SINGAPORE: Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo shared on Friday (Mar 14) that she, too, had encountered individuals using Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) as a platform for advocacy rather than seeking assistance, similar to concerns raised by Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam a day before.
In a Facebook post, Mrs Teo recounted two incidents in recent months where individuals had turned up at Meet-The-People Sessions run by People's Action Party Members of Parliament "not to seek help, but to advocate for issues".
"Some of these activists go to MPS in their constituencies, knowing this gives them confirmed access to the MPs, while others, as in Minister Shan's case, were not residents of the constituency," she wrote.
"I had not intended to talk about these incidents publicly but felt compelled to after what happened to Minister Shan recently," she added
Mrs Teo cited two incidents at her MPS in Jalan Besar GRC's Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng branch, where she serves as chairperson.
The first, in November last year, involved two women who came to "voice their concerns" about Singapore's stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"At MPS, there will always be residents with urgent, municipal or personal matters and they must be our priority. Moreover, while there are broader national issues that are worthy of discussion, MPS was not designed as a platform to address them," said Mrs Teo.
"Nonetheless, I was prepared to see the two women after attending to other residents."
Mrs Teo said that she had listened to their concerns for about an hour and offered to write to the relevant ministries on their behalf "so that the authorities could hear their feedback".
However, given that MPS exchanges are confidential, she was surprised when details of the exchange were later published online.
"Although the article acknowledged that I had engaged the two women empathetically, it was difficult to see any reason for publishing the piece other than to spread the word that they had successfully made a move at my MPS," said Mrs Teo.
In the second case, Mrs Teo said that a resident, Madam A, attended a session in January at Upper Boon Keng with a young woman, M, who claimed to be her daughter.
The pair requested financial assistance, with M saying that she needed to accompany Mdm A, who could not speak for herself.
When the pair informed MPS volunteers that they had a "confidential matter to raise directly" with Mrs Teo, the minister said she "wrapped up another conversation to attend to them immediately".
"Around then, M opened a notebook containing several documents and passed a three-page typed statement to Mdm A. Looking slightly unsure, Mdm A nevertheless proceeded to recite the statement," said Mrs Teo.
"It soon became clear that the pair were not mother and daughter, and that the contents were unrelated to the financial assistance they had initially claimed to be seeking." Mrs Teo did not reveal what the statement contained.
She said: "In fact, my volunteers and I have been supporting Mdm A for some time, including providing monthly groceries and weekly food rations. To respect her privacy, we did not question how there was suddenly a 'daughter' accompanying her to MPS."
Mdm A, who aspired to become a religious teacher a few years ago, was referred by Mrs Teo and the volunteers to a relevant organisation which offered financial assistance for her studies, she shared.
"To this day, my volunteers and I continue to support Mdm A by delivering her weekly rations," said Mrs Teo.
"During a ration distribution not long after the incident, she told us that her youngest son has qualified for a government scheme supporting his education, and that she does not require other forms of financial assistance.
"In the last month alone, I have seen Mdm A at least twice at our constituency events where donations were shared with residents."
Mrs Teo said that her volunteers were "perturbed and saddened by such incidents", especially when they responded to those at the sessions with "sincere intent, never expecting to be led to an 'ambush'".
"Such incidents affect my volunteers and our sense of safety as we carry out our duties. It becomes hard to let our guard down when we do not know if we might be treated with hostility, called names (like 'coward' in Min Shan’s case), or be secretly recorded and featured in articles designed to paint us in a bad light," she said.
"I also appreciate that residents may raise broader concerns about Singapore, besides their own issues. They do so in the hope that we will reflect their views to government and not as a way to publicly pressurise it into submission.
"While my volunteers and I will do our best to bounce back from such incidents, I am saddened that, in my nearly two decades as an MP, the tone of MPS seems to have shifted because of episodes like these."
She added that she hopes MPS returns to "their truest purpose", as the sessions are not "protest platforms, but a channel for MPs to engage their residents openly and attend to their most acute needs".
On Thursday, Mr Shanmugam wrote in a Facebook post that a group of people had been going to the sessions to be "deliberately confrontational, create incidents, try and provoke".
He also posted a seven-minute video of one such disruption that took place the day before at his ward in Chong Pang.
The footage showed him speaking with two female activists wearing face masks and shirts that said "press".
At one point, they made hand gestures towards another person who was recording the incident, including showing the middle finger.
As Mr Shanmugam and his team headed back into their office, the group, now joined by a third member, shouted "coward" at him. He came back and told them that the residents there were seeking help for issues, and that they were being disruptive.
While Mr Shanmugam did not identify the group in his Facebook post, a PAP spokesperson said in response to CNA’s queries that the group calls itself Monday of Palestine Solidarity.
The group has disrupted more than 10 Meet-The-People Sessions in the past few months, the spokesperson said.
Malay community leaders and other MPs have also spoken out against the activists.
Mr Sharael Taha (PAP-Pasir Ris-Punggol) confirmed in an Instagram post that the group visited a Meet-The-People Session in Pasir Ris East.
The group’s actions, including their rude gestures, do not represent the values of the Muslim community, said Mr Sharael, adding that the focus remains on providing "real, tangible support" to the people in Gaza.
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (PAP-Chua Chu Kang) also wrote on Instagram that he was alarmed to learn about the recent disruptions at Mr Shanmugam’s Meet-The-People Session on Thursday.
Such disruptions take away "precious time" with residents who had registered and waited to seek help at the session, he wrote on Instagram.
"In this holy month of Ramadan, we are meant to exercise patience, reflect good character and show kindness to others," he wrote.
