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Singapore

Shanmugam questions motive of Nikkei Asia writer who criticised Government handling of KTVs

Shanmugam questions motive of Nikkei Asia writer who criticised Government handling of KTVs

Singapore's Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam. (File photo: Reuters/Edgar Su)

SINGAPORE: Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam on Thursday (Jul 29) raised questions about the motive and "political affiliation" of the writer of a Nikkei Asia opinion piece that criticised the Government's handling of KTV lounges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Andy Wong - a political and business intelligence analyst, according to the Japanese news website - wrote the article titled The Institutional Failures Behind Singapore's Latest COVID Outbreak, which was published on Jul 23.

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a detailed rebuttal of the article on Wednesday, saying it was "full of inaccuracies".

 

READ: 'Full of inaccuracies' - MHA rebuts Nikkei Asia article criticising Government's handling of KTVs amid COVID-19

 

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr Shanmugam said the article was "little more than a work of fiction" and added that it contained "several falsehoods" about the Government's approach towards KTV operations and immigration policies.

The minister also mentioned that the writer was "ironically" charged on Wednesday for possessing and transmitting obscene materials in a "sex-themed" Telegram chat group, with investigations against him and others starting in November 2019.

"A strong sense of moral outrage, at what he considered improper sexual conduct, ran through the article, spiced with various untrue suggestions, and attacks on Government policies in regulating sexual conduct," said Mr Shanmugam.

"MHA has rebutted the article strongly, and has said his high moral expectations are commendable but his comments on public policies need to be based on facts, not imagined realities."

In the opinion piece, Mr Wong alleged that "decades of institutional failures" in dealing with the "organised crime cartels running illegal KTV brothels" have derailed Singapore's efforts to bring the pandemic under control.

Mr Wong also urged the Government to "explain what went wrong and how".

Mr Shanmugam said that the Government has and will continue to take a "tough approach" to sexual crimes.

"We are left to wonder if the criminal investigation against him was the reason for his diatribe based on falsehoods; and the extent to which he was doing a political hack job," said the minister, adding that "his political affiliation is public".

Source: CNA/dv(ta)

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