So, the Singapore Parliament and the Ministry of Communication and Information replies to my question about the plan to track MPs in parliament. This reply appeared in the 22 November 2019 of the MSM.

Many issues here:

a) Live streaming is what I was asking for. Not recorded and edited proceedings. And also, not about the Hansard.

b) The part that says “The cameras that capture footage of parliamentary proceeding are focused on MPs who make speeches.” is a red herring. Yes, that will be the case for one camera. There are other cameras that can be used (perhaps already there) that can view the whole chamber in different angles and show up who is there and not there.

c) “Not all MPs in attendance make speeches at every session, so the footage would not serve the purpose of registering MPs’ attendance.” Duh. Of course. That’s why you have full view camera angles.

I guess someone wants to score KPI points by chanting the “Smart Nation” mantra and have the MPs tap in and out, like most of us.

Just because you have the technology, does not mean you have to use it. Remember, they want to us “facial” recognition. Not a tap-in/tap-out mode. This is wasteful of public funds and serves no useful purpose other than, the afore mentioned KPI and perhaps funneling revenue to some GLC.