SINGAPORE: If the number of questions raised in parliament is any indication, Members of Parliament (MPs) in the current 12th term might just be the most active parliamentarians ever.

Collectively, they have logged enough parliamentary questions to see 2,624 answers provided. With more than a year to go, the current term of parliament, sworn in after the 2011 General Election, has seen more answers to parliamentary questions than past terms.

The 11th term, which ran from Nov 2006 to Apr 2011, saw 1,643 answers. And it’s no surprise to at least one political observer.

… Associate Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Alan Chong said this could also be due to the varied profile of Members of Parliament. “There has been a manifestation of a more complex society in terms of the profile of MPs, NMPs, NCMPs and so on. Singapore society is complex in the sense that people are very educated and they’ve got particular needs you see which are well-represented by this particular cross-section of parliament,” he said.