Singapore Parliament speaker resigns on using profanity against Opposition lawmaker

Speaker of Singapore's Parliament, Tan Chuan-Jin, who used profanity to insult against an opposition lawmaker during sittings in April this year, resigned on Monday.

Tan also resigned as a member of the ruling People's Action Party (PAP), which has been in power since independence, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong accepted his resignation.

"I have accepted Mr Tan's resignation from the People's Action Party. His resignation is necessary to maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years," The Straits Times newspaper quoted Lee as saying.

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"I thank Mr Tan for having been a member of my team, and wish him and his family all the best in his next phase of life," he added.

On April 17, during a Parliamentary debate, Tan muttered "f****** populist" after he called for Indian-origin MP Vikram Nair from the ruling PAP to speak, following a speech by MP Jamus Lim of the opposition Workers' Party.

Opposition MP Lim had voiced support for President Halimah Yacob's call to improve Singapore's social compact. Still, he said that the city-state has yet to establish an "official poverty line", something he found "both puzzling and exasperating".

Tan's "unparliamentary language" following Lim's speech was captured in a video clip, the report said.

Another Member of Parliament, and a PAP member, Cheng Li Hui, also resigned on Monday.

"I have accepted Ms Cheng's resignation from the People's Action Party. Her resignation is necessary to maintain the high standards of propriety and personal conduct which the PAP has upheld all these years," Lee said, accepting her resignation.