Photo of K Shanmugam from CNA

Singapore’s Law Minister K Shanmugam yesterday (Aug 25) told state media CNA in an interview justifying the oppression in the Singapore dictatorship by pointing to the Charlottesville protest conducted by racists.

The PAP Minister claimed that his government has “sensible boundaries” and justified the use of the Sedition Act to jail Singaporeans:

“Sensible boundaries” have to be drawn to prevent hate speech and protect institutions, so people can live free from harm and hate. Charlottesville reminds us that when hate speech is allowed to be routinely uttered and its symbols are paraded openly, it pollutes the discourse and normalises extremist behaviour. And it is a precursor to violence.”

Law Minister K Shanmugam said that in the United States, hate speech masquerade as free speech and implied that Singapore is seeing similar trend. The loudmouth Minister who calls independent news sites as “fake news” also said racists are becoming normalised in US, suggesting that US should adopt similar speech restrictions like in Singapore.

However, the Law Minister conveniently left out the fact that the government jails people who criticise the government too, in the name of banning hate speech. Criticising the government and judiciary amounts to “contempt” in Singapore, and offenders face lengthy jail sentence and hefty fines.

In Singapore, the ruling party ministers are also immune to criticism, with defamation lawsuits as the dictatorship’s legal weapon. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently sent his own nephew into self-exile, who criticised the country’s judiciary as being “pliant” to the government. The dictator Prime Minister has also previously sued his critics into bankruptcy, in the Singapore Court where he has control of.