No wonder our Malaysian MPs always fall asleep lah..
With the reconvening of Parliament after the Covid-19 pandemic postponed the current session, the Malaysian Legislative body finally resumes its function.
Although our Parliament never resorted to fist fights like in Taiwan as reported here, the events in the Malaysian Dewan Rakyat has a lot of talking points that would keep us occupied for days.
Well, if we were to make a comparison between Malaysian House of Parliament with the rest of the world, one thing will definitely stand out:
Our Parliament is super duper comfortable!
Here’s some photos of Parliaments across the world and our very own for you to judge for yourself:
1. The House of Commons in the United Kingdom
UK’s House of Commons Chamber | Source: Britannica
An empty House of Commons Chamber | Source: Parliament UK
The equivalent to Malaysia’s Dewan Rakyat, the House of Commons serves as the lower house of Parliament of United Kingdom.
According to the UK’s Parliament official website, the current Commons’ layout is influenced by the original St. Stephen’s Chapel in the Palace of Westminster with several symbolism, including:
- The rectangular shape is derived from the shape of the chapel.
- Benches were arranged using the configuration of the chapel’s choir stalls whereby they were facing across from one another.
- The distance across the floor between the government and opposition benches is 3.96 m, equivalent to the length of 2 swords.
Source: Parliament UK
Source: The Atlantic
So little space weh! No wonder UK has gone fot a virtual Parliament amidst the pandemic.
2. Canada’s House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada | Source: ctvnews
An empty House of Commons of Canada | Source: hillnotes
Canada’s equivalent to the Dewan Rakyat, The House of Commons of Canada or the Chambre des communes du Canada in French (most of Canadians are French speakers) is the lower chamber of the bicameral Parliament of Canada.
Interesting facts about the House of Commons of Canada:
- It was established in 1867, when the Constitution Act, 1867 created the Dominion of Canada and was modelled on the British House of Commons.
- Although the lower house, it holds more power than the upper house, the Senate in practice.
- Canada’s Cabinet is responsible solely to the House of Commons and not the Senate.
- The Prime Minister will stay in office as long as they retain the”confidence”, of the lower house.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada’s House of Commons | Source: macleans
Source: CBC
3. The Parliament of Singapore
The Parliament of Singapore | Source: Straits Times
An almost empty Parliament of Singapore | Source: Independent.sg
Unlike the others in this list, Singapore’s Parliament is quite unique. Firstly, it doesn’t have an upper or lower house. Therefore it is unicameral, whereby all MPs make up a single chamber.
Here are some things to note:
- At present, there can be a maximum of 105 MPs.
- 93 are elected by the people while up to 12 Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs), according to the country’s Constitution.
- There can also be up to 9 Nominated MPs.
Singapore MPs taking oath in Parliament | Source: Straits Times
4. Malaysia’s Dewan Rakyat
Ismail Sabri speaking in the Dewan Rakyat | Source: Berita Harian
An empty Dewan Rakyat | Source: NST
Okay, if we directly compare our lower house of Parliament to the rest on the list, you can see how spacious Dewan Rakyat really is.
I mean, the distance between MPs’ seats are almost far enough to abide by social distancing rules! Though, technically however it does not.
The space and coziness of the Dewan Rakyat is so nice that it has been reported that some MPs in the past have complained for it being too cold such as in this report by Astro Awani.
It has also been the reason behind this viral photos of MPs falling asleep in Parliament in the past:
Source: Facebook
Not gonna lie, if it were us in Parliament we’d fall asleep too because it looks so cozy. But then again, we’re just a marhaen and not an MP.
What do you guys think of this comparison? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: Parliament Members Called Out For Not Wearing Masks During Dewan Rakyat Meeting
