Parliament votes to raise Speaker Seah Kian Peng’s salary, but Singaporeans bring up sleeping incident

The Parliament of Singapore recently voted to raise the salary of the Speaker, Seah Kian Peng, from $550,000 to $900,000 per year. This new salary, which includes a bonus and variable component, was approved unanimously and will take effect on October 15. The adjustment is meant to align the Speaker's pay with new government guidelines.

Deputy Speakers Christopher de Souza and Xie Yao Quan will receive around $135,000 annually, equivalent to 15% of the Speaker's part-time salary. The salary hike was announced by House Leader Indranee Rajah.

However, the news of the pay increase has not been met with unanimous praise among Singaporeans. Many netizens criticized the raise, particularly pointing to an incident where Seah fell asleep during a parliamentary sitting on September 9. Videos of a clerk trying to wake him up were shared online. In an apology post on September 18, Seah explained that he had been feeling unwell and had taken medication, but acknowledged that the incident was unacceptable and that he would take full responsibility.

He also noted that he usually calls for breaks every four to six hours into a session, and at the time of the incident, the session had already been going on for more than four hours.

Despite the criticism of his pay raise, many netizens who saw Seah's apology post responded with understanding and forgiveness. They praised him for openly acknowledging his mistake and taking responsibility, rather than making excuses. One commenter succinctly summed up the sentiment: "He proved that he could earn money while sleeping, and no matter how unhappy people were, it wouldn't affect his salary increase."