No show by Lee Li Lian

Have the lawyers in Workers' Party failed Ms Lee Li Lian? Did lawyer Sylvia Lim not try to persuade Ms Lee Li Lian to take up the appointment as elected NCMP?

Whatever happened to having not enough good women - mothers, daughters, wives, equal citizens - in politics? 

One of the reasons Ms Lee gave for not taking up the NCMP appointment is that she wanted more time with her family. 

Now there is really nothing wrong in wanting to spend more time with one's family. But if that is the driving reason, then why did Ms Lee bother to stand for election in the first place? 

After all, the commitment of an MP is much higher than that of a NCMP. 

In addition to attending Parliament, an MP also has to conduct MPS and take care of her residents and estate. 

As an NCMP, Ms Lee has no constituency to look after and no need to meet residents. 

Does it mean that if she had been elected as MP, she would be willing to sacrifice family time for residents? 

So what makes the difference between being an MP and a NCMP? 

She also said that unlike an MP it is not possible to be a full-time NCMP. 

Does it even make sense to speak of a full-time NCMP? 

The duties of a NCMP is like that of a NMP. The only difference between them is that one enters parliament through being one of 3 biggest losers in the election while the other is nominated.

We don't speak of full-time NMPs, do we? So what is a full-time NCMP? 

She also said, "It will not be fair to my future employer to take leave from work every month." If that is a valid reason, is she expecting Daniel Goh to be unfair to his employer by preferring him to be the NCMP?

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu said on Monday (18 Jan) that Ms Lee Li Lian’s decision not to take up a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat should not be taken lightly.

She was referring to Ms Lee's absence at the opening of Parliament. 

Said Ms Fu: “Like many of her constituents, I learnt first from the media and later from her absence from the opening of Parliament that she is not intending to assume the NCMP seat, despite having campaigned hard to persuade voters to elect her to a seat in Parliament.”

About 15,800 voters in Punggol East had cast their ballots for her. 

“Taking up the NCMP seat would have enabled her to participate fully in parliamentary debates, raise motions, and ask questions in Parliament,” said Ms Fu.

She added that in the event that Ms Lee is indeed declining the role and WP would like to propose an alternative candidate, they have to put it to Parliament for a decision by “moving a Motion at a sitting of this Parliament”.