Flip-flop flap

SINGAPORE - You might not see chairs and punches being thrown during a parliamentary debate here.

But it can get testy, in that robust Singaporean way. Like how Members of Parliament locked horns on the nature of constructive politics.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong tackled Workers' Party leader Low Thia Khiang's speech.

Mr Low had called for a nurturing of constructive politics here and a move from what he had termed a "bullying" political culture.

His speech was in response to the reopening of Parliament address by President Tony Tan, who had said that while debates can be robust, it is crucial to maintain constructive politics in Singapore, that puts the nation and people first.

Saying that it was "striking" that Mr Low chose to only focus on constructive politics in his speech, Mr Lee questioned why he had not commented on the Government's initiatives.

Mr Lee said: "He had nothing to say about the substance of the Government's programme. No critiques, no suggestions, no alternatives. Nothing."

In his speech, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Hri Kumar also tackled what he saw as a lack of alternatives from the opposition.

He said: "The details are everything, it is what distinguishes a successful country from one that is not. We often say in this House that the policy sounds good, but the devil is in the details...

"But very few critics of the Government are prepared to get into the details because it is not always pleasant."

CHANGING POSITION

Mt Lee then defined constructive politics as developing effective policies, having good leaders and a robust and open debate.

He said that Mr Low's comments that politics is still politics, no matter how it is described, is a "breathtakingly cynical view".

Mr Lee also accused the WP of flip-flopping.

He questioned why Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim, who made a major point of Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH) in 2011, did not mention it again in Parliament. The Bhutan government had voted against the idea of a GNH last year.

On Monday, Senior Minister of State for Law and Education Indranee Rajah had accused the WP of flip-flopping on its foreign worker policy.

Mr Low denied this.

Mr Lee said: "Mr Low's denial is simply false. WP did flip-flop. The record is there in the Hansard, for everyone to see. But his suggestion to file a motion is not a bad idea."

Mr Low had called on Ms Indranee to file a motion to debate whether WP had indeed changed its position on foreign worker issues.

But that was not all. Mr Lee was also critical of Mr Low's cynical view that politics is politics.

On Monday, Mr Low had said one can describe politics by adding different adjectives in front or at the back of the word "politics".

Mr Low said: "To me, in whatever way 'politics' is described and coloured, it is still politics."

In response, Mr Lee said: "Politics cannot just be about politics alone. It is about Singaporeans' lives and Singapore's future."

Why just focus on constructive politics? Where are the alternatives to government policies? Parliament turned feisty yesterday with the ruling party and the main opposition party crossing swords.

The Workers' Party approach has been to be extremely reasonable, indeed low profile in Parliament, but come election time to turn into tigers and heroes.

- Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (above) on the Workers' Party's differing approaches in Parliament and during elections

This article was first published on May 29, 2014.
Get The New Paper for more stories.