Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Member of Parliament Cheng Li Hui have resigned from both the parliament and the People’s Action Party.
According to a statement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong issued on July 17, Lee accepted the resignations of both members.
Tan and Cheng’s resignations were “necessary, to maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years”, says Lee.
In a subsequent update, Lee revealed, via a press conference, that Tan and Cheng had been in an "inappropriate relationship". Both Tan and Cheng were counselled by Lee in February but nevertheless continued their relationship.
"I wish [both parties] did not have to leave politics under such circumstances... but things have happened and it was necessary," Lee said.
"Besides Mr Tan's recent hot mic incident... there's also the relationship of 'inappropriate relationship' between him and his fellow PAP member of parliament (MP), Miss Cheng. This is, in comparison, I think the more serious matter because he was the Speaker and she is an MP and there should not have been a relationship," he added.
In a question and answer (Q&A) session after his opening remarks, Lee said that he first knew of Tan and Cheng's relationship after the last general election in 2020.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong will take over Tan's duties as MP in the Kembangan-Chai Chee ward in Marine Parade GRC. Meanwhile, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkfli will take care of Cheng's residents in Tampines East.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jessica Tan, who is also the MP for East Coast GRC, will serve as acting Speaker before the next sitting of Parliament on Aug 1. Lee also said that he will nominate a new Speaker before then.
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Cheng is the daughter of Cheng Buck Poh, the founder and executive chairman of Singapore-listed industrial equipment supplier Hai Leck Holdings. She was previously the deputy CEO of the company.
Just a while ago, the Workers’ Party was said to be looking into a video that was being circulated on social media. The video appeared to show an "inappropriate exchange" between senior members Nicole Seah and Leon Perera.
This is the latest controversy involving local politicians, following Tan’s hot mic comment during a Parliament sitting in April, Transport Minister S Iswaran’s arrest on July 11 and allegations of corruption relating to the rentals for heritage bungalows in Ridout Road by Cabinet ministers K Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan.
Singapore politics, however seemingly sterile, is not totally free from its eyebrow-raising episodes over the years.
Michael Palmer, a former Speaker of Parliament, quit in 2012 after news broke that he had an extra-marital affair with a member of his grassroots apparatus.
Back in 1986, former Minister for National Development Teh Cheang Wan was alleged to have received bribes. He committed suicide.
