00:00 Politics in Singapore has been, to say the least, interesting in the last few months,
00:04 from extramarital affairs to a CPIB investigation of Minister Aishwaran that has thrown up questions
00:09 of what appropriate conduct at work is and whether politicians should be held to different
00:14 standards.
00:15 But first, a quick recap.
00:17 Back in June, Ministers Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan were investigated and later cleared
00:22 of wrongdoing in their rental of black and white properties on Redhawk Road.
00:27 Before the dust for that had settled, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-chin had to apologise
00:31 for a hot mic incident in the House where he was heard muttering "f*** populist" after
00:36 a speech made by Opposition MP James Lim.
00:40 But this wouldn't be the last we hear of Mr Tan.
00:43 Days later, he and fellow MP Cheng Lee-hui resigned due to an inappropriate relationship.
00:50 Such infidelity was exposed in the Workers' Party at the same time, where a video allegedly
00:55 showing senior members Leon Pereira and Nicol Sia on a date led to their resignations as
01:01 well.
01:02 In the midst of these cases, Transport Minister Aishwaran was put on leave after being arrested
01:06 in a CPIB probe.
01:10 So how concerned are Singaporeans?
01:12 How do Singaporeans judge the conduct of MPs?
01:16 Asia One conducted a survey with 2,400 people and discovered some interesting sentiments.
01:22 Although around 80% of respondents were concerned about the alleged misconduct of political
01:27 leaders, an even higher number, 95%, expressed at least some degree of concern about the
01:34 personal conduct of leaders in their workplace.
01:37 However, only about 30% considered personal conduct to be of highest importance.
01:44 Less than half, or 43%, thought personal conduct of workplace leaders is as important as their
01:51 competency.
01:52 On the other hand, around 1 in 4 respondents felt that workplace leaders' personal conduct
01:57 is not important as long as they are competent.
02:00 There were also interesting findings regarding the consequences experienced by the MPs for
02:04 extramarital affairs.
02:07 Although the majority agreed that Tau Chuan Chin, Cheng Lee-hui, Leon Pereira and Nicol
02:11 Sia had to leave, there was a difference in response toward the two affairs.
02:17 Only 19% of respondents said that the ex-PIB members should be allowed to continue, but
02:22 a higher 32% said that the former WP members should be allowed to do so.
02:28 Regarding Minister Ea Shweran's case, only 47% of respondents expressed that they would
02:33 have some level of trust in CPIB's findings.
02:36 To find out more from Singaporeans, we visited different areas on the island and spoke with
02:41 them in person.
02:45 I think in terms of reputation-wise, probably not.
02:48 They can keep their job, because at the end of the day, it's still their personal affairs,
02:52 I mean, personal issues.
02:53 As long as it doesn't actually affect their job, I think it should be okay.
02:57 As a member of parliament, you need to be remade.
03:00 You can't have those kinds of unprofessional relationships with each other.
03:05 I feel that it affects a lot of the decisions that they make for us.
03:10 Well, they should be discreet in a way to respect the public, but then again, we should
03:14 not intrude in their personal life.
03:16 I think honestly, their personal life should be their personal life.
03:20 I think nobody should really go and interfere with it.
03:22 I'm not sure, because I mean, I think there's two sides to both arguments.
03:27 So, it's their own personal life, but then again, if it's happening in the workplace,
03:32 maybe they should be transparent about it.
03:34 Definitely keep it personal.
03:35 I don't want to know what you do in the bedroom.
03:38 I think the public actually have more higher expectations towards the PAP.
03:43 WP, I think they are still working towards making changes to Singapore, but I definitely
03:48 believe that WP do play a huge part in Singapore, especially in giving different opinions and
03:54 making changes.
03:55 For PAP, it's well proven for so many years that they actually built Singapore, and also
04:03 the results and all these things.
04:05 I think that is why Singaporeans still have that kind of high confidence in PAP.
04:12 I was shocked because CPIE doesn't investigate small matters.
04:17 They would usually investigate something that is of, when they have a lot of substantiated
04:23 evidences.
04:24 I mean, it's still under investigation, so it's like there's no proof yet.
04:30 So I think we shouldn't jump to conclusions.
04:32 Let them do the necessary investigation, see how.
04:36 Singapore ministers are well paid, right?
04:38 You wouldn't think that corruption would occur.
04:40 I was like, first thing I thought of, okay la, sorry, I thought of Malaysia, but then,
04:43 you know, we always compare between Singapore and Malaysia.
04:46 But then I was quite surprised that even ministers who earns a lot, corruption do happen.
04:51 No, I don't trust them at all because that's why I don't, never elect PAP at all in my
04:55 life.
04:56 So always want an opposition, a voice in opposition is good, it's healthy, healthy debating.
05:01 I mean, you still got to trust the government la, because Singapore is still a safe space.
05:05 One parliament member messed up, doesn't mean that the whole government is bad.
05:08 But I still believe that Singapore is still doing a very great job la in whatever that
05:11 we're doing.
05:12 Yes, I still trust, definitely.
05:15 Everyone make mistakes.
05:16 It's anyhow, and some of that is their so-called personal life, so it wouldn't affect their
05:21 job, affect the lives of the Singaporeans, right?
05:26 I think it shouldn't be a problem.
05:29 Integrity and honesty.
05:31 Working together with the people and really addressing what is needed on the ground.
05:35 Be proactive, then and also like, really make an effort to listen to what the people want.
05:44 I think I prefer an MP who's like more communicative and like interactive with its like residents.
05:50 People who can listen to the citizens and like what they want.
05:54 More sympathy and empathy towards the community.
05:58 And not only come only to show their face as and when, oh election is coming, then we
06:02 see them, you know?
06:04 So there you go.
06:05 Of the people we interviewed, slightly more than half agree that the politicians involved
06:10 in extramarital affairs should not be allowed to keep their jobs.
06:14 It's a majority, but not an overwhelming one.
06:18 In terms of trust in government, most of them said they still do.
06:21 But half of those felt that the government can do better, especially when it comes to
06:25 being proactive and transparent.
06:28 What do you think about the recent events?
06:31 Does an individual's private behavior matter at work?
06:34 Let us know down below.
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