Sleepy MPs in Parliament?

Yesterday morning, as I was flipping through the pages of 《联合早报》/Lianhe Zaobao, I came across this article reporting about a Q&A session that participants of the third National Youth Forum had with Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi, Singapore's Speaker of Parliament.

Specifically, what caught my eye was the answer given by Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi in response to a question on the phenomenon of Members of Parliament (MPs) dozing off during parliamentary sittings.

I quote from the article:

问起议员有时会在国会上打瞌睡的情况，阿都拉坦言这是人之常情。因为国会会议通常在下午1时30分开始，议员们如果午餐吃得太丰富，到了下午就会昏昏欲睡。另外，一些议员发言时间过长，也会让其他人打瞌睡。

“有时候我会尝试让国会辩论变得更轻松，这么做也是为了我自己，否则我也是会睡着的。"

Translated, the above segment says:

When asked about the phenomenon of MPs dozing off during parliamentary sittings, Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi said that such a situation is perhaps inevitable. This is considering that since parliamentary sittings usually start from 1.30pm, some MPs may have too heavy a lunch beforehand, therefore causing them to feel sleepy. Also, some MPs may give long-winding speeches and cause their colleagues to doze off.

"Sometimes, in order to prevent myself from also dozing off, I will try to make debates more relaxed."


Hmm... While I can appreciate the rationale behind Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi's answer (I mean, I also experienced becoming rather sleepy when attending afternoon lectures after I have consumed lunch beforehand; that lecture theaters are air-conditioned does not help), I cannot help but wonder if MPs know they have to attend parliamentary sessions in the afternoon, perhaps they can try to not have too heavy a lunch beforehand?