SINGAPORE: On March 17, Singapore’s High Commissioner to Australia, Anil Nayar, issued a statement in response to a recent broadcast on a radio programme, saying it is biased and inaccurate.
On March 6, ABC Radio National’s Rear Vision aired a programme titled Singapore and the long shadow of Lee Kuan Yew, and Mr. Nayar responded to certain claims in his statement, which was also posted on the Facebook account of the Singapore High Commission in Canberra.
It is not unusual for Singapore’s top diplomats in other countries to speak up in defense of the city-state’s policies when they are perceived to be criticized.
The High Commissioner took exception to the programme’s host and some of the commentators saying that Singapore is a “one-party state”, an “autocracy”, and “verging now on a flawed democracy” as well as the portrayal of the Group Representation Constituency system as a “tactic”, among other “roadblocks”, that would obstruct the opposition.
Mr. Nayar pointed out that among countries in Southeast Asia, only Singapore has never declared a state of emergency or suffered martial rule. Moreover, since its independence, it has also never failed to hold elections regularly. And the May 3, 2025, pollssaw the biggest number of candidates from multiple parties and independents in the history of the city-state.
The High Commissioner also wrote that the WP has fared well under the GRC system, which he argued is “hardly evidence” that they are insurmountable “roadblocks”.
Opposition politics
A significant part of the programme focused on the removal of Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition earlier this year.
Mr. Nayar, however, said that the programme host had failed to mention that Mr. Singh had lost his position after his criminal conviction for lying to a Parliamentary committee, and argued that it is not unusual for parliamentarians, including in Australia, to suffer the consequences of their actions.
He also took exception to one commentator, whom he claimed had cast doubt on the impartiality of the judiciary in political cases, though the commentator presented no evidence. The High Commissioner defended Singapore’s courts, saying they are respected across the globe and are asked to step in with complex international disputes.
He ended the response by writing, “What is surprising is that the ABC, a reputable national broadcaster, aired a programme that presented such a one-sided account and fell short of the standards of journalistic rigour that your listeners would expect.” /TISG
