'Minister, would you like to take part in the debate?': WP MP He Ting Ru calls out Singapore minister who kept talking as she was delivering her speech
SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party Member of Parliament (WP MP) He Ting Ru (Sengkang) has drawn a considerable degree of attention after posting a video on social media of an excerpt from a speech she made last week.
On Sep 10 (Thursday), Ms He spoke on the Food Security Motion. She underlined that Singapore’s food resilience needs to be strengthened, given that a substantial portion of the city-state’s households experience food insecurity.
She called for the thinking behind policy-making to go beyond scarcity, noting the diverse supply chains Singapore already has, but called for the focus to be on whether all households have access to and are able to afford good food.
“We must move beyond asking merely whether we have enough, and commit to a food system that is equitable, sustainable, and unmistakably ours,” she said.
Ms He can already be seen stopping at one point in her speech and looking at the seated MPs before her. And then, towards the end of her 20-minute speech, Ms He interrupted herself, as at least one other MP was talking while she was delivering her speech.
She then paused, and with a voice trembling slightly, she said, “Um, sorry, Minister, are you… Would you like to take part in the debate? Sorry, I just keep hearing you speaking.”
Which minister Ms He was addressing is unknown, as she did not call them by name.
On social media, the MP published a clip from her speech on Friday (Sep 11), beginning with her addressing the minister who kept talking.
She wrote in her caption, “This section of my speech is dedicated to all the mums out there who have had to drink water to stave off hunger pains so their children can eat, especially in a city of seeming abundance and millionaires.”
Ms He added with seeming asperity, “Also a shoutout to all women who have ever been talked over #iykyk.”
Her speech may be viewed in full here.
What Singaporeans are saying
Netizens commenting on the MP’s post applauded her for calling the minister out, especially after it was shared on the WP’s Facebook page.
“Well done - please show respect! You talk, ppl pay attention- ppl talk, you also talk !” one wrote.
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“People talk, you listen, you talk, people listen - something fundamental taught in school,” added another.
“She should have called out the Minister by name?? So disrespectful,” commented. Third.
One suggested that she should have said, “Mr Speaker, if I may digress a little here & seek your indulgence, I can’t help but be distracted by audible voices when I speak…”.
A number of commenters wrote that if they had behaved this way at school, teachers would have thrown chalk at them.
Many also asked her to reveal who the talkative minister was. /TISG