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Tan Chuan-Jin starts blog to demystify Parliament

This article is more than 12 months old

Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin launched a blog on Monday, hoping to shed light on parliamentary processes to build a bridge between policymaking and the public.

Called From The Chair, the blog is among recent efforts by Mr Tan, 49, to make Parliament more accessible to Singaporeans.

Since he was appointed Speaker last September, he has started an official Facebook page for Parliament, which provides updates and links to the Order Papers before each sitting.

In his first blog post on Monday, he saidhe had been "wanting to get (it) off the ground for a while now".

"Today, we can access information at a faster rate than ever before. Legislators and Members of Parliament have also done, and are doing, much to improve the lives of the people. But much is lost if we choose to hide behind jargon and inaccessible language," he wrote.

"...I hope to help explain and demystify the parliamentary process and, over time, help Singaporeans build a better understanding of this important institution."

Hehopes to post his thoughts on a range of issues, including what has been debated in parliamentary sittings.

He said the feedback he got on his Facebook posts breaking down some parliamentary processes shows Singaporeans are interested in how Parliament works. - NG HUI WEN

Singapore Politics