SINGAPORE — Wrapping up Parliament's nine-day debate on the different ministries' projected budgeting needs for the upcoming financial year, Leader of the House Indranee Rajah managed to work three Taylor Swift song titles into her oratory.

On Thursday (March 7), she praised the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) for emerging as the "favourite" ministry this year with the most number of speeches by Members of Parliament (MPs).

"For the record, this year, MCCY was 'The 1' to win the prize — and as we know 'All Too Well' now, they rose to the occasion with 'Style'," she said, also referring to the ministry’s role in bringing the American singer to Singapore.

She added that MPs who may need help with the references she made could ask their children.

“It’s all right… They will know,” Ms Indranee quipped.

For the uninitiated without ready access to youngsters, All Too Well, Style and The 1 are the titles of Swift's songs, released in 2012, 2014 and 2020 respectively. 

Ms Indranee was the last of several MPs to drop references to the superstar of the moment during the debate.

While sometimes rather tangential to the topic at hand, these references were woven into House discourse over the past week or so, adding levity and perhaps even glamour to the otherwise serious proceedings.  

TODAY compiled a list of the MPs who referenced Swift during their time in Parliament — and we have checked it once or twice.

And yes, there were two more references to lyrics in that last sentence, from the American pop singer's song, Look What You Made Me Do: "I got a list of names, and yours is in red/ underlined I check it once/ then I check it twice, oh!"

Is it over now? Yes, this is assuming that when Parliament next sits, the Swift caravan will have well and truly moved on.

These names are not in red or underlined, but here are all the other times that Swift (and her songs) popped up in Parliament this week.

1. Gerald Giam – Blank Space

In his supplementary question to Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, on Swift’s concerts, Workers’ Party MP Gerald Giam asked: “Did the Government negotiate to make Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour the only ‘Blank Space’ in Southeast Asia, and did it realise that it may be perceived by some of our neighbours as being mean?”

Blank Space is another of Swift's song title.

This was on Monday, when Mr Tong had argued that bringing international acts such as Swift to Singapore results in both economic and social benefits. 

Mr Giam, an Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) MP, was one of several MPs who noted the tension from regional neighbours resulting from Singapore’s exclusive deal with Swift’s team.

2. Edwin Tong – All Too Well (10 Minute Version)

Also on Monday, in response to Mr Giam, and after being told by Speaker Seah Kian Peng to keep things succinct, Mr Tong said: “Sir, I'll try not to make my answer the 10-minute version.” 

This quick-witted comment referred to All Too Well (10 Minute Version), which was released in 2021 on Swift’s re-recorded album Red (Taylor’s Version). 

Mr Tong then went on to explain that various considerations and calculations had to be made to determine what was in the best interest of Singapore and Singaporeans. 

3. Tan See Leng – You Belong With Me

Some five hours later, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng saw the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon, referring to the 2008 hit song You Belong With Me.

Dr Tan managed to incorporate a Swift reference into the debate over workers' training.

“As Taylor Swift aptly puts it (in) her hit song You Belong With Me, ‘And tell me about your dreams. Think I know where you belong’,” he said, in delivering remarks on training and empowering Singapore workers.  

It was his hope that this would translate into workers reaping benefits of Singapore's economic plan Forward SG, he added, that these workers could better take advantage of his ministry's leadership development programmes such as the new Global Business Leaders Programme and Overseas Markets Immersion Programme.

4. Zaqy Mohamad – Taylor Swift’s success

About two hours later, still on Monday, Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for Manpower, managed to weave a Swift reference into an area of government policy.

He spoke about how the ministry needed to sustain improvements in enhancing workplace safety outcomes, and drew a comparison to Swift’s success story. 

In answering Radin Mas MP Melvin Yong’s question on workplace safety outcomes, he said: "You don't want to be called a one-hit wonder, lah. You hope to be Taylor Swift, with 20 years of success."

Earlier, Mr Zaqy said that the workplace fatal injury rate had fallen below 1.0 per 100,000 workers in 2023 and that it was important to sustain this by engaging all stakeholders, especially leaders in high-risk industries, and having them undergo leadership training. 

5. Alvin Tan – Shake It Off 

The show did not stop there. 

On Tuesday, Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, quoted lyrics from Shake It Off: "I (never) miss a beat. I'm lightnin' on my feet.”

He was replying to several parliamentary questions on grant support for leisure events, in which he said that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) would continue to be “bold, forward-looking, and strategic” in assessing opportunities for the island nation to secure global events and tourism offerings. 

“We will certainly be lightning on our feet.” 

6. Jamus Lim – Shake It Off

Associate Professor Jamus Lim, Workers’ Party MP for Sengkang GRC, raised questions on the spillover effects of such endeavours for tourism, quoting a line from the same song that Mr Tan had quoted: “Haters are going to hate, hate, hate.” 

“There are indeed spillover effects for such first-mover advantages for STB. 

“It’s nevertheless the case that sometimes, there may be negative effects on foreign relations, when there are perceptions by other countries that Singapore is hoarding the pie,” Assoc Prof Lim said. 

He then asked if STB would work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies to manage any fallout in international relations.

To this, Mr Tan replied: “We do what’s best for Singapore, but we also understand that Singapore is a connectivity hub. And being a vibrant hub benefits our neighbours as well.” 

Swift has taken Singapore —and the world — by storm with her six sold-out shows of The Eras Tour, which started on March 2 after a successful foray to Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.

She will play her last three shows here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Her next shows will be in Paris, France in May.