Official Visit by Members of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly To Singapore
11 JUNE 2015
15 members of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (SSLA) led by Speaker Hannah Yeoh made an official visit to Singapore recently. The visit was aimed at forming bilateral ties between the Singapore Parliament and the State Assembly and to learn best practices from key agencies in Singapore.
First woman Speaker Hannah Yeoh paid a courtesy call on Madam Halimah Yaacob, also the first woman Speaker of the Singapore Parliament at the Parliament Building. Speaker Hannah Yeoh and Speaker Halimah Yaacob exchanged views on several parliamentary issues such as Order of Business, parliamentary security and administrative matters. Speaker Hannah Yeoh also discussed reforms made by the Selangor State Legislative Assembly to strengthen the opposition and empower the Select Committees in a bid to further improve check and balance mechanism.
The delegation was also invited by S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University to speak at a dialogue session titled “The Future of Selangor’s Economy and Politics”. Five members from the delegation – Speaker Hannah Yeoh, YB Dr. Idris Ahmad (Ijok – PKR), YB Saari Sungib (Hulu Kelang – PAS), YB Rajiv Rishyakaran (Bukit Gasing – DAP) and YB Kamarol Zaki (Sungai Air Tawar – BN), spoke on various issues concerning current political and economic affairs in Selangor to an audience which was made up of RSIS graduate students and other members of the public.
As the delegation comprises members of the Select Committee on Local Government, Land Office and Poverty Eradication, the visit was also gravitated towards finding best practices in several key areas such as waste management, affordable public housing scheme and management, road maintenance and town/land use planning. The delegation visited Headquarters of Housing Development Board (HDB), Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Land Transport Authority (LTA), Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the Ang Mo Kio Town Council.
All suitable best practices are to be incorporated as recommendations to the State Government in reports which will be prepared and tabled by these Select Committees in the Assembly. This proves that the Assembly is not a rubber stamp to the executives but rather it acts as a check and balance mechanism to ensure efficiency, accountability and transparency in the running of the State Government.
It is also hoped that this effort would further enhance and strengthen the position of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly as the leading legislative body in Malaysia.
Hannah Yeoh
Speaker of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly
State Assemblyman for Subang Jaya
