Yaw Shin Leong not appealing against expulsion
Former Hougang Member of Parliament (MP) Yaw Shin Leong will not appeal against his expulsion from the Workers' Party (WP).
File photo of Yaw Shin Leong, who was sacked by the Workers' Party on Feb 15, 2012.
SINGAPORE: Former Hougang Member of Parliament (MP) Yaw Shin Leong will not appeal against his expulsion from the Workers' Party (WP).
Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer said Parliament received a letter from Mr Yaw on Monday about the matter.
Mr Yaw had been given until Friday to state if he is appealing against the party's decision.
WP announced last Wednesday it had sacked Mr Yaw over his silence with regard to several "indiscretions".
Mr Yaw has been embroiled in allegations of extramarital affairs.
He chose to remain silent on the issue, which WP had said goes against its fundamental values of transparency and accountability.
According to reports, Mr Yaw has left the country.
Mr Palmer said in view of Mr Yaw's decision, the Hougang seat is declared vacant from the date of his expulsion from WP, which is 14 February.
Mr Palmer will make a formal announcement to the House at its next sitting on 28 February.
Contacted by Channel NewsAsia, WP's Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam said Mr Yaw did not inform the party of his decision not to appeal against his expulsion.
Mr Giam said Mr Yaw has not been in contact with the party leadership.
As for the ward of Hougang, Mr Giam said MPs from WP's Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC), as well as its Non-Constituency MPs, have been sharing the workload.
They have been scheduled to attend Meet-The-People sessions and have been making representations for residents to government departments.
They have also been handling residents' requests via email.
Mr Giam added that at the grassroots level, the Hougang Constituency Committee, including its welfare arm, is being re-constituted to serve the residents.
WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang has started visiting wakes in the ward -- something he used to do in Hougang, when he was MP there for 20 years.
Meanwhile, MP for Aljunied GRC Chen Show Mao wrote on his Facebook page the party's focus is "ensuring that the constituents of Hougang and Aljunied continue to be well served. I will do my best to make sure that it is the case".
