SINGAPORE - Jurong GRC MP Tan Wu Meng had asked a legitimate question about the position taken by Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh, after the opposition leader expressed support for playwright Alfian Sa'at, said Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.
"He takes Malaysia's side when the Malaysian government's vessels are in Singapore waters and in a very tense stand-off on territorial issues as well as air issues... and says Singaporeans are jingoistic... This is a free country, he's entitled to his views and I think most Singaporeans know him for what he is."
"And to give Mr Pritam Singh the benefit of the doubt, Dr Tan asked, have you read those posts before you said Mr Alfian was 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. And after reading them, are you still of the same position?"
Mr Singh, who is an MP for Aljunied GRC, shared Dr Tan's article in a Facebook post on Friday. In a brief comment accompanying the post, Mr Singh said:"A loving critic. A son of Singapore. Not perfect. As imperfect as you and me Dr Tan, maybe more, maybe less."The Straits Times has contacted Mr Singh for comment.
Referring to the criticism of Dr Tan, Mr Shanmugam said a"small group of people" have"almost a Pavlovian response" to things said by the PAP or the Government, and that is"sheer hypocrisy".