Keeping quiet about historian Thum's claims 'not an option', says Shanmugam
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Dr Thum Ping Tjin had locked horns last Thursday (March 29), the last day of the public hearing before the Parliamentary Select Committee for Deliberate Online Falsehoods, over events that took place during the Communist era. Photo: Facebook, TODAY
SINGAPORE — Responding to online comments about his exchange with a Singaporean historian at a public hearing last week, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said staying silent "was not an option" given Dr Thum Ping Tjin's "serious allegations" against founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
"(Ping Tjin's) main point, in his written submission to the Select Committee, was that Mr Lee Kuan Yew was the biggest creator of fake news in Singapore, a liar, and Operation Coldstore was based on falsehoods," Mr Shanmugam wrote in a Facebook post on Monday (April 02).
"These are serious allegations made in Parliament about our founding PM. Either they have to be accepted, or shown to be untrue. Keeping quiet about them was not an option."
Mr Shanmugam and Dr Thum had locked horns last Thursday (March 29), the last day of the public hearing before the Parliamentary Select Committee for Deliberate Online Falsehoods, over events that took place during the Communist era.
Their exchange, lasting nearly six hours, centred on the academic's claims in his written representations to the Select Committee that historically, there has only been one body that has peddled falsehoods — the People's Action Party (PAP) Government, which has been spreading "fake news" about Operation Coldstore, for example, "for narrow party-political gain".
The operation was conducted in 1963, with more than 100 alleged leftist leaders and trade unionists arrested and detained. But Dr Thum asserted that there is no evidence that the detainees were involved in any violent communist conspiracy to overthrow the Singapore government, and the operation was conducted for political purposes.
Mr Shanmugam, however, pointed out that Dr Thum had disregarded evidence from key figures — namely Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) secretary-general Chin Peng, and communist leaders Fong Chong Pik and Eu Chooi Yip — because he considered them unreliable.
Their exchange sparked widespread debate on social media. Some commentators described Mr Shanmugam's questions as "intimidating", while others questioned Dr Thum's research and historical knowledge.
Dr Thum weighed in subsequently with a Facebook post questioning the motive behind the "grilling" by the minister, and alleged that his experience would "intimidate and instill fear into anyone who contradicts the official government narrative".
Mr Shanmugam noted in his response on Monday that he was known to be a "direct" person, adding: "I deal with the facts, and say it as I think it is."
The minister also criticised what he described as the academic's refusal to "answer many of the questions directly", and noted Dr Thum's acknowledgement on several matters, such as that he had not read the writings of several ex-communists, and that the Barisan Socialis was planning on overthrowing the Government with violence if necessary.
Mr Shanmugam also responded to a cartoon of him drawn by and posted on Facebook by artist Sonny Liew on Monday. The cartoon depicted the minister in a white suit with a fierce-looking doberman in front of him.
The minister said Mr Liew's reaction was "quite understandable" given his previous collaboration with Dr Thum. "I have not met Sonny, but I have to say he is a good cartoonist. He is a talent," Mr Shanmugam added.
