SINGAPORE: After Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Jamus Lim (Sengkang) commented on social media on a speech made earlier this week by Senior Minister (SM) Lee Hsien Loong, the former Prime Minister answered him, and they had a short and respectful exchange on Facebook.
Afterwards, SM Lee’s wife, Ho Ching, waded into the fray with a Facebook post that appeared to be aimed at the WP MP, an associate professor of economics, who had attended the Economic Society of Singapore’s annual dinner where SM Lee had made remarks on a number of issues, including the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) and access to car ownership in Singapore.
While Assoc Prof Lim praised SM Lee’s “masterclass in the economist’s way of thinking” and called him a “mighty fine economist,” he also explained how he differed from SM Lee, advocating for policies that lead towards a “more empathetic and just economy and society”.
While Mdm Ho did not name Assoc Prof Lim in her post, she asked why, instead of standing up “to propound his proposal”, he had gone out “to post some virtue signals on social media”.
She surmised that “he” — the unnamed person — “was afraid to lose his credibility among the thinking people,” that is, academicians, investors, business leaders, and political leaders.
The most telling part of the post that suggested it was aimed at the WP MP came at the end, when she wrote, “Beware Hep A virus in raw or uncooked cockles!”
Assoc Prof Lim had gone viral during the 2020 general election campaign period for having said in a debate that when Singapore Democratic Party’s Chee Soon Juan highlighted inequalities in the education system, it “warms the cockles of my heart.”
When the WP’s Sengkang team won that year, he thanked residents, saying it “warms the cockles of our hearts to be able to work for the people of Singapore, and for all Singaporeans,” and holding up a finger heart as he spoke. Afterwards, he joked that he had been banned from using the phrase.
While some netizens sided with Mdm Ho, others did not.
“Mdm Ho – you should attack the point, not the speaker,” wrote one.
Some stood up for the WP MP.
“I don’t think that was what Jamus intended. You knew that there was not enough time for everyone to ask questions due to time constraints. Only a few questions were entertained,” a Facebook user chimed in.
“Maybe Jamus was courteous and didn’t want to put people in a difficult position? What if those esteemed folks agreed with Jamus but didn’t want to offend your husband? How are they supposed to react in public? Jamus spared them from having to make a difficult decision between staying true to themselves and keeping their rice bowl,” another opined.
“Imagine thinking that post is virtue signalling, when the man literally delivered a policy rebuttal with nuance and restraint. Must’ve hit a nerve,” a netizen commented.
A Facebook user reminded others: “All said and done and dusted, Jamus and his team gave PAP a knockdown in Sengkang, in the recent GE. That speaks for something.” /TISG
Read also: SM Lee vs Jamus Lim on COE and the ‘best way to meet people’s needs and take care of them’
