Tan Chuan-Jin Formally Apologises for Hot Mic Incident; Pritam Singh Asks if the Police Should Be Involved

By now, most people would have tuned in to the parliament session on 2 August 2023.

The session definitely answers most questions about the long spate of sagas plaguing the minds of Singaporeans, such as the affairs between Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and Tampines MP Cheng Li Hui and Iswaran’s recent arrest.

Another saga that has since drawn to a close on 2 August was the hot mic incident regarding an unparliamentary remark made by Tan Chuan-Jin.

The short clip of Tan Chuan-Jin allegedly saying the words “f***king populist” during 17 April’s parliament session made its rounds on the r/SingaporeRaw subreddit, shocking netizens and the general public.

Since then, Tan has written a formal apology letter apologising to the House. In the letter, he withdrew the unparliamentary remarks that were caught on a hot mic.

A Public Reading Of Tan Chuan-Jin’s Apology Letter Was Made By Indranee Rajah On 2 August

On 2 August 2023, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah read Tan’s apology letter on his behalf on Wednesday.

This came after his resignation from the People’s Action Party (PAP) on 17 July following an extramarital affair with fellow former MP Cheng Li Hui.

In his letter, Tan wrote, “(I) sincerely apologise to the House for the unparliamentary language that I used, and for not respecting the dignity and decorum of the House,”.

Ms Indranee said that the incident was “very regrettable”. She also shared her view that no further action needed to be taken as Mr Tan had already acknowledged his lapse and apologised to the public, Workers’ Party’s MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) and the House.

While Tan Chuan-Jin had previously made a public apology on Facebook on 10 July, the post is currently unavailable due to the deletion of his account after his resignation.

Indranee emphasised that members of Parliament are expected to “uphold proper standards of conduct”. She also highlighted that the Speaker of Parliament shoulders an even greater responsibility since they chair the proceedings in the House and have the duty of ruling on the conduct of other members.

She expressed that unparliamentary language, such as vulgarities, does not meet the standards expected of all members and that they “lower the dignity and decorum of the House.”

Indranee Recalls Previous Incidents Regarding Unparliamentary Nature in Singapore and Overseas

This is not the first time hot mic incidents have occurred in Singaporean politics (and, by extension, global politics).

Indranee highlighted two separate incidents in Singaporean politics in 1995 and 2005.

In 1995, the late MP Ling How Doong appeared in the headlines and was censured by the Speaker of Parliament for rude remarks about a “certain anatomical member”.

(Essentially, he got into trouble for telling another MP not to “talk c*ck”.)

In 2005, nominated Nominated Member of Parliament, Associate Professor Ong Soh Khim said unparliamentary words during a sitting and interrupted the Deputy Speaker. She apologised to the House after numerous complaints were filed against her.

In more recent news, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came after fire for calling Opposition Party Member David Seymour an “arrogant p***k” in a similar hot mic incident in 2022. She later made an apology to Seymour, who has since accepted it.

Pritam Singh Asks If Police Should Look Into Hot Mic Video, Raises Suspicions of False Flag Incident

For some people, namely Workers Party Leader Pritam Singh, the apology brings up more questions than answers.

Remember when the Reddit post regarding the hot mic incident went viral online? The post was made on 10 July, around two to three months after the 17 April parliament session, when Tan Chuan-Jin’s remark was allegedly made.

Before that, none of the MPs knew that a hot mic incident had even occurred.

The Leader of the Opposition raised his concerns to Ms Indranee regarding the length of time it took for the audio to be leaked to the general public. He asked if she had considered involving the police to identify the original poster of the leaked audio clip.

Pritam Singh also questioned whether the discovery of Tan Chuan-Jin and Cheng Li Hui’s affair shortly after the incident was merely a coincidence. He also shared that individuals had asked him whether the hot mic incident was a “false flag”.

A false flag refers to an action that is designed to perpetrate someone other than the person or group responsible for it. In this case, Pritam Singh questioned whether the leaked video clip was planted as an inside job meant to distract the public from the reveal of Tan’s affair.

However, Ms Indranee answered that the police generally do not investigate non-offences, but the matter may be reconsidered if any evidence hints towards a possible offence.