NMP Kuik Shiao-Yin, who doesn't have trappings of political office, tells politicians to speak plainly

Or else no one will understand you and Parliament doesn't speak for and to the masses.

Belmont Lay | June 25, 2018, 12:05 PM

Outgoing Nominated Member of Parliament Kuik Shiao-Yin has a message for Singapore's politicians: Speak plainly and don't use fancy words.

Or else, no one cares about Parliament.

Exit interview

This message is not new, but Kuik made these comments in an exit interview with Today on June 24, 2018.

The 41-year-old will be stepping down as an NMP in September 2018 after completing her term. She has been an NMP since August 2014.

Her day job is being the co-founder of social business group The Thought Collective.

NMP role was to make young people interested

In the interview, Kuik said she treated her NMP role as one to get young people interested in Parliament.

This was so as there is a deficit of attention in this public institution.

Her views are based on her interaction with youths who felt Parliament alienating.

And one reason youths cannot be bothered with this public institution is because speeches by politicians cannot be understood when the language employed is complicated.

Kuik said:

“To me, if people are bored or indifferent to Parliament for too long, you are running the risk of sowing great distrust in the institution. There is something very potentially dangerous there, because we ought to be paying attention to proceedings in the House.”

She added: “In fact, fancy words may be precisely why people are bored... Plain speech is understandable speech. I can latch onto it and work with it. But if speech is so removed from my reality, either because it sounds too 'cheem', or it sounds as if it has nothing, really, to do with my life, then yes, I will find it boring.”

Popular speech-maker in the last year

One reason Kuik can make this claim now is because she has made speeches that have resonated with the public.

Despite being in Parliament since August 2014, Kuik first came into prominence after a well-received speech during the Budget debate in 2017.

In that speech, she used the analogy of “the child in the basement” to urge Singaporeans to help “the drowning ones and the ones in the basement that need it the most”.

The phrase was adapted from American writer Ursula Le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.

Her speeches have been viewed several hundred thousands of times so far online.

Kuik also said a word such as "innovate" is meaningless to the masses, as it doesn't commensurate with a tangible reality or have multiple meanings.

Benefits of not being a politician

However, Kuik also admits that her NMP role is unique as she doesn't have the trappings of political office, where politicians are required to weigh multiple trade-offs.

Kuik regards the late Lee Kuan Yew as a great orator who spoke in concrete terms without descending into populism.

The late Lee said in 1965, a month after Singapore's independence: “Over 100 years ago, this was a mud-flat, swamp. Today, this is a modern city. Ten years from now, this will be a metropolis. Never fear.”

Kuik said: “To say that is very courageous. It is almost like, if you dare to say it, you have to be prepared to work at it.”

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The last time anyone suggested politicians in Singapore "speak plainly":