MPs’ Disappearing Act
by singaporearmchaircritic
So it was reported that last week in Parliament, not even a quarter of our 87 elected Members of Parliament (MPs) were present to vote for the passage of two Bills. Alerted to the lack of a quorum required to pass a Bill by Nominated MP (NMP) Eugene Tan, the Deputy Speaker rang the division bell to summon the missing MPs, who then, in the words of our mainstream media, “streamed into the Chamber to take their seats after a few minutes.”
Now according to the “Rules of Prudence” issued by the Prime Minister’s Office after GE 2011, “[PAP] MPs are expected to attend all sittings of Parliament.” PAP MPs have to seek the permission of the Party Whip and inform the Whip if they have to be absent during a sitting (see rule no. 23).
The current Party Whip is Gan Kim Yong, who is assisted by his Deputies Amy Khor and Teo Ho Pin. It is not known if the Whip had indeed been notified of the absences.
Intrigued by the whereabouts of our handsomely paid MPs, I did a bit of investigation on our Parliament website. To my disappointment, Votes and Proceedings published by the Parliament record neither the number of MPs nor the names of those who vote for a Bill.
The only exception is when a Member calls for a division, in the case of which “the Votes and Proceedings shall include the numbers voting for and against the question, the names of Members so voting and the names of the Members present who abstained from voting”(see Standing Orders of the Singapore Parliament, 30(3)).
This happened on a sitting on 8 February 2013, during which Workers’ Party Low Thia Khiang called for a division to the motion to endorse the controversial Population White Paper. If you need to refresh your memory on who and how many voted for the darned White Paper, you can click on this link.
Nonetheless, Votes and Proceedings do record the MPs who are present and absent on a sitting.
Using the information available, I constructed the following chart which shows the absentee rate of all Members of the 12th Parliament over 82 sittings from October 2011 to May 2014.
No prize for guessing who tops the cohort for absenteeism.
(Click to enlarge)
Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was absent on 64.6% of all 82 sittings. Next to top the list is former Minister Mah Bow Tan (Tampines GRC), who was absent 39% of the time. Raymond Lim Siang Keat (East Coast GRC) took the third place with an absentee rate of 28%, followed by Irene Ng Phek Hoong (Tampines GRC) and Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) at a rate of 22%.
Other MPs who scored an absentee rate of close to 20% are Cedric Foo Chee Keng (Pioneer), Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC), and Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad (Tampines GRC).
Note that three out of the five MPs of Tampines GRC came out tops in absentee rate, resulting in an average absentee rate of 19.27% for Tampines GRC MPs.
On the other side of the scale are MPs who clocked zero absenteeism over 82 sittings, namely (in alphabetical order) Chan Chun Sing, Faizah Jamal, Gerald Giam, Heng Chee How, PM Lee Hsien Loong, Lim Biow Chuan, Lim Swee Say, Low Thia Khiang, Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Denise Phua, R Dhinakaran, Teo Chee Hean, Lawrence Wong and Zainudin Nordin.
While some may attribute MPs’ absenteeism to their other commitments, such as a full-time job and directorships, just looking at the MPs who were present at every Parliament sitting is enough to challenge this argument since the list includes MPs cum Ministers who wear many hats.
As the next General Election is not too far away, voters could take this opportunity to do a mid-term review of their MPs (who’s your MP) and assess if they have performed satisfactorily since GE 2011.
A good starting point is to question your MP about his or her attendance in Parliament and the Bills he has voted for. The next is to search the Parliament reports for what he has advocated in Parliament, and finally, find out what he has done for your constituency so far.
(This post first appeared on The Online Citizen).
Singapore Armchair Critic 
Party Whip and his 2 Deputies also absent, how?
Hypothetical question? The Parliament website has yet to publish the “Votes and Proceedings” for the July sittings.
For those who are interested, the 7-9 July Votes and Proceedings are now available:
http://www.parliament.gov.sg/publications/votes-and-proceedings12th
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You appear to confuse absences from Parliamentary sittings with being absent from the chamber, albeit temporarily. Those who streamed in after being told of the lack of a quorum may or may not have a legitimate reason for being absent from the chamber.It is strange that in this technological age no warning system is in place to inform the Speaker of the number of members present at any one time. Even public buses show the number of seats available in the upper decks of double deckers.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
Yes, I do see the difference between the two but I was just wondering if an MP, who has not sought the Whip’s permission for absence from a sitting, could just show up when a session commences and then go missing in action subsequently. That is too convenient, isn’t it?
