Civil activists Ms Kirsten Han and Mr Jolovan Wham, alongside historian Dr Thum Ping Tjin, have filed a letter of complaint to the leader of the People’s Action Party and Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, against a Member of Parliament from the party, Mr Seah Kian Peng, over his Facebook post in which he alleged, among other issues, that they were attempting to invite Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to “interfere in our [Singapore’s] affairs”, citing the allegation as “irresponsible”.
A similar letter of complaint was also filed to the Chairman of the Select Committee on Deliberate Falsehoods Mr Charles Chong. The Select Committee on Deliberate Falsehoods is a committee of which Mr Seah is a part. The complainants have suggested in their letter that Mr Seah’s Facebook post, ironically, is an example of the perpetuation of such deliberate falsehoods and misinformation that the Select Committee aims to curb and eradicate in the first place:
In both letters, Ms Han, Dr Thum, and Mr Wham have urged Mr Lee and Mr Chong to “take leadership in promoting responsible behaviour” amongst figures in the government and “engaging in evidence-based discussions” in order to prevent the spread of inaccuracies and even potentially libellous “information”, particularly by people in positions of power such as Mr Seah himself.
