List of Speakers of the Parliament of Singapore

Speaker of the Parliament of Republic of Singapore
Incumbent
Halimah Yacob

since 14 January 2013
Style Mr Speaker (Male)
Mdm Speaker (Female)
Nominator Lee Hsien Loong
Appointer Parliament of Singapore
With the recommendation of the Prime Minister
Term length For the duration of each parliament; renewable
Inaugural holder Sir George Oehlers
Formation 5 June 1955
Deputy Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
Salary S$550,000 annually[1]
Website www.parliament.gov.sg/speaker-parliament
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Singapore
Constitution
Foreign relations

Politics portal

The wig and ceremonial gown of the Speaker of Parliament on display in Parliament House, Singapore. The Speaker dons the gown during the Opening of Parliament ceremony, but the wearing of the wig was discontinued in 1993.

The speaker of the Parliament of Singapore is the head officer of the Parliament of the Republic of Singapore.

The role of the Speaker in Singapore is similar to that in most Commonwealth legislatures. The Speaker presides over the Parliament and enforces the rules in the Standing Orders of Parliament to allow for the orderly conduct of parliamentary business. The Speaker may or may not be an elected Member of Parliament (MP). Speakers that are MPs must remain impartial and cannot participate in parliamentary debates nor vote on issues and motions in the House.

List of Speakers

A historical list of speakers is set out below:[2]

# Speaker Years of service Political party (if any)
1 Sir George Oehlers 1955–1963 Non-MP; lawyer[3]
2 Edmund W. Barker 1963–1964 People's Action Party
3 A. P. Rajah 1964–1966 Former MP and lawyer[4]
4 Punch Coomaraswamy 1966–1970 Non-MP; lawyer[5]
5 Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng 1970–1989 People's Action Party
6 Tan Soo Khoon 1989–2002 People's Action Party
7 Abdullah Tarmugi 2002–2011 People's Action Party
8 Michael Palmer[6] 2011–2012 People's Action Party
- Charles Chong (Acting) 2012–2013 People's Action Party
9 Halimah Yacob[7] 2013–present People's Action Party

List of Deputy Speakers

The following table contains a list of Deputy Speakers of Parliament:[2]

Deputy Speaker Years of service Political party (if any)
R.C.H. Lim 1955–1959
G. Kandasamy 1959–1961
John Mammen 1961–1963
Dr. Fong Kim Heng 1963–1965
Punch Coomaraswamy 1966 Non-MP
Dr Yeoh Ghim Seng 1968–1970 People's Action Party
Tang See Chim 1972–1981
Hwang Soo Jin 1981–1985
Tan Soo Khoon 1985–1989 People's Action Party
Lim Boon Heng 1989–1991 People's Action Party
Abdullah Tarmugi 1989–1993 People's Action Party
Eugene Yap Giau Cheng 1993–2002 People's Action Party
Lim Hwee Hua 2002–2004 People's Action Party
Chew Heng Ching 2002–2006 People's Action Party
S. Iswaran 2004–2006 People's Action Party
Indranee Rajah
Matthias Yao Chih
2006–2011 People's Action Party
Charles Chong[8]
Seah Kian Peng
2011–present People's Action Party

Notes

  1. "Speaker of Parliament accepts salary recommendations". Asiaone. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 Speaker of Parliament, Parliament of Singapore, 18 October 2011.
  3. Joshua Yeong Jia Chia (26 June 2006), Sir George Edward Noel Oehlers, Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board.
  4. Joshua Yeong Jia Chia (28 June 2006), Arumugam Ponnu Rajah, Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board.
  5. Bonny Tan (17 April 1999), Punch Coomaraswamy, Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board.
  6. Elgin Toh (11 October 2011), "Debate in right spirit: Different views should not stop MPs from closing ranks, says newly elected Michael Palmer", The Straits Times, p. A6; "Michael Palmer sworn in as House Speaker", Today, 11 October 2011, p. 2, archived from the original on 11 October 2011.
  7. "Halimah Yacob is Singapore's first woman Speaker of Parliament". Channel Newsasia. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  8. Rachel Chang (18 October 2011), "MPs push for change in Govt–citizen ties: It must boost emotional connection in new landscape, they urge", The Straits Times, pp. A1 & A4 at A4, Before the debate began, two deputy speakers to assist Speaker Michael Palmer were approved by the House. They are Joo Chiat SMC MP Charles Chong and Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng.; Esther Ng (18 October 2011), "President's speech sees robust debate: Opposition asks if Government will 'conspicuously focus' on happiness", Today, p. 1, archived from the original on 18 October 2011.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Speakers of the Parliament of Singapore.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.