Opposition politician Goh Meng Seng shared a picture of himself with Tan Wah Piow after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) flagged Tan as a “dissident” who expressed “hope that Dr Mahathir and Malaysia could influence politics in Singapore”.
Mr Goh captioned his post: “It is my pleasure to meet the legendary Tan Wah Piow. We share a lot of similarities, not only on looks but also on political views. Used to hear a lot of TRUE stories about him from a WP veteran, not those PAP propaganda.”
The Minister for Home Affairs recently supported PAP MP Seah Kian Peng after the latter slammed local activists’ meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last week. Historian Dr Thum Ping Tjin, journalist Kirsten Han, activist Jolovan Wham, and comic artist Sonny Liew had met the Malaysian leader at an event hosted by Malaysian political activist Hishammuddin Rais and exiled Singapore activist Tan Wah Piow.
The group later clarified that the meeting was just a group of individuals getting to know Dr Mahathir up close, but Seah asserted that the group met Mahathir to “invite Dr M to bring democracy to Singapore, and suggest that Singapore is part of Malaya.”
Seah’s post quickly went viral online, with many blasting the group that met Dr Mahathir as “traitors” who “seek anarchy and chaos”.
The group’s meeting with Dr Mahathir happened after Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) invited Malaysian politician Tian Chua to a forum it organised, where several opposition parties came together to hear how the Pakatan Harapan (PH) achieved its historic victory in the recent Malaysian elections.
SDP said of the forum: “The victory of the PH has brought renewed hope for democracy in Singapore with Singaporeans calling for the opposition here to also form a united team for the next elections.”