Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education Hawazi Daipi claimed that Workers' Party (WP) Chairperson Sylvia Lim has "politicised a motion" when she objected to a clause in a bill.
The bill will rename think tank Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) as the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. This is to honour the 105th anniversary of the birth of Singapore's first president, Yusof Ishak.
Clause 6 will replace "President" with "Minister", giving the minister the authority to appoint Board members at ISEAS.
In her speech, Lim "objects to Clause 6 of the bill to make the Minister the sole appointer of all the board members, replacing the President and other organisations".
She added that WP supports "the renaming of ISEAS as ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute" but urge "the government to rethink the Amendment Bill to preserve the diversity, autonomy and presidential association of ISEAS".
"Mdm'>
Speaker, the Workers’ Party is supportive of renaming ISEAS as Yusof Ishak Institute. However, we are of the view...
Parliamentary Secretary for Education Hawazi Daipi accuses The Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim of politicising the motion to rename ISEAS after Singapore's first President, Yusof Ishak. http://bit.ly/1HZxvvf (Note: Part of Mr Hawazi's speech is overlaid by the voice of the translator)
SPS Hawazi: "I felt quite hurt to hear Ms Sylvia Lim's comments that I feel in my view politicises the motion to record a pre-eminent Singaporean when we rename ISEAS (English translation of Malay speech).
"I did not dispute her (Lim) support to this bill but I dispute her intent in politicising this matter."
Education Minister Heng Swee Keat: "I dispensed so much time in my speech talking about why ISEAS has been an important institute in Singapore over the years, why it will continue to play a major role in the years forward; that our understanding within Singapore as well as with our partners in the region is critical to our success in the future.
"Do we want ISEAS to succeed? Absolutely! So why would I as a minister make an amendment to the change in order to make ISEAS less effective?"
"I hope that Mr Low (Low Thia Khiang), you do not start imagining things when there is none and that is not good for governance." - Channel NewsAsia
What happened in the end?
The Bill was passed, with WP voting against it.
What we wish could have happened:
The President was consulted (hopefully) before the Parliament decided to replace his duty.
A independent think tank like ISEAS should in fact not be subjected to the President's or the Minister's approval for its board.
A proper and direct reply from the government to the question on why it was decided that the Minister should replace the President as the sole appointer of all the board members.
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July 14, 09:21 PM 
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Source: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Amendment) Bill