As of April 2019, Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament Louis Ng Kok Kwang has spoken up 404 times in Parliament – making him the most outspoken MP from the 13th Parliament of Singapore (15-01-2016 to present).
Back in 2015 when Louis first stood for election, he promised to listen and speak up. True to his words, whether it is to urge MOE to slay the sacred cow of Streaming, or to push for more childcare subsidies and leaves for parents, Louis spoke without fear or favour in Parliament.
More importantly, his speeches and suggestions have made a real impact in terms of policy changes. Here are some examples of Louis’ suggestions that were taken up in 2019:
- – Abolishment of streaming in Secondary Schools
- – ECDA providing more subsidies to non-working mothers
- – Louis brought up the idea of a Tripartite Standard to encourage employers to provide unpaid leave when their employees have unexpected care needs, including multiple or preterm births, or family members or children who are hospitalised. Since it was introduced last year, about 450 employers with over 224,000 staff combined, have adopted this Standard. This includes the Public Service with over 70 agencies.
Prior to that, Louis also successfully advocated for changes that benefit divorcees, public servants and inmates:
- – Removal of 3 year debarment period for divorcees to buy subsidised housing.
- – Merging of existing schemes for diploma and degree holders and extending 360 degree feedback to all senior officers in public service.
- – Extending family programmes to more inmates
Of course, where there are hits, there will be misses. There are many suggestions that have not been adopted. Louis is determined to continue speaking up and pushing for more policy changes, such as extending the ban on disposable items for dine-in customers at new hawker centres to all hawker centres.
Louis has the support of a team of legislative assistants and volunteers in collecting feedback and researching his speeches. They will continue to work together to bring more viewpoints to the Parliament.
