Parliament to hear ministerial statement on conduct of WP's Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap
MPs will also discuss questions related to Singapore's policy on the public screening of dialect films.
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SINGAPORE: Parliament will on Tuesday (Jul 7) hear a ministerial statement on the conduct of Workers’ Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faishal Manap, and discuss Singapore’s policy on screening dialect films.
The ministerial statement will be a "determination" on the Committee of Privileges' (COP) findings on the two WP leaders' involvement in events relating to former WP member Raeesah Khan's lies to parliament in 2021, according to the order paper published on Monday.
It will be delivered by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah.
Ms Indranee had said in December last year that WP Secretary-General Pritam Singh’s conviction for lying to parliament would have “implications” for the two WP leaders.
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According to the COP's findings, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal both lied under oath when they denied that Ms Khan was told to hide her lie at a meeting in August 2021.
It was also "of the view that if Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal had guided Ms Khan to repeat her lie in parliament, then such conduct would be unbecoming of a parliamentarian, and would amount to contempt of parliament”, Ms Indranee said in December.
Parliament previously postponed making a decision on the matter until after the outcome of Mr Singh’s case, as all three WP members disputed the COP report, she said then.
Mr Singh was convicted of two charges of lying to parliament in February 2025, and his appeal was dismissed by the High Court in early December.
SCREENING OF DIALECT FILMS
MPs will also discuss questions related to Singapore’s policy on the public screening of dialect films.
This comes after only limited screenings of the film Dear You, originally produced in Teochew, were made available, while a Mandarin-dubbed version ran for general screenings, sparking public debate.
Singapore requires approval for the public screening of Chinese-dialect films under IMDA's film classification framework. The policy reflects the government's longstanding promotion of Mandarin, which dates back to the Speak Mandarin campaign launched in 1979.
Ten questions were submitted by MPs in relation to the campaign and Singapore's approach towards the screening of dialect films.
MP Cai Yinzhou (PAP–Bishan-Toa Payoh) asked what the Speak Mandarin Campaign's current policy objectives are and whether the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) will review its continued application to locally screened dialect films, noting that over-the-top and social media platforms are not subject to the same restrictions.
He asked whether the ministry has assessed the effectiveness of mandatory Mandarin dubbing of dialect films. Mr Cai also wanted to know the factors behind the Infocomm Media Development Authority's decision to approve the Mandarin-dubbed version of Dear You for general release instead of in Teochew.
Similarly, MP Valerie Lee (PAP–Pasir Ris-Changi) wanted to know what were the factors that led to the original decision allowing only limited screenings of Dear You in Teochew instead of wider subtitled screenings as well as the criteria will guide the Ministry of Digital Development and Information's "more flexible approach" to approving future dialect-film screenings.
NCMP Eileen Chong (WP) also asked if MCCY has reviewed whether the Speak Mandarin Campaign's framing remains suited to today's conditions and whether the ministry will evolve its approach.
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