In a post yesterday, former Nominated Member of Parliament and Young PAP member, Calvin Cheng wrote that those who are giving interviews and writing to foreign media on the “Oxley 38 saga” might be committing an act of treason.
“Oxley 38 saga”, or what TOC refers to the Lee family saga, started when Dr Lee Weiling and Mr Lee Hsien Yang issued a joint statement on 14 June delivering harsh criticisms of their brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, saying that they are disturbed by the character, conduct, motives and leadership of their brother and the role of his wife, Ho Ching, going as far as alleging the PM of abusing his authority to pursue his personal agenda.
Cheng writes that people who are giving interviews and writing to foreign media on the saga, are taking the opportunity to push their “mythological version of Singapore: an undemocratic place controlled by the Lees and a small circle of elites, full of nepotism, where Western type human rights are not respected”.
He argues that while few Singaporeans read the foreign journals and magazines, the foreigners who read the articles would perceive a highly-warped view of Singapore. He also insinuates that these people might be hoping to help their causes or political parties through their actions.
Answering a commenter’s question, Cheng reveals that he had written the post in response to Kirsten Han’s post on Foreign Policy. The article, “Singapore Can Have Meritocracy or Aristocracy, But Not Both” wrote, “Rather than a porous meritocracy, Singaporean hierarchy is now being made to seem a closed, elitist circle. The present saga has highlighted how closely everyone in the country’s ruling class is connected, how much power they wield among them, and how blurred the lines can be between their personal and professional relationships.”
Below is Cheng’s post in full
I am seeing the usual suspects giving interviews and writing to foreign media, milking the misery of the Oxley 38 saga. They are taking the opportunity to push their mythological version of Singapore: an undemocratic place controlled by the Lees and a small circle of elites, full of nepotism, where Western type human rights are not respected etc etc
One wonders what they hope to achieve.
Few Singaporeans read the foreign journals and magazines that they write to, so if they are hoping to help their causes, or the political parties they support, it will come to nought.
A lot of their articles are an exercise in circle-jerking – writing articles they then share amongst themselves, and then patting each other on the back for it. The average Singaporean voter is blissfully unaware of their mutual masturbation.
The majority of the people who read these articles are thus only foreigners, who are then perceiving a highly-warped view of Singapore.
This is similar to Chee Soon Juan’s behaviour that Mr. Chiam See Tong condemned in Parliament before – running Singapore down to a foreign audience, who lap up a narrative they like to hear.
To me this is worse than airing dirty laundry in public.
This is treason.
If you want to change Singapore, get involved in politics. Stay in Singapore. Appeal to the Singaporean voter. Not to foreigners who do not care whether if Singapore survives.
Stop it now.
Perhaps David Cheong‘s comment on Cheng’s Facebook post, sums it well for him.
“Calvin, please slap your PAP supporters the next time you see them asking people to migrate. I have not seen so many of them since GE and BE.
So, why bother with foreigners if you think they don’t care. Have you read The Straits Times this week? A reprint written by Robert Boxwell ‘Parliament, not Facebook, the proper forum for Oxley Road dispute“. And forum letter by a supposed Libyan doctor Reida El Oakley “LKY’s legacy goes beyond Singapore’s shores“.?
There you have 2 foreigners who are so clueless about Singapore politics and our ST deem fit to publish. Who are they kidding? Perhaps, the lot here.”
As for the advice that Cheng has for Singaporeans, Fayth Fatima Yeoh wrote, “Well I guess politically interested Singaporeans would if it wasn’t for the climate of political fear that results in most opposition members either having to relocate or face potential fixing if they remain in Singapore.”
But in any case, Cheng must really want people to read what he has to say because I only got to see his post today through a sponsored post on Facebook.
