Parliament to hear ministerial statement on conduct of WP's Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap
MPs will also discuss questions related to Singapore's policy on the public screening of dialect films.
Workers’ Party chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faisal Manap.
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SINGAPORE: Parliament will on Tuesday (Jul 7) hear a ministerial statement on the conduct of Workers’ Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faishal Manap, and discuss Singapore’s policy on screening dialect films.
The ministerial statement will be a "determination" on the Committee of Privileges' (COP) findings on the two WP leaders' involvement in events relating to former WP member Raeesah Khan's lies to parliament in 2021, according to the order paper published on Monday.
It will be delivered by Leader of the House Indranee Rajah.
Ms Indranee had said in December last year that WP Secretary-General Pritam Singh’s conviction for lying to parliament would have “implications” for the two WP leaders.
According to the COP's findings, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal both lied under oath when they denied that Ms Khan was told to hide her lie at a meeting in August 2021.
It was also "of the view that if Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal had guided Ms Khan to repeat her lie in parliament, then such conduct would be unbecoming of a parliamentarian, and would amount to contempt of parliament”, Ms Indranee said in December.
Parliament previously postponed making a decision on the matter until after the outcome of Mr Singh’s case, as all three WP members disputed the COP report, she said then.
Mr Singh was convicted of two charges of lying to parliament in February 2025, and his appeal was dismissed by the High Court in early December.
SCREENING OF DIALECT FILMS
MPs will also discuss questions related to Singapore’s policy on the public screening of dialect films.
This comes after only limited screenings of the film Dear You, originally produced in Teochew, were made available, while a Mandarin-dubbed version ran for general screenings, sparking public debate.
Singapore requires approval for the public screening of Chinese dialect films under the Infocomm Media Development Authority's (IMDA) film classification framework. The policy reflects the government's longstanding promotion of Mandarin, which dates back to the Speak Mandarin campaign launched in 1979.
Ten questions were submitted by MPs in relation to the campaign and Singapore's approach towards the screening of dialect films.
MP Cai Yinzhou (PAP–Bishan-Toa Payoh) asked what the Speak Mandarin Campaign's current policy objectives are and whether the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) will review its continued application to locally screened dialect films, noting that over-the-top and social media platforms are not subject to the same restrictions.
He asked whether the ministry has assessed the effectiveness of mandatory Mandarin dubbing of dialect films. Mr Cai also wanted to know the factors behind the IMDA's decision to approve the Mandarin-dubbed version of Dear You for general release instead of in Teochew.
Similarly, MP Valerie Lee (PAP–Pasir Ris-Changi) wanted to know what were the factors that led to the original decision allowing only limited screenings of Dear You in Teochew instead of wider subtitled screenings, as well as the criteria that will guide the Ministry of Digital Development and Information's (MDDI) "more flexible approach" to approving future dialect film screenings.
NCMP Eileen Chong (WP) also asked if MCCY has reviewed whether the Speak Mandarin Campaign's framing remains suited to today's conditions and whether the ministry will evolve its approach.
MP Gerald Giam (WP–Aljunied) asked if MDDI would review film classification guidelines to allow Chinese dialect films to have a general commercial release alongside their original audio, instead of being restricted to niche screenings.
OTHER QUESTIONS
MPs also filed questions on recycling, with Singapore seeking out new methods to boost its recycling rates.
The country’s overall recycling rate in 2025 was 52 per cent, inching upwards from the previous year, but still below the 59 per cent recorded in 2019.
MP Poh Li San (PAP–Sembawang West) asked what proportion of the waste disposed of in Singapore last year was recyclable, and how much of it was from industrial and domestic sources respectively.
Ms Lee asked if the Ministry for Sustainability and the Environment has an ideal yearly national recycling rate target for 2026 to 2030.
She also wanted to know about the lessons learnt from the changing of Singapore's waste and recycling profile over the past decade, and if there are plans to improve recycling rates for glass, paper and cardboard as well as textiles.
The fatal fall of a man onto the tracks at Segar LRT station in May was also raised by two MPs.
MPs Liang Eng Hwa (PAP–Bukit Panjang) and Edward Chia (PAP–Holland-Bukit Timah) asked about the outcome of investigations into the incident.
Mr Liang also wanted to know if existing safety measures were adequate and whether further action was needed to ensure commuter safety, while Mr Chia asked if the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has assessed the possibility of alternative physical barriers at LRT stations, such as automatic rope barriers.
Unlike MRT stations, LRT stations do not have platform screen doors due to space constraints.
MPs Yip Hon Weng (PAP–Yio Chu Kang) and Choo Pei Ling (PAP–Chua Chu Kang) also asked whether the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has identified early warning signs of large-scale unpaid salary cases and whether it has considered assessing companies with common directors and related entities as a group, rather than individually, to better protect workers.
Hundreds of workers from KPA Engineering and SK Industries had sought help earlier in late June over unpaid wages and more than 100 had also turned up at MOM's service centre at Bendemeer.
Five MPs, led by Tin Pei Ling (PAP–Marine Parade-Braddell Heights), who chairs the government parliamentary committee on transport, will also table a motion on Tuesday titled "Reinforcing Singapore’s position as a global transport hub".
This will be the first private member's motion tabled by a GPC since the 2025 General Election.
