Progress Singapore Party (PSP) apologised on their Facebook page for sharing a misleading video post, also on Facebook.

This came after Leader of the House Indranee Rajah asked for a formal apology on Jul. 6, 2023.

What happened previously

The video, shared on Jul. 4, was an edited version of Parliamentary proceedings during clarifications for the ministerial statements on renting Ridout Road properties by ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan.

It showed an exchange between PSP's Secretary-General and Non-Constituency MP, Leong Mun Wai, and Deputy Speaker Christopher de Souza.

Indranee took issue with the video's caption, which included remarks of" sia suay" (which means embarrassing in Hokkien) and the impression it gave viewers that Leong was not allowed to debate in Parliament.

Leong clarified in Parliament on Jul. 5, 2023, that "sia suay" referred to himself, and PSP amended the Facebook post shortly after.

However, Indranee repeated her request on Jul. 6, 2023, for PSP to remove the Facebook post, video and post an apology on PSPs Facebook page and all the other social media pages in which the videos appear.

She asked PSP to do so by 10pm that day, or she would refer the matter to the Committee of Privileges.

PSP removed the video and published an apology on their Facebook page at 9:57pm on the same day.

Indranee says "sia suay" comment does not appear to refer to Leong

In Parliament, Indranee explained that although Leong clarified that "sia suay" was not referring to De Souza but himself, she found that difficult to accept.

She said Leong claimed that he quoted previous commenters saying he was "sia suay". However, it was clear to her that the commenters referred to the "event location" or "people, not just one person.

More importantly, she pointed out that even after amendments, the video and the new caption still did not explain the context of the proceedings, and the public could be misled to believe that the Deputy Speaker was not carrying out his duties neutrally, fairly, or properly.

Leong asks if PSP could put up open letter to express regret instead

Leong asked Indranee if they have to apologise should they agree to take down the video.

He reiterated that PSP didn't "impugn anybody" and claimed it was "just a representation and expression".

Leong asked if they could instead put up an open letter to express their regret about the situation.

Indranee says apology important for public trust in Parliament

Indranee explained that whenever a video or a Facebook post is put out, it's "obviously intended to communicate something".

"Very few people actually put out something that means 100 million different things to 100 million different people. Unless, of course, it's a piece of artwork," she added.

In this case, she believes, a video or post put up by a political party has political objectives and a political narrative that an objective standard could measure.

Indranee explained that the Parliament requires an apology as PSP's misrepresentation of what happened in Parliament was a direct strike against its values.

"Why do you think those rules are there? Those rules are there for a reason. The reason is that for any democracy to function properly it must function on the basis of a parliament that it can trust.

It must function on the basis that the members of Parliament and their political parties will speak truthfully to people and give accurate representations of what happened in Parliament."

PSP apologises on Facebook

In their apology posted on Facebook, PSP stated that they acknowledge that their MPs could have filed a Motion to debate the ministerial statements on Ridout Road, but they did not do so.

PSP also clarified that Deputy Speaker De Souza had given Leong latitude to ask his questions, and Leong did ask the questions he wanted.

The post says Leong had previously apologised for putting up a misleading post, and they express regret again.

Top image via MCI