At the peak of the political affairs that swept Singapore, AsiaOne conducted a survey to find out what people thought of them and what is considered appropriate behaviour at the workplace. We discovered some interesting sentiments, so we took to the streets to interview people and verify those findings.
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00:00 Politics in Singapore has been, to say the least, interesting in the last few months,
00:04 from extramarital affairs to a CPIB investigation of Minister Aishwaran that has thrown up questions
00:09 of what appropriate conduct at work is and whether politicians should be held to different
00:14 standards.
00:15 But first, a quick recap.
00:17 Back in June, Ministers Shanmugam and Vivian Balakrishnan were investigated and later cleared
00:22 of wrongdoing in their rental of black and white properties on Redhawk Road.
00:27 Before the dust for that had settled, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-chin had to apologise
00:31 for a hot mic incident in the House where he was heard muttering "f*** populist" after
00:36 a speech made by Opposition MP James Lim.
00:40 But this wouldn't be the last we hear of Mr Tan.
00:43 Days later, he and fellow MP Cheng Lee-hui resigned due to an inappropriate relationship.
00:50 Such infidelity was exposed in the Workers' Party at the same time, where a video allegedly
00:55 showing senior members Leon Pereira and Nicol Sia on a date led to their resignations as
01:01 well.
01:02 In the midst of these cases, Transport Minister Aishwaran was put on leave after being arrested
01:06 in a CPIB probe.
01:10 So how concerned are Singaporeans?
01:12 How do Singaporeans judge the conduct of MPs?
01:16 Asia One conducted a survey with 2,400 people and discovered some interesting sentiments.
01:22 Although around 80% of respondents were concerned about the alleged misconduct of political
01:27 leaders, an even higher number, 95%, expressed at least some degree of concern about the
01:34 personal conduct of leaders in their workplace.
01:37 However, only about 30% considered personal conduct to be of highest importance.
01:44 Less than half, or 43%, thought personal conduct of workplace leaders is as important as their
01:51 competency.
01:52 On the other hand, around 1 in 4 respondents felt that workplace leaders' personal conduct
01:57 is not important as long as they are competent.
02:00 There were also interesting findings regarding the consequences experienced by the MPs for
02:04 extramarital affairs.
02:07 Although the majority agreed that Tau Chuan Chin, Cheng Lee-hui, Leon Pereira and Nicol
02:11 Sia had to leave, there was a difference in response toward the two affairs.
02:17 Only 19% of respondents said that the ex-PIB members should be allowed to continue, but
02:22 a higher 32% said that the former WP members should be allowed to do so.
02:28 Regarding Minister Ea Shweran's case, only 47% of respondents expressed that they would
02:33 have some level of trust in CPIB's findings.
02:36 To find out more from Singaporeans, we visited different areas on the island and spoke with
02:41 them in person.
02:45 I think in terms of reputation-wise, probably not.
02:48 They can keep their job, because at the end of the day, it's still their personal affairs,
02:52 I mean, personal issues.
02:53 As long as it doesn't actually affect their job, I think it should be okay.
02:57 As a member of parliament, you need to be remade.
03:00 You can't have those kinds of unprofessional relationships with each other.
03:05 I feel that it affects a lot of the decisions that they make for us.
03:10 Well, they should be discreet in a way to respect the public, but then again, we should
03:14 not intrude in their personal life.
03:16 I think honestly, their personal life should be their personal life.
03:20 I think nobody should really go and interfere with it.
03:22 I'm not sure, because I mean, I think there's two sides to both arguments.
03:27 So, it's their own personal life, but then again, if it's happening in the workplace,
03:32 maybe they should be transparent about it.
03:34 Definitely keep it personal.
03:35 I don't want to know what you do in the bedroom.
03:38 I think the public actually have more higher expectations towards the PAP.
03:43 WP, I think they are still working towards making changes to Singapore, but I definitely
03:48 believe that WP do play a huge part in Singapore, especially in giving different opinions and
03:54 making changes.
03:55 For PAP, it's well proven for so many years that they actually built Singapore, and also
04:03 the results and all these things.
04:05 I think that is why Singaporeans still have that kind of high confidence in PAP.
04:12 I was shocked because CPIE doesn't investigate small matters.
04:17 They would usually investigate something that is of, when they have a lot of substantiated
04:23 evidences.
04:24 I mean, it's still under investigation, so it's like there's no proof yet.
04:30 So I think we shouldn't jump to conclusions.
04:32 Let them do the necessary investigation, see how.
04:36 Singapore ministers are well paid, right?
04:38 You wouldn't think that corruption would occur.
04:40 I was like, first thing I thought of, okay la, sorry, I thought of Malaysia, but then,
04:43 you know, we always compare between Singapore and Malaysia.
04:46 But then I was quite surprised that even ministers who earns a lot, corruption do happen.
04:51 No, I don't trust them at all because that's why I don't, never elect PAP at all in my
04:55 life.
04:56 So always want an opposition, a voice in opposition is good, it's healthy, healthy debating.
05:01 I mean, you still got to trust the government la, because Singapore is still a safe space.
05:05 One parliament member messed up, doesn't mean that the whole government is bad.
05:08 But I still believe that Singapore is still doing a very great job la in whatever that
05:11 we're doing.
05:12 Yes, I still trust, definitely.
05:15 Everyone make mistakes.
05:16 It's anyhow, and some of that is their so-called personal life, so it wouldn't affect their
05:21 job, affect the lives of the Singaporeans, right?
05:26 I think it shouldn't be a problem.
05:29 Integrity and honesty.
05:31 Working together with the people and really addressing what is needed on the ground.
05:35 Be proactive, then and also like, really make an effort to listen to what the people want.
05:44 I think I prefer an MP who's like more communicative and like interactive with its like residents.
05:50 People who can listen to the citizens and like what they want.
05:54 More sympathy and empathy towards the community.
05:58 And not only come only to show their face as and when, oh election is coming, then we
06:02 see them, you know?
06:04 So there you go.
06:05 Of the people we interviewed, slightly more than half agree that the politicians involved
06:10 in extramarital affairs should not be allowed to keep their jobs.
06:14 It's a majority, but not an overwhelming one.
06:18 In terms of trust in government, most of them said they still do.
06:21 But half of those felt that the government can do better, especially when it comes to
06:25 being proactive and transparent.
06:28 What do you think about the recent events?
06:31 Does an individual's private behavior matter at work?
06:34 Let us know down below.
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