Last Thursday, Aljunied GRC MP Pritam Singh made a speech calling for an ombudsman here during the Prime Minister's Office Committee of Supply debate.
The fact that Mr Singh's speech was largely identical to a 2008 blog post on the same topic has since caused a buzz among netizens. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, too, remarked that he "was struck by how remarkably similar" Mr Singh's speech was to the blog post, when he responded to Mr Singh's suggestion in Parliament.
When contacted, Mr Singh referred this reporter to the same blog where the author had posted on Wednesday: "I note that there has been some discussion about Workers' Party MP Pritam Singh and my post 'Time for an Ombudsman'.
"For the record, Pritam contacted me for permission to use some of my text. I told him to go ahead with my blessings. No acknowledgements were necessary. I am happy he found my thoughts useful. Let's keep our eyes on the bigger picture."
Independent scholar Derek da Cunha told Today that "politicians using someone else's ideas is not a new phenomenon".
- http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120309-0000008/Should-MPs-attribute-comments-to-sources?
The fact that Mr Singh's speech was largely identical to a 2008 blog post on the same topic has since caused a buzz among netizens. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, too, remarked that he "was struck by how remarkably similar" Mr Singh's speech was to the blog post, when he responded to Mr Singh's suggestion in Parliament.
When contacted, Mr Singh referred this reporter to the same blog where the author had posted on Wednesday: "I note that there has been some discussion about Workers' Party MP Pritam Singh and my post 'Time for an Ombudsman'.
"For the record, Pritam contacted me for permission to use some of my text. I told him to go ahead with my blessings. No acknowledgements were necessary. I am happy he found my thoughts useful. Let's keep our eyes on the bigger picture."
Independent scholar Derek da Cunha told Today that "politicians using someone else's ideas is not a new phenomenon".
- http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120309-0000008/Should-MPs-attribute-comments-to-sources?