With the convening of the new Parliament, there have been great expectations about improvements in the quality of parliamentary debate. The debate so far has not disappointed.

I would like to raise the issue of live telecast of parliamentary proceedings again. Each time this was brought up, it was dismissed on grounds of cost, especially if an entire free-to-air TV channel is devoted to it.

A simple alternative would be webcasts. We already have OneMotoring showing road cameras 24/7, live. I have no doubt that with a small capital investment, it is possible to install cameras in Parliament that would automatically capture the person who is speaking, especially since he or she can do so only at specific microphone positions and must turn on the microphone to be heard.

The latter action can then trigger pre-programmed camera settings that would capture the speaker, and with the appropriate routing, the audio can be easily integrated into the video.

All this can then be properly archived as well as streamed live.

There are significant advantages to a live webcast and providing the recording of an entire day's proceedings online. The most important of these would be full transparency.

Singaporeans can view the entire process, removing any doubt about media bias. Quoting ministers or MPs out of context on social media would also be a thing of the past. It will also educate Singaporeans about our democratic process, and the performance of the various MPs will be open for all to see.

As we tackle difficult questions such as the nature of citizenship, race, religion and so on, the proceedings and what our representatives say in Parliament will be an important input in any discussion.

It is also an important way to definitively combat fake news, thus ensuring that any discussion is conducted in an open, responsible, constructive and objective fashion.

Wong Weng Fai