January 26, 06:05 PM 
514 Chai Chee Lane 03-16, Singapore 469029 A total of 17 MPs spoke on day one, with eight of them making their maiden speeches in Parliament following the 2015 General Election (GE).
Here are the awards for Day 1
Most Focused Speech Award
Winner: Melvin Yong (MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC)
While his speech did not make an impression in the papers, it is important to note first-time MP Melvin Yong brought up the important-as-heck-because-our-future-depends-on-it-but-most-people-catch-no-ball topic of tripartism.
In fact, he dedicated his entire maiden speech to the relationship of government, unions and employers, which is – in a nutshell – the purest meaning of tripartism.
What better way to describe tripartism then to cite its success during the 2009 global recession, which pretty much showed its importance.
"Then, while many countries were cutting jobs to save costs, the tripartite partners in Singapore had a different approach. Together, we cut costs to save jobs...The concerted efforts by the tripartite partners enabled Singapore to upturn the downturn in a swift manner. We succeeded because we were willing to bite the bullet together."
He also said that Singapore should also concentrate on tripartism on a sectoral level. For example, the recent bus contract model.
To make sure there was no loss of jobs or staff benefits, the National Transport Workers' Union, bus operators and the Land Transport Authority worked together to safeguard jobs, he said.
The 44-year-old even wanted to educate the young of the merits of this "powerful weapon".
"Tripartism has served us well. It is a powerful weapon in our economic defence. But we should not allow it to remain a “secret” weapon known and practised only by a few. I would urge for tripartism to be included in our national education so that every Singaporean child would know, appreciate and continue to nurture this key competitive advantage that our tiny red dot has."
If tripartism makes it to your text book, you know which uncle to blame, kids.
Makes you really interested in Parliament Award
Winner: Sun Xueling (MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC)
Another newbie to make an impact was Pasir Ris-Punggol MP Sun Xueling.
She certainly captured the imagination of the cameraman. Notice the subtle tightening of the shot.
Also, she talked about the importance of generosity and how it will "set us on the path to becoming a great nation and a great people".
Such kindness.
Best WITS Award
Screenshot from video
Winner: Christopher De Souza (MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC).
De Souza asked the Government to consider removing Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for Singaporeans, while retaining the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) for Singaporeans and the ABSD for foreigners.
His reasoning? By retaining the TDSR, the Singaporean is only going to be allowed a credit line that is within his means. If this Singaporean is able to afford a second or third property through the TDSR regime, why tax him with ABSD? By retaining the ABSD for foreigners, it will help ensure that the foreigners will not enter the Singaporean market in an overly speculative way.
*WITS: The Work Improvement Team Scheme (WITs) is a government programme, where individuals are asked to provide suggestions to help improve the Public Service through cost savings and waste reduction.
Best speech Award
Winner: Ong Ye Kung (Acting Education Minsiter and MP for Sembawang GRC) on "Faster legs, stronger hearts, wiser minds".
“What'>
Posted by Channel NewsAsia Singapore on Sunday, January 24, 2016
Because The Straits Times ("Speech of the Day", January 26) say so. Because Opinion Editor Chua Mui Hoong said that Ong was the "most impressive" and that while he "might be a parliamentary novice", he "speaks like a seasoned politician". And because we agree with The Straits Times this once.
Why is it betterer than other speeches?
Ong gave a good overview of how the world is changing (China's economy - moving up the value added ladder, higher consumption, and greater discipline in allocating capital to production capacity); how a stronger national identity could be developed; and most importantly, how Singaporeans can change their mindsets in making decisions.
Besides his "faster legs, stronger hearts, wiser minds" soundbite, what struck Mothership.sg was his "wiser minds" idea, about the need for to exercise of judgment and discretion in policy-making, rather than a “law-by-law” system. Ong also highlighted the risk of viewing ourselves in numerical terms, as the worth of an individual, the standing of institutions can only be captured in part by numbers.
You can read his full speech here.
The Halimah Yacob Last Warning Award
Screenshot from video
Winner: Low Yen Ling, Chua Chu Kang GRC
How does one spend 18 and a half minutes talking about how Singaporeans can protect themselves from terrorism? Somehow, Low managed to do it. Her portfolios don't explain this phenomenon either: she's the Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministries of Education and Trade & Industry. Perhaps she felt the need to educate everyone on a detailed treatise on the "war for hearts and minds" and how Singaporeans must fight terrorism.
Her runner-up: MP De Souza, for spending 18 minutes and 17 seconds at the podium — but at least he spoke about two topics — education and property prices.
The Halimah Yacob Gold Standard Award
Screenshot from video
Winner: Yee Chia Hsing, Chua Chu Kang GRC
Low needs to learn a thing or two from her fellow Chua Chu Kang MP Yee, who spent a crisp six and a half minutes speaking on a far heavier topic: the economy.
In his brief time at the podium, Yee honed his focus on the challenges faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the economy drifts into a downturn, expressing his concern that they won't be around to take advantage of growth opportunity when it bounces back. He also was able to recommend policy adjustments to things like the existing foreign worker levies.
Or maybe Yee didn't have anything else to say.