Today, I filed a complaint against Mr Murali Pillai with the Speaker.
The Hansard for the debate on the Lease Agreements for Retail Premises Bill during the parliamentary sitting on 3 August 2023 shows that Mr Murali appears to have said that “[t]he hon Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Mr Leong Mun Wai had advocated some form of low-rent control”.
This statement imputed improper motives to me as he had claimed I was advocating for rent control when I had not made any such statement during the debate.
Subsequently, when I rose to clarify this statement with Mr Murali, he appears to have stated three times that he did not assert that I had advocated “some form of low-rent control” in my speech, despite expressly doing so earlier in his statement, and refused to retract said statement.
Mr Murali’s clarifications during the exchange also confused the public and created the misleading impression that I was accusing Mr Murali of claiming that I was advocating for rent control when he did not.
I have therefore sought a ruling from the Speaker on this matter. If the Speaker finds that Mr Murali has said words that were at odds with my speech and imputed improper motives to me, I have also requested that Mr Murali make a statement to the House to retract his original statement and apologise for the misleading impression that was created.
