MP Diana Pang says 'kao peh' in parliament speech, later apologises for 'unparliamentary' remark

During the Sep. 25 parliament session, Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights Diana Pang apologised for using a Hokkien term in her speech, which she described as "not very appropriate" for parliament.

Pang was speaking during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to President Tharman's parliament opening speech.

Parents' advice

In a section of her speech, Pang talked about what led her to join the party and expressed gratitude to her mentors and her family.

When speaking about how her parents had supported her and nudged her on, Pang said:

"I was equally blessed with family support. My parents, in their practical way, told me: 'Mai kao peh, just do it, don't complain'," Pang said.

"Mai kao peh", which translates literally to "don't cry father", is a phrase often used to express frustration and to tell someone to quit with their excessive complaints.

Did not mean to be unparliamentary: Pang

About 50 minutes later and after several MPs had taken their turn at the rostrum, Pang rose to comment on her "unparliamentary" remark.

"Mr Speaker, earlier in my speech, I have used a Hokkien phrase, which I'm given to understand may not be very appropriate to use in the parliamentary context. I just wanted to explain that I used it in the context of a story I was relating to. Did not mean to be unparliamentary. Please accept my apologies."

Speaker of the House Seah Kian Peng replied, "apology accepted."

The house proceedings continued thereafter.

Top image via MDDI / YouTube