for the event, has been excluded once again from the list of delegates to this year’s SEA Games, which will be held in Hanoi in May.
What will next week bring? More drama, more debates, more gossip? Stay tuned to find out. /TISG