There's a new sheriff Speaker in town. And things will never be the same.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] Gif from Imgur.[/caption]

After being nominated to the post of Speaker of Parliament by PM Lee on Sept. 5, Tan Chuan-Jin left his old job as Minister for Social and Family Development, to be replaced by Desmond Lee.

After an uncharacteristically emotional Facebook post - which he clarified was meant to be a "personal reflection" - Tan rocked up to Parliament House on Sept. 11, ready for his first ever speech as the 10th Speaker in our country's history.

Opposition politicians a "strength"

Tan made reference to the first ever session of Parliament in December 1965, noting that the Barisan Sosialis, the main opposition party at the time, had boycotted the institution and refused to take their seats:

"Today, the Barisan is no more but opposition voices are well- represented and participate fully. We have 6 members of the Workers Party, with whom the Barisan merged in 1988, 3 Workers Party NCMP, as well as 9 Nominated Members of Parliament.

In a Parliamentary democracy, the legitimacy of the laws we enact rests on the scrupulous attention we – on both sides of this House – pay to the reasoned debate which accompanies the passing of each law. No one doubts that our goal in these sittings must be to advance the interests of all Singaporeans.

I therefore see the presence of our opposition colleagues here in the House today, as a strength and positive step towards constructive contestation of ideas."

Need to engage beyond Parliament

Tan also chose to touch upon the proliferation of "Fake news" in a digital age, and the danger it poses to our society:

"We live in an era where information flows almost unbounded and in copious volume. The world continues to change with ever accelerating speed. We feel uncertain. The challenge is to discern, sense-make, and find clarity.

The term “fake news” is oxymoronic – because fake news is not news at all but lies. Putting on a sheep’s coat does not make these falsehoods true. And yet we have seen time and again, how misinformation can have serious impact on people’s lives."

However, he also emphasised that Parliament needed to adjust to these new developments, in order to remain relevant to the people they represent:

"To be effective, we do need to engage beyond this house, to tap on the collective wisdom that lies without. While we all need to be grounded and engaged, it is also clear that the buck stops here. We need to be the institution that channels and reflects the voices of the people, so that we can query, answer and debate in a manner that provides hope and clarity."

Tan also paid tribute to his predecessor, Halimah Yacob, for her "generosity in advice and support". Halimah had earlier resigned from her post in order to contest the upcoming Presidential Election.

Halimah was in attendance at Parliament today, sitting in the Speaker's gallery together with her husband, Mohamed Abdullah Alhabshee.

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Independence is the gold, Parliament is its caretaker

He ended his speech with an allusion to a poetic turn of phrase used by then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during Singapore's first session of Parliament. While then-Finance Minister Lim Kin San noted that independence had cost Singapore over a quarter of its total budget, LKY said that the money used was as a "bag of sweets" compared to the "antique gold piece" that was the nation's independence.

Tan emphasised that the leaders of today were now responsible for that golden heirloom, and it was up to them to ensure that it would remain worthy to be passed on to the next generation.

"We today, remain the possessor of this gold piece, which we have burnished to a shine and multiplied several times over. Our focus is and must be to ensure that these gold pieces work better for Singaporeans, for Singapore, for today and compounded in force, for all our tomorrows."

Wah not bad for a maiden effort.

You can watch a video of Tan's election as 10th Speaker of Parliament below:

Related stories:

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Tan Chuan-Jin being nominated as Speaker of Parliament means he’s out of the PM race

PM Lee nominates Tan Chuan-Jin for Speaker of Parliament, Desmond Lee to take over as MSF minister

Top image from screenshot of govsingapore's YouTube channel.