Singapore— Writer Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh announced on his Facebook page on Tuesday (June 1) that he is blocking blogger Michael Petraeus, who writes as Critical Spectator on Facebook and his blog.
Mr Vadaketh wrote that he was doing so “with a heavy heart” as he has made it a practice to accept “all comments from anybody on my personal page, with the exception of racist and hate speech”.
The writer had only written about Mr Petraeus once in the past, when he commented on the “mediocrity of Critical Spectator” in May last year.
He had also asked for Mr Petraeus to be treated with civility and expected the same treatment.
But Mr Vadaketh wrote that, however, “over the past few months, he has launched numerous unsavoury salvos against me” in his writings, including “relentless ad hominem attacks,” and “outright lies about my background” as well as references to the writer’s “Indian ethnicity and “immigrant family.”
“Petraeus is using dog whistles to turn Chinese Singaporeans against me, the loony Indian Singaporean seeking to improve racial harmony here (by tackling issues head on),” he added.
The blogger has also allowed abusive speech towards Mr Vadaketh from commenters, Photoshopped his picture in “a bid to turn me into a devilish meme,” and “bastardized” a Chinese New Year photo of the writer with his wife.
“It takes a special kind of person, I think, to corrupt a sacred moment in this way.”
Furthermore, Mr Vadaketh said that the blogger’s salvos have now included references to his parents and their home, and attacks on his friends on his personal page.
These recent attacks were apparently the final straw for the writer.
“People close to me are now being ensnared, through no fault of theirs, in Petraeus’s sick, sordid agenda,” wrote Mr Vadaketh.
He then went on to write about what he deems the blogger’s agenda in the space he occupies “in Singapore in right-wing independent commentary”.
Mr Vadaketh wrote that the blogger’s goal is to generate cash as he “cultivate(s) this conservative community and eventually sell(s) products to it” through engaging in right-wing commentary and praising the Government for all it does.
He also pointed out that the blogger does not engage in civil society and does not participate in local political activities nor has “enrolled in an educational course here to understand our system and meet other students”, usually from overseas.
He added, “Perhaps the greatest irony is that he refers to many of us on the left as ‘armchair critics’—when we have, for decades, lived, loved, worked and strived for a better Singapore.”
Mr Vadaketh noted that there are others who have blocked Mr Petraeus, including former Straits Times editor Bertha Henson, activist Kirsten Han and Hong Kong-based academic and author Cherian George.
He further wrote that he made a public announcement for the sake of transparency, and that he believes in healthy debate and that “it is important for Singapore to have a robust and respected conservative intellectual movement”.
A few hours later, Mr Petraeus responded with his own Facebook post, claiming that the writer is as “delusional and detached from reality a person can be”.
Moreover, he invited “all lower and middle-income Singaporeans to come and comment here, or send me a message about the work Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh has put in ‘fighting for your rights’ in the past years”.
But he also made mention of Mr Vadaketh’s parents’ “S$40 million bungalow” and wrote that he is the one “wining and dining with local politicians and administration”, asking what impact this has made.
As “a long-time representative of the low-income class”, his message to the writer is this: “I didn’t make it to Singapore because some entitled brat was consumed by the feeling of guilt for his family’s wealth and fear of his inability to take constructive responsibility for it. I did because I worked, acquired marketable skills and kept selling them since my early teens.”
Mr Petraeus did not answer the other points Mr Vadaketh raised, but wrote he would “deal with him shortly”.
/TISG
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