As the parliament session on May 8 drew close to its five-hour mark, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah stepped up to the podium to make a very special announcement: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong would be receiving cake.

This was presented to him by several Members of Parliament (MPs) from the People's Action Party (PAP), who wished to show appreciation for PM Lee in view of his imminent handover on May 15.

Cake announcement

"Before I move to adjourn parliament, I just wanted to note for the record that this sitting will be Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's last sitting as prime minister," Indranee began.

To mark the occasion, she said, the "PAP lady MPs pooled together to get a cake for him".

On behalf of those who got the cake, Indranee invited all the members present in the house to join them in the Member's Room for cake, after which Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng chimed in:

"And I look forward to the cake and tea."

Thus ended the livestream of PM Lee's final parliament sitting as Prime Minister.

"Work closely" with PM as Leader of the House: Indranee

In a post, Indranee said that she, as the Leader of the House, has to work closely with PM Lee in relation to government business in Parliament.

She said that she did not know what to expect when she was first appointed to the role.

She praised PM's guidance and counsel, remarking that he knows parliamentary procedure and its underlying rationale better than most lawyers.

Kamsiah

In a photo posted on Instagram by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport of Singapore Baey Yam Keng later that day, PM Lee stood alongside the MPs behind the cake, which had "Kamsiah PM" written on it with icing.

The top of the cake was laden with recreations of objects that supposedly close to PM Lee's heart.

Some things spotted on the cake included:

⁃ A bowl of mee siam

⁃ A book titled “Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future”

⁃ A book titled “Secrets to Winning at Office Politics”

⁃ A book titled “How to Solve Coding Problems"

⁃ A book titled "Life 100 People Who Changed the World"

⁃ His Facebook post commemorating the anniversary of him going on social media

⁃ Papaya

⁃ Yellow watermelon

⁃ Lychee

⁃ Pomelo

⁃ Nonya Kuehs

⁃ A cup of kopi

MP Rachel Ong explained in an Instagram post that they designed the cake together with Pastry Chef Potus to reflect "a selection of the PM’s favourite items".

Top image via Baey Yam Keng's Instagram