Singapore speaker Seah Kian Peng apologises after video shows him dozing off during Parliament sitting

Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng has apologized for falling asleep during a parliamentary session on September 9. In a Facebook post dated September 18, he explained that he was unwell at the time and had taken medication. However, he emphasized that this does not justify his actions and that he takes full responsibility for the incident.

The Speaker stated that he should have called for a break earlier, as he typically does so after four to six hours of continuous proceedings, and this incident occurred after the four-hour mark.

Seah acknowledged that the lapse fell short of the standards expected of his office and apologized profusely. He vowed to learn from the incident and take measures to prevent it from happening again. The Speaker was caught dozing off during a parliamentary session on September 9, roughly four hours into a session that began at 10:30 am.

He was meant to pass the microphone to the next speaker after Dennis Tan of the Workers Party concluded his speech, but failed to do so. Following a brief pause of approximately 20 seconds, a parliamentary staff member intervened to wake him up.