Sylvia Lim and her NCMP experience
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 5:51PM Workers' party chair Sylvia Lim made an impressive and important speech in Parliament, during the debate for Constitutional changes to entrench the positions of Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) and Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs). The entire speech is worth reading, and her analysis of the GRCs and gerrymandering tactics of the PAP are spot on, and Singaporeans need to know and understand the political ramifications of these constant changes.
What I want to focus on, however, is the bit about her experience as an NCMP, a position that is offered as a "runner-up prize" for the losing opposition candidate who has captured the highest percentage of popular votes, or in the case of Group Representative Constituencies (GRCs), the representative chosen among the losing team.
Sir, in addition, there are serious limitations to NCMP seats and it is important to highlight to Singaporeans these limitations.
Besides not being able to vote on critical matters, we are considered as lacking in official capacity to represent the people. This was brought home in 1997 when Mr JB Jeyaretnam, who was then NCMP, filed a Parliamentary question asking whether any directive had been given to government departments not to reply to letters sent by him as NCMP. In the exchange which followed, the Home Affairs minister reiterated the fact that NCMPs do not represent any particular constituency and therefore the government departments would only respond to letters by elected MPs or grassroots advisers on behalf of residents in those areas.
I have my own experiences of this reality.
I have been doing house visits in Aljunied GRC for several years. The residents have raised certain concerns to me which I have highlighted in Parliament as issues, where appropriate. However, I have no official capacity to write letters on their behalf regarding their specific cases though I very much want to.
In addition, an NCMP has no physical base. Under the Town Councils Act, the incumbent MP will be in charge of the town council which controls the use of common space. As for the community clubs, these are in the hands of the People’s Association. It is next to impossible for an opposing candidate to be allowed to use a space to organize activities or dialogues. We have applied for permission to use spaces in PAP wards and received expected rejections.
In short, it is not very enjoyable. And that's an understatement. The position of NCMP, as Lim relates, is one that has an image of importance but in reality one that is superfluous. An NCMP, by definition, does not represent any constituency or constituents, and therefore lacks authority, real or implied. It is telling that an NCMP is not only regarded by government agencies as below elected MPs, but also not as important as grassroots advisers.
Coincidentally, I had a discussion with a friend recently about Sylvia Lim and the NCMP position, and both of us thought very highly of Sylvia Lim and her abilities, and felt she would be a very capable party leader for years to come. We both lamented her relative fading into the background upon her taking up the NCMP position, and wondered if the NCMP position has curtailed her opportunities, or even if it is a position that is meant to co-opt potentially vocal opposition to the PAP.
Based on her speech, I think it's all of the above. However, having accepted the position and served for an entire term, Sylvia Lim is very well-positioned to make use of that experience as she understands the limitations of the Parliamentary structure. As NCMPs are not allowed to vote on Money bills, Supply bills and votes of no confidence against the government, this forces her to the sidelines and allows her to observe almost like a third party.
It may not count for much, but it is up to her to harness these and finesse them to her advantage, and I believe she will.
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