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In a Facebook post, Mrs Teo recounted two incidents in recent months where individuals had turned up at Meet-The-People Sessions run by People's Action Party Members of Parliament "not to seek help, but to advocate for issues".
"Some of these activists go to MPS in their constituencies, knowing this gives them confirmed access to the MPs, while others, as in Minister Shan's case, were not residents of the constituency," she wrote.
"I had not intended to talk about these incidents publicly but felt compelled to after what happened to Minister Shan recently," she added
INCIDENTS AT JALAN BESAR GRC
Mrs Teo cited two incidents at her MPS in Jalan Besar GRC's Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng branch, where she serves as chairperson.
The first, in November last year, involved two women who came to "voice their concerns" about Singapore's stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
"At MPS, there will always be residents with urgent, municipal or personal matters and they must be our priority. Moreover, while there are broader national issues that are worthy of discussion, MPS was not designed as a platform to address them," said Mrs Teo.
"Nonetheless, I was prepared to see the two women after attending to other residents."
Mrs Teo said that she had listened to their concerns for about an hour and offered to write to the relevant ministries on their behalf "so that the authorities could hear their feedback".
However, given that MPS exchanges are confidential, she was surprised when details of the exchange were later published online.
"Although the article acknowledged that I had engaged the two women empathetically, it was difficult to see any reason for publishing the piece other than to spread the word that they had successfully made a move at my MPS," said Mrs Teo.
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In the second case, Mrs Teo said that a resident, Madam A, attended a session in January at Upper Boon Keng with a young woman, M, who claimed to be her daughter.
The pair requested financial assistance, with M saying that she needed to accompany Mdm A, who could not speak for herself.
When the pair informed MPS volunteers that they had a "confidential matter to raise directly" with Mrs Teo, the minister said she "wrapped up another conversation to attend to them immediately".
"Around then, M opened a notebook containing several documents and passed a three-page typed statement to Mdm A. Looking slightly unsure, Mdm A nevertheless proceeded to recite the statement," said Mrs Teo.
"It soon became clear that the pair were not mother and daughter, and that the contents were unrelated to the financial assistance they had initially claimed to be seeking." Mrs Teo did not reveal what the statement contained.
She said: "In fact, my volunteers and I have been supporting Mdm A for some time, including providing monthly groceries and weekly food rations. To respect her privacy, we did not question how there was suddenly a 'daughter' accompanying her to MPS."
Mdm A, who aspired to become a religious teacher a few years ago, was referred by Mrs Teo and the volunteers to a relevant organisation which offered financial assistance for her studies, she shared.
"To this day, my volunteers and I continue to support Mdm A by delivering her weekly rations," said Mrs Teo.
"During a ration distribution not long after the incident, she told us that her youngest son has qualified for a government scheme supporting his education, and that she does not require other forms of financial assistance.
"In the last month alone, I have seen Mdm A at least twice at our constituency events where donations were shared with residents."
VOLUNTEERS AFFECTED BY "AMBUSH"
Mrs Teo said that her volunteers were "perturbed and saddened by such incidents", especially when they responded to those at the sessions with "sincere intent, never expecting to be led to an 'ambush'".
"Such incidents affect my volunteers and our sense of safety as we carry out our duties. It becomes hard to let our guard down when we do not know if we might be treated with hostility, called names (like 'coward' in Min Shan’s case), or be secretly recorded and featured in articles designed to paint us in a bad light," she said.
"I also appreciate that residents may raise broader concerns about Singapore, besides their own issues. They do so in the hope that we will reflect their views to government and not as a way to publicly pressurise it into submission.
"While my volunteers and I will do our best to bounce back from such incidents, I am saddened that, in my nearly two decades as an MP, the tone of MPS seems to have shifted because of episodes like these."
She added that she hopes MPS returns to "their truest purpose", as the sessions are not "protest platforms, but a channel for MPs to engage their residents openly and attend to their most acute needs".
ACTIVIST GROUP
On Thursday, Mr Shanmugam wrote in a Facebook post that a group of people had been going to the sessions to be "deliberately confrontational, create incidents, try and provoke".
He also posted a seven-minute video of one such disruption that took place the day before at his ward in Chong Pang.
The footage showed him speaking with two female activists wearing face masks and shirts that said "press".
At one point, they made hand gestures towards another person who was recording the incident, including showing the middle finger.
As Mr Shanmugam and his team headed back into their office, the group, now joined by a third member, shouted "coward" at him. He came back and told them that the residents there were seeking help for issues, and that they were being disruptive.
While Mr Shanmugam did not identify the group in his Facebook post, a PAP spokesperson said in response to CNA’s queries that the group calls itself Monday of Palestine Solidarity.
The group has disrupted more than 10 Meet-The-People Sessions in the past few months, the spokesperson said.
Malay community leaders and other MPs have also spoken out against the activists.
Mr Sharael Taha (PAP-Pasir Ris-Punggol) confirmed in an Instagram post that the group visited a Meet-The-People Session in Pasir Ris East.
The group’s actions, including their rude gestures, do not represent the values of the Muslim community, said Mr Sharael, adding that the focus remains on providing "real, tangible support" to the people in Gaza.
Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (PAP-Chua Chu Kang) also wrote on Instagram that he was alarmed to learn about the recent disruptions at Mr Shanmugam’s Meet-The-People Session on Thursday.
Such disruptions take away "precious time" with residents who had registered and waited to seek help at the session, he wrote on Instagram.
"In this holy month of Ramadan, we are meant to exercise patience, reflect good character and show kindness to others," he wrote.
Related:
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