It also means that even if an MP is recorded as present on “Votes and Proceedings,” he may not have performed due diligence in voting for or against a Bill in parliament. This is because in all circumstances except when a Member calls for a division, the votes are taken through a collection of voices (“Ayes” or “Noes”), after which the Speaker states his decision based on the strength of the responses.
Having said this, the Speaker should be able to tell by sight if a quorum (a quarter of 87 elected MPs means the quorum is just 22) is lacking. So why did he need to be alerted to a lack of quorum by an NMP?
This raises further questions: 1. Is the Speaker aware of the parliamentary rules and procedures?; 2. Does the Speaker enforce these rules diligently?; 3. Under what circumstances may the Members in Chamber be excused from voting?; 4. How often has Bills been passed without a quorum?
Inderjit Singh’s deliberate absence from the Chamber when the division was called on the PWP should answer your first question. As for the Speaker’s familiarity with and diligence in ensuring that the Consitituion is complied with the fact that NMP Eugene Tan had to alert her on more than one occasion gives you food for thought. Lastly, the Party Whips and their Deputies job is to ensure that the MPs are present to vote only on Bills thought important enough. No disciplinary action appeared to have been taken against Inderjit Singh for his action.
Parliament Clerk’s reply in TODAY to the letter “How do we ensure Bills are passed with quorum?” (July 14):
FROM
NG SHEAU JIUAN, CLERK OF PARLIAMENT
PUBLISHED: 4:04 AM, JULY 17, 2014
We refer to the letter “How do we ensure Bills are passed with quorum?” (July 14).
There were 91 members present at the July 7 sitting. When the votes on the Bills that were passed that day were taken, there were sufficient members to form a quorum.
There are rules governing quorum and voting in Parliament. Bills have always been passed in accordance with these rules. The responsibility of ensuring a quorum at a sitting rests on the entire House.
Under the rules, members who wish to be absent from a sitting must seek the Speaker’s written permission. They must also inform the party Whip if they are unable to attend Parliament on time or have to leave early.
http://www.todayonline.com/voices/bills-passed-accordance-parliament-rules
Would appreciate it if you could correct the spelling to my name – it’s FaizaH ( with a ‘H” which is a female name)NOT FaizaL ( with an ‘L’ which is a male name.)
Thank you.
Faizah Jamal (Nominated Member of Parliament)
My apologies. I have corrected the mis-spelling.
SAC
[…] While some may attribute MPs’ absenteeism to their other commitments, such as a full-time job and directorships, just looking at the MPs who were present at every Parliament sitting is enough to challenge this argument since the list includes MPs cum Ministers who wear many hats. As the next General Election is not too far away, voters could take this opportunity to do a mid-term review of their MPs (http://www.parliament.gov.sg/list-constituencies) and assess if they have performed satisfactorily since GE 2011. A good starting point is to question your MP about his or her attendance in Parliament and the Bills he has voted for. The next is to search the Parliament reports [http://www.parliament.gov.sg/publications-singapore-parliament-reports] for what he has advocated in Parliament, and finally, find out what he has done for your constituency so far. […]
On the ST forum page:
“Lack of quorum: Clerk of Parliament replies
PUBLISHED ON JUL 17, 2014 1:12 AM
I REFER to Mr Leong Kok Seng’s letter (“Questions over lack of quorum”; Monday).
If Parliament sits without a quorum, it may be adjourned if an MP objects. It will also not be able to pass a Bill.
Subject to these, Parliament can continue to transact other businesses that do not require a decision, such as Question Time.
The sitting on July 7 was attended by 91 MPs and attendances are recorded in the Official Reports and Votes and Proceedings available on the Parliament website.
When the votes on the Bills that were passed on July 7 were taken at the sitting, the quorum was met.
MPs have to seek the Speaker’s permission in writing to be absent from a sitting.
They also have to inform the party Whip if they are unable to attend Parliament on time or have to leave early.
Ng Sheau Jiuan (Ms)
Clerk of Parliament
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