Parliament sits again next Monday, and Leon Perera is not intending to sit quietly. According to a post on his Facebook page yesterday, the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NMP) under the Workers’ Party banner plans to tackle the concerning issues that have plagued Singapore over the last couple of weeks.
These include the tragic death of actor and national serviceman Aloysius Pang, the massive leak of the HIV registry and the power outage that hit parts of Singapore for over 11 hours last month.
The Minister for Defence
Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen will have to respond to Perera’s queries over the “common causative factors” in the spate of deaths within the national service, and whether there’ll be any systemic changes undertaken to address the causes of the deaths.
Aloysius Pang’s death on Jan 23 would be the latest case in a series of training fatalities in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in the last 18 months. Pang, 28, died after sustaining serious injuries in the midst of servicing a mobile howitzer during overseas reservist training in New Zealand. Liu Kai, 22, was killed last November after an armored vehicle reversed onto the Land Rover he was in. Muhammad Sadikin Bin Hasban, 33, succumbed to his injuries when a falling tree branch hit him while supervising maintenance work at a helicopter evacuation site. Dave Lee, 19, succumbed to heat stroke in hospital last April following an 8km march.
The Minister for Health
Perera will also be asking Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong for more detailed about how the country’s medical database is secured.
His question is related to the massive leak that made public the confidential information — including names, contact details, addresses, and medical data — of 14,200 patients in Singapore with HIV.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) confirmed on Jan 28 that the records of 5,400 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, as well as 8,800 foreigners with HIV, were leaked online by a deported American man who managed to get his hands on the information. The man’s boyfriend is a local doctor had access to the HIV registry during his time as MOH’s National Public Health Unit from March 2012 to May 2013.
The Minister for Trade and Industry
Certain parts of Singapore were hit by a power outage on Jan 26 for about 11-and-a-half hours, disrupting electricity supply in places including Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Sin Ming, and Thomson. The blackout affected traffic lights and lifts in residential areas, leaving some trapped inside elevators.
Perera wants to know from Chan Chun Sing, the Minister for Trade and Industry, the extent of the power outage and how the government is taking steps to minimize such failures in the future.
The Minister for Environment and Water Resources
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli will be asked to elaborate on the food safety and hygiene checks conducted over the past five years.
A spate of high-profile mass food poisoning incidents have been occurring since last year — 2018 alone saw seven cases. Some of the really concerning ones include the Spize River Valley case that left over 80 people poisoned and one dead. The main ballroom of Mandarin Orchard was forced to close after 175 people fell ill from eating meals served at the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.
Just last Friday, 14 kindergarten children fell ill after eating catered food at a Toa Payoh East PCF Sparkletots branch.
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