Nikkei Asia’s recent opinion piece entitled “The institutional failures behind Singapore’s latest COVID outbreak” was “full of inaccuracies”, said senior director from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Sam Tee on Wednesday (28 July), noting that the author’s comments on public policies were not based on facts but “imagined realities”.

The article was penned by Andy Wong, a political and business intelligence analyst based in Singapore, which was published by Nikkei Asia on 23 July.

In his piece, Mr Wong noted that the cluster linked to KTV lounges “exposed the pernicious role of organised vice enterprises in Singapore, and the institutional failure of the country’s much-vaunted law enforcement to clamp down on them”.

He alleged that “KTV-fronted illegal brothels employing freelance hostesses, or sex workers, have been operating in Singapore for decades”, which have become “a normalised” and “integral part” of many business dealings, as well as serving as “money laundering fronts” for the criminal enterprises.

“The KTVs are not just playgrounds for the rich. They draw regular patrons from all segments of society, including uniformed military leaders and civil servants alike,” said the correspondent.

Mr Wong pointed out that while KTV lounges have not been allowed to operate amid the COVID-19 pandemic, these premises were subsequently allowed to reopen “without explanation” under the pretense of pivoting toward becoming “bistros” after August last year.

“Singapore authorities have now belatedly increased punitive raids on bistro KTVs, arrested some illegal sex workers and imposed a blanket shutdown on all such pivoted businesses,” he noted.

These measures, however, have been lambasted as “too little, too late” by the public and raised the questions as to “who signed off on the conversion of known KTV fronts into so-called bistros”, said Mr Wong.

“Who allowed such shocking lapses of oversight of such businesses, and why were complaints from family-friendly, legal KTVs about the resurgence of illegal KTV brothels ignored?

“So far, Singapore’s government, with its no-blame culture track record and unbridled ability to blame the public for any spike in COVID cases, has not been forthcoming when it comes to answers,” he added.

It was reported earlier that the index case of the KTV cluster was a Vietnamese hostess on a short term visit pass sponsored by her “boyfriend” to come to Singapore, who entered Singapore in February via the Familial Ties Lane (FTL).

Mr Wong highlighted that the “boyfriend/girlfriend” category was “abruptly removed” from the FTL process “without explanation” a month after questions about the FTL’s existence were raised in Parliament in February.

“But hundreds of people had already entered the country and disappeared into the underground vice industry, many of them plying their trades in KTV brothels until the latest outbreak,” he added.

This has sparked anger among the local population and the expatriate community working in Singapore, said Mr Wong, pointing out that expatriates have been “forced” to choose between keeping their jobs or visiting their family in their home countries.

“Foreign sex workers faking familial ties and other travel purposes have been allowed to enter by a government known for its overzealous pandemic controls. As usual, no one has provided any answers.

“Nor has the Ministry of Home Affairs, the sole overseer of vice policing and the city-state’s border controls, taken responsibility for this institutional failure and the evident border policy loophole,” he asserted.

Mr Wong went on to note that the KTV cluster “not only necessitates a plan for Singapore to lift domestic restrictions and reestablish international connectivity, but demands that its leaders take responsibility for the institutional failures that caused it”.

“Decades of institutional failures in dealing with the organized crime cartels running illegal KTV brothels have not only seriously damaged public health, but have significantly set back Singapore’s public relations campaign to demonstrate that it has the pandemic under control,” he remarked.

MHA official calls Nikkei Asia’s opinion piece “full of inaccuracies”

In a statement to the media on Wednesday, MHA’s senior director of the joint operations group Sam Tee rebutted Mr Wong’s claims, saying that his article was “full of inaccuracies” and that his comments should be made “based on facts, not imagined realities”.

“First, you state that most KTVs in Singapore are fronts for money laundering or ‘illegal brothels run by organised crime cartels’. Your correspondent does not explain how he came to this conclusion,” he argued.

Mr Tee highlighted that Singapore has laws against organised crime, money laundering, and trafficking-in-persons.

“Singapore is one of the least likely places in the world to find organised crime syndicates running operations. The 2020 Gallup Global Law and Order Report ranked Singapore first for law and order, for the seventh year running,” he noted.

Mr Tee stressed that the government is aware that sex workers visit KTVs and other places to solicit patrons, but “any sexual activity in these premises will be a breach of licensing conditions”.

The MHA official explained that the police deal with such breaches via regular enforcement, and they have checked nearly 3,000 nightlife outlets and arrested more than 1,000 people between 2018 to 2020.

“We welcome visitors to Singapore, but are aware that some seek entry for purposes of prostitution. This is not allowed under our entry conditions. While we take all efforts to turn away dubious travellers, there is no foolproof way of determining this upfront,” he added.

On the allegation that KTVs were allowed to reopen “without explanation”, Mr Tee said the government had explained the considerations in Parliament for allowing some to reopen, not as KTVs but as food and beverage (F&B) outlets.

He pointed out that nightlife activities had also been disallowed since March last year.

“The government also made public statements to announce their reopening in November 2020 (with certain conditions). Your correspondent made sweeping statements, without basic checks,” said Mr Tee.

On Mr Wong’s claims that the government “belatedly increased punitive raids” on KTVs following the outbreak, he argued that there has been “regular enforcement”.

Mr Tee noted that the police have conducted over 200 operations since October last year, in addition to operations by other agencies.

“Several of these were widely publicised when the law-breakers were brought to court,” he added.

Mr Tee also rebutted Mr Wong’s claim that the “boyfriend/girlfriend” category was “abruptly and without explanation” removed from the FTL for immigration entry, saying that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and the police had explained why this category was introduced and subsequently removed, and the enforcement operations undertaken.

He added that the KTV cluster has been “swiftly contained”, with about five new cases linked to it each day from 22 July to 26 July, a figure that is also declining.

“The cluster was not the reason why the government reimposed stricter safe distancing measures on 22 July. A spread into fresh food markets which had the potential for a wider outbreak was the reason,” said Mr Tee.

“Your correspondent’s stance appears to be based on a stern disapproval of illegal sexual activity. We commend his high moral expectations. But his comments on public policies need to be based on facts, not imagined realities.”

One netizen asks MHA: “Why not use POFMA or bring the publication to court for defamation?”

MHA’s rebuttal to Nikkei Asia’s commentary, however, has led many netizens to question why the government is not issuing a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) order to the publication.

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) was enacted in October 2019, which enables authorities to tackle the spread of fake news or false information — particularly from those of foreign origins.

Penning their thoughts under the comments section of Channel News Asia’s (CNA) Facebook post on the matter, they noted that MHA should “sue” Nikkei Asia for defamation if the article is proven to be “full of inaccuracies”.

One netizen asked: “So is MHA going to POFMA, sue and demand an apology from Nikkei Asia?”

“Do you issue POFMA to them to correct? If no, then it is somewhat based on facts,” another netizen commented.

K Shanmugam questions the motive of Andy Wong’s “diatribe” on KTV lounges

Meanwhile, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam took to his Facebook page on Thursday (29 July) noting that the correspondent’s opinion piece was “little more than a work of fiction” and contains “several falsehoods” about the government’s approach on KTV operations and immigration policies.

Mr Shanmugam said that Mr Wong was “ironically” charged on Wednesday for possessing and transmitting obscene materials in a “sex-themed” Telegram chat group, with investigations against him and others commencing in November 2019.

The government has taken, and will take, a tough approach to sexual crimes, said the Minister.

“We are left to wonder if the criminal investigation against him was the reason for his diatribe based on falsehoods; and the extent to which he was doing a political hack job (his political affiliation is public). Surprising also that Nikkei will publish such an article,” he added.