No time?

• SevenEleven

  2 Mar 06, 12:29

  March 2, 2006 - Strait Times
  MPs should make time for Budget debate
  
  YEAR in and year out, I watch the Budget debate on television in bewilderment and disbelief. Most of the time, there are many empty seats in Parliament. The current session is no exception.
  
  I am sure that Members of the House are given prior notice on the parliamentary sittings for them to prioritise their schedules.
  
  While I can understand that ministers and Members of Parliament (including Nominated MPs and the Non-Constituency MP) have their own portfolios and private careers, surely attending parliamentary sessions should take some priority.
  
  All ministers and MPs are elected Members of the House. They represent their constituents, speak on their behalf and bring up their concerns to the Government. The Budget debate is one such avenue for them as representatives of the people to voice their concerns, to hear and to be heard.
  
  Yet it is so disappointing to see so many empty seats when such an important debate is going on.
  
  Christopher Teo Kian Lam
  
  Sigh...to think that we have "voted" them in and they never even turn up for the most important event of the year that affect the citizen most.
  
  
• dragg

  2 Mar 06, 12:31

  debate or not the budget stands.
  
  so why debate?
  
• losers.inc

  2 Mar 06, 12:32

  -1
• Devil1976

  2 Mar 06, 13:05

  Originally posted by dragg:

  debate or not the budget stands.
  
  so why debate?
  

  FOR SHOW lor...
• jurongmania

  2 Mar 06, 13:05

  parliment is just a puppet theatre conducted to please singaporeans. the PM's ass kissing puppet MP's are only visible as they need to mark their attendence so that they can say they were present in parliment. they dont give a shit about the man on the street mah. all the MP's care about is making more money on the side lines besides their juicy monthly allowances and salaries they receive for being MPs lor.
• dragg

  3 Mar 06, 01:24

  Originally posted by Devil1976:

  FOR SHOW lor...

  thats why most of the people stay at home.
  
  
• SevenEleven

  4 Mar 06, 11:42

  ST - 4 March 2006
  
  PAP MPs do take sittings of Parliament seriously
  
  I REFER to Mr Christopher Teo Kian Lam's letter 'MPs should make time for Budget debate' (ST, March 2).
  
  I would like to assure Mr Teo that PAP MPs take Parliament sittings very seriously. They have to seek the Speaker's permission to be absent from a sitting. They also have to inform the Government Whip if they are unable to attend Parliament on time or have to leave earlier.
  
  During the Budget debate and Committee of Supply, Parliament sits from 12 noon to 7pm.
  
  While PAP MPs are expected to be in Parliament throughout the sitting, they may not be able to be in the chamber for the full seven hours.
  
  They will have to leave the chamber from time to time for lunch, do research for their speeches, revise their speeches according to the flow of the debate, respond to urgent calls or even attend brief urgent meetings which they cannot reschedule. So even if they are not in the chamber, it does not mean that they are not in Parliament or not contributing to the business of Parliament.
  
  As we had explained previously, PAP MPs should not be judged by how long they remain seated in the chamber but by their participation in debates and the quality of their speeches and how well they serve their constituents.
  
  PAP MPs do more than attend Parliament. They also have to discharge their duties in their constituencies, town councils, parliamentary committees, GPCs and many other similar duties.
  
  Lim Swee Say
  Deputy Government Whip