PAP refreshes its House committees; Singapore’s nuclear energy journey
Also, political leaders weigh in on ST’s 180th birthday
Hi everyone,
Heavy is the head that wears a 180-year party hat. The Straits Times celebrated its birthday with a gala dinner (that we small fry were not invited to) on July 11, where Prime Minister Lawrence Wong promised the Government’s “full confidence and support” in the publication’s mission amid a new media environment.
But ST will have to decide how it evolves to meet the changing needs of readers. “The Government is not in a position to prescribe the solution, nor will I attempt to do so,” he said.
Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, who was also there, said ST has a big responsibility to tell the Singapore story in balanced and informative ways.
ST editor Jaime Ho (our boss) spoke about moving from a “purely transactional relationship” with readers to investing in “community-driven journalism”.
This follows the Government’s 2022 financial commitment to support SPH Media, our parent company, through its digital transformation with up to $900m in funding over five years, contingent on its various publications hitting targets relating to reach and engagement. It gave the company $320m over 2022 and 2023.
Legacy media transformation and its relationship with Government are things we are deeply interested in and concerned about – especially as ST journalists who are in some ways part of this push. Apart from what the bigwigs are saying, our priority as the Unpacked team is you and this budding community.
In this week’s issue, we look at the PAP’s new government parliamentary committee appointments and a new nuclear research institute:
Steady hands amid the winds of GPC change
The news: Twelve PAP MPs, each with one to three terms under their belts, will head the ruling party’s backbench committees that scrutinise government policy.
The PAP announced the make-up of its government parliamentary committees (GPCs) for the 15th term of Parliament last week, changing out all previous chairpersons.
These committees, first set up in 1987, bring together PAP backbenchers to examine specific ministries’ policies, such as manpower, health, and national development.
They are also meant to serve as an additional feedback channel from the ground, and were historically part of the PAP’s argument that there was no need for more opposition MPs, as the party’s backbench already played the role of a check and balance.
The take: It looks like all (experienced) hands on deck as the new term of government deals with a more uncertain global environment.
Similar to the Cabinet reshuffle, external-facing portfolios will be helmed by backbench ‘heavyweights’. Yip Hon Weng – star backbencher by number of parliamentary questions asked in the previous term, second only to the now-retired Louis Ng – takes on Defence and Foreign Affairs while third-term MP Saktiandi Supaat moves up from deputy to head of Finance and Trade and Industry.
None of the 20 first-term MPs who are not political office-holders are chairs or deputy chairs, though they are still being stretched by being members of two GPCs each.
After the 2020 GE, four first-term MPs were appointed as deputies. Last year, one of them – Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim – moved up to head the Home Affairs and Law GPC when Murali Pillai was appointed to political office.
It looks like experience counts for more this time, and the rookie MPs – who are on average younger than the 2020 cohort – will have to build their resumes first.
Not going nuclear with nuclear
The news: Singapore has a new research institute looking into nuclear safety.
The Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute is one step up from its previous iteration as an “Initiative” (also acronymised SNRSI), now with its own building within NUS.
Singapore has invested over $150 million into research, talent and other capabilities in this area since 2014, plus a new $66 million grant from the National Research Foundation announced last week.
The take: This is another signal that our city-state is moving slowly and cautiously toward the possibility of using nuclear energy – over a decade after a 2012 government study said nuclear technologies (of the time) were unsuitable for deployment here.
Technology has evolved since – in particular in the development of smaller, safer reactors – and so has the Government’s stance, though it has repeatedly said it has not made a decision yet.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in his 2025 Budget speech said Singapore will study the “potential deployment of nuclear energy”. He pointed out agreements signed with the US on civil nuclear cooperation. In May, he signed off on more cooperation on nuclear energy with France, a global leader in the field, during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit.
The careful discussion surrounding nuclear energy here attempts to balance Singapore’s energy security concerns and goal of hitting net zero by 2050, with its potential dangers that have led to ‘not in my backyard’-type mindsets.
Singapore is currently mostly dependent on imported natural gas for its energy needs.
A successful and sustainable adoption of nuclear power here will also hinge on public acceptance, which the new institute has been tasked with through outreach and education.
The Workers’ Party Youth Wing, headed by new NCMP Eileen Chong, held its biennial conference over the weekend, where it elected its executive committee for the 2025 to 2027 term. Sufyan Mikhail, who contested East Coast GRC, is the only other name with election experience on the 12-member team. Part of Chong’s vision is for some individuals to eventually find the “joy and courage” to serve in other capacities. Party chief Singh said the participation and leadership of youth are vital to the party’s relevance and responsiveness to Singaporeans’ needs.
The People’s Alliance for Reform, which started off in 2023 with four founding opposition parties, is now left with two. The Reform Party withdrew amicably, citing confidence in a future on its own, two months after the general election. It kept the door open to any future alliances. The People’s Power Party left earlier in February, over disagreements about which constituencies to contest and positions on the Covid-19 vaccine.
We discussed the Progress Singapore Party’s CEC renewal in the last issue of Unpacked. CEC member Stephanie Tan – the youngest among the newly co-opted – elaborated on the decision on ST’s The Usual Place podcast. She spoke of the party’s intention to update its image by putting more of its younger members in the public eye.
Ng Yu Zhi, the alleged mastermind behind a $1.46 billion nickel-trading scam, decided not to take the stand last week, ending his trial. His lawyers are Nichol Yeo, Nicholas Narayanan and N.K. Anitha.
Do bear with us as the Community section is going to be rather sparse for the coming weeks.
We are coming up with a refreshed Unpacked ahead of the Sept 5 Parliament opening, and hope to share more details with you before that.