Striking POFMA could be “bold, dramatic move” that sets new PM apart: SDP chair

SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Party chairman Paul Ananth Tambyah said in an interview that he was optimistic that newly-minted Prime Minister Lawrence Wong could bring about positive change.

Although the interview was published on May 15, the day Mr Wong was inaugurated into office, Dr Tambyah shared it on his Facebook page on Wednesday (June 12), writing, “Many people are hoping that the new PM will bring a fresh wave of confidence and openness for the good of all Singaporeans.”

The SDP chair was interviewed on The Newsmakers, a current affairs programme from Turkish public broadcast service TRT World together with Chong Ja Ian, a Political Science Professor at the National University of Singapore; and Phil Robertson, the Director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates.

Dr Tambyah was first asked by the host, Andrea Sanke, if Singapore is “on the verge of something different,” given that opposition parties have been doing better.

The SDP chair said that Mr Wong is different from his predecessor, Lee Hsien Loong, but he is less different than Mr Goh Chok Tong was from Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and noted that Mr Wong had worked very closely with the younger Mr Lee.

However, Dr Tambyah disagreed that the progress of opposition parties in Singapore has been great. He added that The Workers’ Party, the largest opposition party in Singapore, only has less than 10 per cent of the seats in Parliament.

When asked why, he answered that gerrymandering is primarily the reason, adding, “Almost every seat in Singapore is a safe seat.”

He further said that the opposition in Singapore used to be very strong and that this situation has moved backward. It was the early opposition figures who were responsible for some of the most progressive policies, including public housing, healthcare, and universal public education.

“All of those things were put in place when we had very strong opposition in Parliament, who kind of held the PAP’s feet to the fire,” added the SDP chair.

Ms Sanke then asked if the leadership of Mr Wong would mark any kind of change.

Dr Tambyah said he is “obviously” an optimist who hopes for positive change under the new Prime Minister.

“I think when Prime Minister Go Chok Tong took over from Lee Kuan Yew there was a lot of optimism. And some of the right moves were made, but things unfortunately went south very quickly after that.”

He also said he hopes that history will not repeat itself and that PM Wong “really does something bold and dramatic,” such as putting aside POFMA, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act passed in 2019.

Saying that this particular law is supposed to be against online falsehoods, “so so far it’s been primarily targeted at alternative voices including interpretations of statistics.” /TISG

Read also: Paul Tambyah says desire for diversity of voices in Parliament also extends to new citizens