During a virtual doorstop with Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing on labour issues over the weekend (May 30), Mr Chan blurted that cotton comes from sheep.
Mr Chan was speaking to the media on how Singapore is reliant on trade from other countries.
He added that even though Singapore can produce some things domestically such as masks, it still relies on the many natural resources from other countries.
In his explanation regarding the production of three-ply surgical masks, Mr Chan discussed the various raw materials needed, such as cotton, polypropylene, and rubber bands.
He said, “cotton – (we) don’t have too many sheeps in Singapore”.
Netizens were quick to point out his error, such that the minister himself took to social media to clarify.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (May 31), Mr Chan said that he blamed the error on a lack of sleep.
He said: “I had a good laugh too when I was told that I spoke too fast in a video interview yesterday about cotton and sheep.
To any one (especially young children) watching the video – cotton definitely doesn’t come from sheep, it comes from cotton plants!”
Adding that “Unfortunately in Singapore, we have neither cotton nor sheep”, Mr Chan said, “Meanwhile, I should catch up on some sleep”.
In speaking to the media, Mr Chan also brought up another analogy to explain that “it would not be possible for Singapore to survive without trade”.
“We must not forget – even to produce eggs ah, where does the egg come from? You would probably tell me hens. But where does the chicken come from? Don’t tell me eggs, Mr Chan was responding to a question on how the government hopes to continue connecting local SMEs to international markets post Covid-19 when there is an “anti-globalisation” sentiment. /TISG