PAP’s Dr Tan Wu Meng called out playwright Alfian Sa’at for repeatedly criticizing Singapore. His article was a response to Mr Pritam Singh’s parliamentary debate where he implied that Alfian Sa’at is a “loving critic”.
Dr Tan gave examples of Alfian Sa’at posts to prove that he is not a “loving critic” but someone who lacks loyalty for Singapore. Unfortunately, he should not have posted it on PAP’s website.
It is one thing to make this kind of comments in his personal capacity and another to post it representing PAP. Regardless of his views, the platform he used is wrong.
Of course, many people reacted negatively. Alfian Sa’at responded that it was in “bad form”, as if Dr Tan was using him to insult Pritam Singh. He said that Singaporeans often make Malaysia look bad so that we can feel better. He was only trying to give an alternative view of the good in Malaysia to make things balanced.
It doesn’t matter which country is better or if someone is a “loving critic”. Who cares about that amidst COVID-19 and phase 2 reopening? What we are looking at is a playwright whom most Singaporeans don’t care about and a politician who chose to stoop lower than he should just to prove a point. It was a bad move and he should have known better.
Opposition or not, all politicians should be appropriate in their capacity for Singaporeans to trust them. Whether he admits it or not, Dr Tan made a mistake. He should count himself lucky that he is in Jurong GRC.
Taming The Crowd 