LiveMotion on Pritam Singh, CPF Life, Indonesian baby trafficking ring on Parliament's agenda today

Parliament begins

We start question time today with Ms Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC) who asks about mould in HDB blocks. She wants to know how many cases HDB has come across where the continuous use of air-conditioning has caused condensation and mould in a neighbouring unit.

The LO’s powers, privileges and duties

As Leader of the Opposition (LO), Mr Pritam Singh has been given certain parliamentary privileges.

He has the right to ask the lead question to ministers on policies, Bills and motions, and has more time than regular MPs for his speeches (40 minutes – the same amount of time as political office-holders).

He also gets a monthly allowance that is double that of an elected MP, or $385,000 a year, and an additional allowance to hire up to three additional legislative assistants, on top of the allowance that all MPs receive to hire one legislative assistant and a secretarial assistant.

The LO has also been given a secretary to support him administratively with parliamentary business, and an office and the use of a meeting room in Parliament House.

The Government said in 2020 it had decided on these duties and privileges after considering other Westminster parliamentary systems which have a formal LO designation, such as Australia and Britain.

Mr Singh has other duties as LO. These include leading the opposition in presenting alternative views and scrutinising the Government’s positions during parliamentary debates, being consulted on the appointment of opposition MPs to select committees, and being called upon to attend official state functions.

To enable him to carry out his duties, he receives confidential government briefings on select matters of national security and external relations, and will be briefed in the event of a national crisis or emergency.

None of these are provided for in the Constitution or Parliament’s standing orders. 

What is the Leader of the Opposition?

The role is relatively new, and Mr Pritam Singh is the first formally designated Leader of the Opposition (LO) in Singapore history.

He was appointed by then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the 2020 General Election, where the WP won 10 out of 93 seats.

Announcing Mr Singh’s appointment after the elections’ results, he said the polls showed a clear desire for a diversity of voices in Parliament.

In a statement setting out the LO’s roles and responsibilities in 2020, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said: "Designating a Leader of Opposition will recognise this desire while enabling our political system to evolve in a way that maintains our sense of national purpose.”

After the 2025 General Election, where the WP won 12 seats, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Mr Singh would continue in the role.

While Ms Indranee has asked Parliament to debate Mr Singh’s suitability for the role, the House does not have the power to revoke the title as it is a position appointed by the prime minister.

The position is not a legally mandated one, and is not provided for in the Constitution or the Standing Orders of Parliament.

Before Mr Singh’s appointment, Singapore had never had a formal Leader of the Opposition.

This was the case, even in the 1950s and 1960s, when there were larger numbers of opposition legislative assemblymen, although some former opposition MPs such as WP’s Low Thia Khiang and Singapore Democratic Party’s Chiam See Tong were referred to as such.

PHOTO: MDDI

How did we get here?

A quick summary to get you up to speed:

This saga began when Ms Raeesah Khan first lied to Parliament in August 2021 and resigned several months later, triggering an investigation by the Committee of Privileges (COP) which summoned and questioned WP leaders Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap.

The COP referred Mr Singh to the public prosecutor after it found he had played a part in Ms Khan’s lies, and then lied to it about this. The public prosecutor charged him in 2024, and he was sentenced in 2025, with the conviction upheld on appeal.

In 2022, Parliament had, on receiving the COP’s report, deferred any “appropriate sanctions” on the three leaders till the conclusion of criminal proceedings against Mr Singh.

With his appeal dismissed in December 2025, Ms Indranee then set a date to put the ball back in Parliament’s court and discuss its response.

WP said in December that it had “initiated the party’s internal processes” in the light of the High Court judgment, and announced in January after a meeting of its top decision-making body that it would form a disciplinary panel to assess if Mr Singh had breached the party Constitution – a process that will take up to three months.

Meanwhile, the party also confirmed that a faction of at least 20 WP cadres had requested a special conference in February to discuss Mr Singh’s position as party chief, but will only hold it after the panel’s work is complete.

PHOTOS: GOV.SG

What is up for discussion in today’s motion

Leader of the House Indranee Rajah has filed a motion for the House to debate Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh’s suitability to continue in his role.

