Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin apologises for using 'unparliamentary language'

Assoc Prof Lim spoke in parliament on Apr 17 during the debate on the president's address and voiced support for President Halimah Yacob’s call to improve Singapore’s social compact. He said that Singapore has yet to establish an "official poverty line", something he found "both puzzling and exasperating".

"I had to listen to the recording as I did not recall the occasion," Mr Tan wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

"Based on the clip it appears that I had a reaction to a speech made in the chamber."

Mr Tan said that when he listens to speeches, he forms "views on them", like every one. He added that what was said were his private thoughts, which he had muttered to himself and not to anyone.

"However I should not have expressed them aloud or in unparliamentary language, and I apologise for that," the Speaker said.

Mr Tan also said that he has spoken to Assoc Prof Lim and apologised to him, to which Assoc Prof Lim "has kindly accepted". The opposition MP confirmed this in a comment in Mr Tan's Facebook post on the matter.