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PAP entitled to ask Pritam Singh which side he stands on, says Shanmugam on Tan Wu Meng’s article

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam during a walkabout in Nee Soon GRC on June 21, 2020.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam during a walkabout in Nee Soon GRC on June 21, 2020.

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SINGAPORE — Former Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang was “very clear” about not taking another country’s side against Singapore, even though he may disagree with the People’s Action Party (PAP) on policy matters, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Sunday (June 21).

Thus, Dr Tan Wu Meng was entitled to question Mr Pritam Singh, as the current WP chief and leader of the opposition, which side he is on, Mr Shanmugam said.

The minister was referring to an article written by Dr Tan, a PAP political officeholder who had questioned Mr Singh’s support for playwright Alfian Sa’at last week.

Mr Singh had labelled Mr Alfian a “loving critic” earlier this month during a parliamentary debate on the Fortitude Budget.

Mr Shanmugam said: “In summary, one can say Mr Alfian Sa’at’s position is that he would like Singapore to merge with Malaysia, and he thinks that the Chinese are being wrong in not wanting a merger. He dislikes Mr Lee Kuan Yew intensely and he loves Dr Mahathir.

“And he takes Malaysia’s side. When Malaysian government vessels are in Singapore waters in a very tense stand-off on territorial issues as well as air issues, he takes Malaysia’s side and says that Singaporeans are jingoistic.”

Nevertheless, Mr Alfian is entitled to his views, Mr Shanmugam said. He was asked by some reporters about the issue on the sidelines of a walkabout in Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC). A transcript of Mr Shanmugam’s remarks was made available to TODAY.

Mr Shanmugam, who is a Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC, noted that Dr Tan had put out various posts by Mr Alfian and he did not “make anything up” in his article.

“But when Mr Pritam Singh, as leader of the opposition, stands up in Parliament and supports Mr Alfian Sa’at and says he is a loving critic of Singapore, then I think we are entitled to ask in a healthy democracy, which side do you stand on? Because under (previous WP chief) Mr Low (Thia Khiang), he was very clear,” Mr Shanmugam said.

Dr Tan’s post generated controversy online, with several online users pointing out that Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh had also previously given the same label to Mr Alfian. Dr Tan, who is Senior Parliamentary Secretary of Foreign Affairs, had argued that the playwright was “no loving critic”.

As Mr Singh supported the playwright in Parliament, Dr Tan is thus entitled to question his stand, Mr Shanmugam reiterated.

“The Workers’ Party can take one issue, we might take another issue, we may take different positions. But politics stops at the boundary. You never take another country’s side against Singapore,” he said.

“Dr Tan’s note is a very serious note saying: This is what Mr Low and the WP used to be like, does that continue to be the position? And to give Mr Pritam Singh the benefit of the doubt, Dr Tan asked, have you read those posts before you said that Mr Alfian Sa’at is a loving critic of Singapore and therefore should not be criticised? Perhaps, to give you the benefit of the doubt, maybe you haven’t read them.”

Mr Shanmugam pointed out that the WP leader had not clarified his position on the matter: “Mr Singh has put up something (in response to Dr Tan’s article) which seems to suggest that you know, no one is perfect, which means he seems to accept that Alfian’s posts do mean... what Dr Tan said, but he doesn’t make clear his position, whether he knew what Alfian had said.”

RESPONSE TO ACCUSATIONS OF PAP’S BULLYING TACTICS

He highlighted again that Dr Tan’s post had raised legitimate questions and nothing in the post was about attacking Mr Singh’s character.

Mr Shanmugam said he was surprised when a small group accused PAP of engaging in character assasination or carrying out bullying tactics.

“You know, every day, PAP Members of Parliament and PAP ministers are attacked. ‘Shameless lot. You are this, you are that.’ Personal attacks which are untrue and unfair. Attacking the family, attacking individuals. Gutter politics,” Mr Shanmugam added.

“These people who now rise up to complain about Dr Tan Wu Meng never breathed a word about (these attacks). ‘That’s fine, it’s a democracy, free speech.’ When somebody on the Government side raises a question, ‘Oh, it’s gutter politics’. It’s sheer hypocrisy.

“Like I said, it’s Pavlovian. PAP says anything, when the Government says anything, it must be wrong. It’s unfair.”

He urged critics to look at Dr Tan’s post and ask themselves whether he is entitled to question Mr Singh’s stand, and deal with it rather than attacking the man or “trying to do characterisations”.

He said: “Which character has been assassinated in this process? What did Dr Tan say? He just sets out what Alfian says and he says to Mr Singh, 'Did you know about this?'”

He noted that there are people who had read the post and felt that Dr Tan’s post was unnecessary.

“I can understand that. There are people who would react that way. That’s legitimate. In a free society, you are entitled to take that view, too,” 

During the walkabout, Mr Shanmugam was seen with Ms Carrie Tan, founder of charity Daughters of Tomorrow, and Mr Derrick Goh, a managing director of DBS bank. Ms Tan and Mr Goh have been touted as potential PAP candidates for the coming General Election (GE).

Asked about his thoughts on what issues would be on voters’ minds during the elections, Mr Shanmugam replied that there is a “very sober mood” surrounding the GE, despite the Government’s assistance through the four national budgets.

“People are concerned about their health and naturally, they are also concerned about the economy. Many sectors have taken a very severe hit (and) people are suffering as a result. The Government’s help has, you know, made sure that many businesses tide over, but it’s still a very hard struggle,” he said.

“I think when people go to the polls, the economy, health and what is going to happen in the next year, the next five years, who is going to deal with these issues — I think these are going to be very serious factors in people’s minds.”

Related topics

Pritam Singh Alfian Sa'at Tan Wu Meng K Shanmugam Singapore General Election SGVotes2020

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