Her motion has six parts, and she asks that the House:

1. Affirms that honesty and integrity are fundamental pillars of Singapore’s parliamentary and political system; 
2. Notes the judgment where the High Court upheld Mr Singh’s conviction for lying to the Committee of Privileges, and the findings of the Committee of Privileges that he had guided Ms Raeesah Khan to continue with her lie to Parliament; 
3. Expresses regret at the conduct of Mr Singh, which was dishonourable and unbecoming of a Member of Parliament; 
4. Considers that Mr Singh’s conviction and conduct render him unsuitable to continue as Leader of the Opposition, a parliamentary leadership position carrying important responsibilities, duties and privileges, and that his continuation in this role would undermine the standing of Parliament and public confidence in the integrity of Singapore’s political system; 
5. Notes that the High Court judgment and the Committee’s findings have implications for Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Faisal Manap, which have to be considered separately; and 
6. Calls upon all MPs to uphold their solemn duty to respect and abide by the law, act with integrity at all times, and honour the trust placed in them by Singaporeans.

Following the debate, the 99 MPs and 9 Nominated MPs will vote on whether to agree or disagree with the motion, or ask for it to be amended. They can also abstain.

There are 87 PAP MPs. The WP has 12 seats.

PHOTO: MDDI

What has happened so far

A quick recap from the last two days of lawmaking:

• Two ministers gave sneak peeks on what to expect at Budget 2026 and the subsequent ministry announcements. Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said there will be “further refinements” to the Local Qualifying Salary, which is a minimum wage threshold that companies in Singapore must pay local workers to be eligible to hire foreigners, while Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo said his ministry will announce initiatives to ensure “sports is something that kids from all backgrounds can grow to love and be a part of and can benefit from”.
• The latest batch of Nominated MPs was sworn in. There were eight new faces and one returner. A number of them - Ms Kuah Boon Theng, Dr Haresh Singaraju, Professor Kenneth Poon and Dr Kenneth Goh - have already made their first speeches in the debates on this week’s Bills.
• Parliament passed two Bills aimed at improving data flows across the public and private sectors. One Bill paves the way for public agencies to share citizens’ data with the private sector, and the other mandates the sharing of patients’ health information among healthcare providers through the National Electronic Health Record system, the national health records database. It has also passed another Bill that gives the National Council of Social Service more powers.
• MPs asked questions on changes to Integrated Shield Plan riders, GIC and Temasek’s performance, and fire safety, leading to a discussion on the performance of the two state investors, which Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow said was "reasonable and within expectations”.

What to watch for today

Good morning! We start just a little bit later today at 12.30pm, and there are still many questions to get through.

Here’s what we will be watching and blogging on:

• Mould in HDB flats: Ms Jessica Tan (East Coast GRC) has asked how many complaints the Housing Board has received about condensation and mould on walls or ceilings due to continuous use of air-conditioning by a neighbour.
• Baby trafficking: WP’s Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC) wants to know how many adoptions are being reviewed following recent news of an Indonesian crime ring trafficking babies to Singapore. 
• CPF investment scheme: Mr Shawn Loh (Jalan Besar GRC) has asked about the considerations to implement a new CPF scheme meant to give Singaporeans a simplified, low-cost retirement investment option. He’s referring to the CPF Lifetime Retirement Investment Scheme, accepted by the Government in 2016, which has not yet been rolled out. At the last update, the authorities said they are carefully studying the scheme’s design.

We will also resume a debate on the Singapore Sports Council (Amendment) Bill, which will update the roles and functions of SportSG.

After that, we will hear Leader of the House Indranee Rajah’s motion for Parliament to consider WP chief Pritam Singh unsuitable to continue as Leader of the Opposition.

If you’re wondering how that might play out, read this week’s Unpacked – our newsletter on politics and policy. 

Stay tuned!
 

Welcome to our Parliament live blog  

Hi everyone, it’s the third (and last) day of this week’s Parliament session. We start at 12.30pm.

Welcome to our live blog, and stay tuned for updates!