Activists want MP to retract ‘baseless claims’ over meeting with Dr Mahathir

SINGAPORE — A couple of activists have called on Member of Parliament (MP) Seah Kian Peng to retract his public comments about them with regard to a recent meeting between several Singaporeans and Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Freelance journalist Kirsten Han and civil activist Teo Soh Lung said on Sunday (Sept 2) that they have received threats and abuse from the public following Mr Seah’s Facebook post the previous day.

“Mr Seah's baseless claims have had an incendiary effect, triggering a torrent of accusations of treason and people shouting about us being ‘traitors’. We're now also getting death threats,” Ms Han wrote on Facebook.

She added: “Since he's the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a member of the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods, I'd expected better from Mr Seah… I urge Mr Seah to retract his baseless statements.”

Separately, Ms Teo, who was a former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee, added: “Immediately after the publication of MP Seah’s post, his supporters started baying for blood and telling all of us to leave Singapore. Some called me a traitor and said I deserved to be detained under the ISA. Several said I should never be released.”

On Saturday, Mr Seah, who is an MP for Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, had hit out at historian Thum Ping Tjin for suggesting that Singaporeans should also rejoice on Malaysia's independence day which fell on the previous day.

Earlier this week, Dr Thum, along with political dissident Tan Wah Piow, Ms Han, civil rights activist Jolovan Wham and award-winning graphic novelist Sonny Liew, made the headlines, after they held an 80-minute meeting with Dr Mahathir in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Tan, who lives in exile in London, had requested to meet with the Malaysian premier and invited him to speak at a conference on democracy in South-east Asia that his non-profit organisation – Forces for Renewal of South East Asia – is organising. Malaysian activist Hishamuddin Rais, who is part of Mr Tan’s organisation, helped to organise the meeting with Dr Mahathir and was also present at Thursday’s meeting.

Mr Seah said in a Facebook post that it “appears quite clear to me that PJ Thum does not wish Singapore well”, and added that it was ‘interesting that Kirsten, Jolovan and Sonny should associate themselves with Thum".

On Thursday, Dr Thum had posted on Facebook: "Selamat Hari Merdeka to the people of the former Federation of Malaya! (and happy unofficial independence day to the people of Singapore!)"

Separately, Ms Teo also commented on a Facebook video by socio-political website The Online Citizen that "Singapore is part of Malaya la”.

Referring to these comments, Mr Seah had added: “I’m amazed that Dr Thum and his supporters should proclaim that Singapore is part of Malaysia (or Malaya). Perhaps that is why he thinks it is permissible to ask its current prime minister to interfere in our affairs.’’

In response, Ms Han said that Mr Seah’s allegations are “unfounded”.

She added: “Unfortunately, Mr Seah appears to have misunderstood the nature of the meet with Mahathir and the comments that have been made since. His post makes a number of allegations and claims that might lead people to have a very mistaken idea of what happened on Thursday, and our views.”

She also said that the Singaporeans did not attend the meeting with Dr Mahathir “as a collective, but as a group of individuals”.

Contrary to Mr Seah’s assertion, Dr Thum had not asked Dr Mahathir to bring democracy to Singapore, Ms Han said. Instead, he had “urged (Mahathir) to take leadership in Southeast Asia for the promotion of democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and freedom of information”, she reiterated.

Ms Han also noted that Dr Thum's Facebook post was not about "declaring Singapore a part of Malaysia, but merely a reference to our own history".

Adding that Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had declared independence from the British on Aug 31, 1963, Ms Han said: "So Aug 31 is an 'unofficial independence day' for the people of Singapore. As Lee Kuan Yew said, it signified the end of colonial British rule in Singapore."

Speaking with TODAY on Monday, Mr Wham stressed that he went to the meeting “out of curiosity”.  

He felt that the public reaction to Mr Seah’s comments was “quite disproportionate”. “The negative comments have been needlessly vitriolic — threats to bodily harm have been sent,” said the activist, adding that he has been called names following Mr Seah's Facebook post.  

It was “pure fantasy” on Mr Seah’s part, to think that the group had “malignant intentions”, said Mr Wham, who called on Mr Seah to step down from the Select Committee on deliberate online falsehoods. It is ironic that he is on the committee “when he is guilty of not substantiating his assertions adequately”, Mr Wham argued. 

‘WE WERE TOO NAIVE’

Meanwhile, Mr Liew told TODAY that his friends and family have expressed concern that he “might somehow end up getting charged with treason or get in serious trouble of some sort”.

He said: “Personally I don't think that's anyone's goal or intention, and I mostly see it as an important lesson on negotiating public discourse.”

He acknowledged that the group of individuals who met with Dr Mahathir, including himself, were “much too wide-eyed and naive when we went into the meeting”.

“PJ, Kirsten, Jolovan and myself all to some degree or another have some reputation for being at odds with the authorities, and once you throw Wah Piow into the mix, it should have been clear that the situation could be a little volatile,” he said.

Mr Liew said the group was “all taken by surprise” to find out that Mr Hishammuddin had informed the media that there would be an impromptu press conference after the event.

“For myself, I'd only agreed to proceed once we were assured that those of us (Jolovan, Kirsten and myself) who didn't want to be part of the press conference could choose to do so - which I thought would mean that we would get to meet Dr Mahathir in a personal, unpoliticised capacity,” Mr Liew said.

“I should probably add that I don't really know Wah Piow well, so I am not trying to argue that he or anyone else were trying to manipulate us… just that it was  my own responsibility to be much better prepared.”

Meanwhile, Ms Teo said Mr Seah had taken her comment out of context.

She pointed out that she was commenting during a live video stream of Mr Hishamuddin speaking — at a forum titled “Can Singapore Do a Malaysia?” — on Malaysia’s decolonisation history during the 1950s.

“So, MP Seah, what is wrong with my statement that Singapore is part of Malaya during the time frame (which) Mr Hishamuddin was referring to?” she questioned.  

TODAY has reached out to Dr Thum but has yet to receive a reply. Mr Seah could not be reached for comment.