Seah Kian Peng apologises for sleeping during Parliament sitting, says he was unwell & on medication

Speaker Seah apologises for nodding off during Parliament, says incident ‘fell short’ of standards

Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng has apologised after he nodded off while chairing a parliamentary sitting on 9 Sept.

In a Facebook post on Friday (18 Sept), Seah said he had been feeling “a bit unwell” that day and had taken medication.

However, he said this did not excuse what happened and took “full responsibility” for the lapse.

He added that he should have called for a break earlier rather than continuing with proceedings.

Speaker seen nodding off during sitting

The incident happened during Parliament’s sitting on 9 Sept.

Seah appeared to doze off after Workers’ Party MP Dennis Tan delivered his speech on the Health Sciences Authority (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill.

A parliamentary staff member was seen waking Seah before he called on MP Yip Hon Weng to speak.

Seah said the incident took place after the four-hour mark of the sitting.

“I should have called for a break earlier rather than continuing with proceedings,” he wrote in his post.

“I normally do so after 4 to 6 hours and this incident took place after the 4 hour mark.”

‘This should not have happened’

In his Facebook post, Seah acknowledged that falling asleep while chairing proceedings was not appropriate.

“This should not have happened, and I take full responsibility,” he wrote, adding that he should have called for a break earlier.

“I had been feeling a bit unwell that day and had taken medication. But that does not excuse what happened.”

Seah said that the incident “fell short” of the standards expected of his office.

Seah says he will learn from incident

Seah has served as Speaker since 2023 and was re-elected to the position when Singapore’s 15th Parliament opened in Sept 2025.

Reflecting on his time as Speaker, he said he had sought to discharge his duties conscientiously over the past three years.

“Over the past three years as Speaker, I have sought to discharge my duties conscientiously and to uphold the standards expected of the office,” he wrote.

“This incident fell short of those standards.”

He apologised for the lapse and said he would take steps to prevent it from happening again.

Seah ended his statement by saying he remained committed to serving Parliament and Singaporeans.

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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore on YouTube and Parliament of Singapore on Facebook.