Mr Speaker sir, I only have brief comments on this amendment bill. I support this Bill which modernises the law in treating documents created electronically as primary documents. I can only wish that this amendment bill was put before us earlier, since the relevant reports from the Singapore Academy of Law were published back in the year 2004. As for extending Legal Professional privilege to other Legal Counsel not acting as Advocates and Solicitors –  [ Read More ]

Mr Speaker sir, At first glance, the replacement of Section 15 of the Legal Profession Act seems like a U-turn after the years of the development of our own legal profession. In essence, we are now going to make it easier to admit persons outside Singapore before our courts – this will be the effect of removing the requirement of a case being of “sufficient difficulty and complexity”. If there are to be foreign admissions,  [ Read More ]

Some of the claims made in public against members in the SPP and myself have become so warped that I am now compelled to give a personal explanation. The six members of the CEC submitted their resignations to the party on 27 January, asking for that to take place with immediate effect. While we were reluctant, I eventually accepted their resignations in writing as they had made the resignations public. The party can confirm that  [ Read More ]

Media Statement by Mrs Lina Chiam I wish to inform that members who resigned, did so for their own personal reasons. My main priority is to concentrate on the upcoming Ministerial budget speech and budget debate and working with the rest of the new cec team I have no intention of debating issues concerning the former members in public as this is a distraction from my role as NCMP. Mrs Lina Chiam 1 Feb 2012

  On 29 January 2012, the SPP conducted an Ordinary Party Conference (OPC) and elected a new Central Executive Committee (CEC). The appointments within this new CEC have not yet been decided – this will be subjected to a vote within 3 weeks of the OPC, and will be announced in due course. The party received both resignations, which had been accepted as well as new applications for membership. This was an opportune time for  [ Read More ]

1. Statutes (Misc. Amendements) Bill Mr Speaker sir, May I draw the attention of this House to the Bankruptcy Act, which Clause 13 of this bill seeks to amend. This clause makes changes to the adjournment of bankruptcy cases in court and to bankruptcy applications. I have two questions for the Minister: – Firstly, can the Minister provide us with the number of bankrupt individuals sent for debt restructuring schemes, against the number of those  [ Read More ]

Mr Speaker sir, On the ministerial pay review headed by Mr Gerard Ee, I have only two major points to make. My priority in Parliament remains to be on sustainable economic growth and healthcare cost. My remarks in Parliament, including this statement, are ultimately geared towards speaking up for Singaporeans in these areas. 1.  My first point relates to the formula of pegging the ministers’ base pay to 60 per cent of the median income  [ Read More ]

The Singapore People’s Party will not be releasing a full response to the ministerial pay review until the parliament debate of 16th January , because there are two major points that the Party are studying more deeply. The first point is the recommendation for the ministers’ pay is to be pegged to the specific number of the top 1,000 earners. It intrigues us as to how this new peg will play itself out for the  [ Read More ]

Pre-order now: 10 DAYS: Chiam See Tong, the SPP and GE 2011. Exclusive Photo-journalistic record of the SPP’s GE 2011 campaign to commemorate the SPP’s involvement in a momentous period in Singapore’s political history. This photo-book charts out the development of the SPP, from Mr Chiam the lone fighter, to the appearance of many new faces, to the formation of the 7-man team, competing in three constituencies: Potong Pasir, Bishan-Toa Payoh, and Hong Kah North.  [ Read More ]

Dear fellow Singaporeans, Every year in February, the Minister for Finance will present the planned expenditure for the following year which begins on 1 April. All our livelihoods are directly affected because the budget dictates how government is going to allocate financial resources to various sectors like the military, education, economic development, community services, healthcare.