A lack of decorum or a justified remark?
Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong’s comment that National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat had asked a “stupid” question has sparked plenty of online debate, with some calling it “unparliamentary”, “offensive”, and “hotheaded”.
The comment surfaced during a parliamentary discussion on Nov 5 about family offices and sanctioned entities, when Mr Chee asked Mr Tiong to clarify if the WP’s position advocated a zero-risk approach, or if he would agree to adopt a risk-proportionate approach.
Mr Tiong responded that there is a pattern of ministers asking rhetorical questions, before being told by Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng to respond to the question.
“The answer is no, and I don’t think it is the minister’s point of view that you should, in fact, have a zero-risk approach, because it’s impossible. So he’s asking a stupid question,” Mr Tiong said. He later apologised for the comment.
Netizens divided
A video of the exchange was posted on subreddit r/singapore by user @nftskeptics, garnering 231 upvotes and 187 comments at press time.
