The People’s Power Party (PPP) has issued a strong statement condemning Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam, calling his remarks during the 5 February 2025 parliamentary session an unjustified personal attack on Progress Singapore Party (PSP) NCMP Leong Mun Wai.
The incident, which revolves around allegations of racism, has sparked widespread public debate.
On 8 February, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, Chairman of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), published a Facebook post titled “Multi-racialism, National Issues and Mature Politics”. In it, he defended the PSP’s stance on multiracialism and addressed the accusations against Leong Mun Wai.
Leong also defended his remarks in a Facebook post, clarifying that his critiques of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) were rooted in its impact on local employment and livelihoods, not racial prejudice. He warned that labelling individuals as racist for discussing challenging socio-economic issues could stifle necessary public debate.
In its statement, PPP expressed concern over Shanmugam’s use of past remarks by Leong to accuse him of racism.
According to the PPP, led by veteran politician Goh Meng Seng, video footage of the parliamentary session shows that after Leong raised a question about the relevance of Singapore’s Chinese-Malay-Indian-Others (CMIO) model, Shanmugam brought up unrelated incidents involving Leong’s previous comments on the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and HDB policies.
Shanmugam accused Leong of making racially insensitive comments in the past and suggested that this reflected a broader disregard for Singapore’s multiracial foundation.
PPP argued that these accusations were irrelevant to the discussion about the CMIO framework and were intended to distract from the substantive policy debate.
Claims of premeditated attack
PPP alleged that Shanmugam’s remarks were pre-planned, pointing out that the minister had pre-prepared handouts containing Leong’s past statements and distributed them during the session.
“It is apparent to us that Minister Shanmugam’s attack on Mr Leong was a premeditated move,” the statement said. “Launching an ad hominem attack in Parliament under the protection of Parliamentary Privilege, which grants legal immunity, is totally unacceptable.”
The party warned that labelling Leong’s past criticisms of CECA as racist could have far-reaching consequences for public discourse in Singapore.
PPP cautioned that if economic questions about trade agreements are framed as racial issues, it could stifle future policy scrutiny and limit freedom of expression.
Concerns over the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act
PPP also raised concerns about the potential misuse of the newly passed Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act, which grants the government powers to restrict speech deemed harmful to racial harmony. The party posed two questions to Shanmugam and the government:
- Will questioning trade agreements like CECA be considered a violation of the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act in the future?
- Will the government use accusations of racial disharmony as a political tool to silence legitimate concerns about trade and economic policies?
PPP argued that the government must provide clear answers to these questions to ensure that public debate remains open and fair.
Questioning the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP)
The statement further criticised the government’s inconsistent application of the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), which aims to promote racial integration by placing quotas on the sale of HDB flats to different ethnic groups.
PPP noted that while HDB estates are subject to the policy, private properties—where about 20% of the population resides—are excluded.
According to the party, residents have reported the formation of racial enclaves in private condominiums, raising questions about whether the government’s approach to racial integration is effective.
“If the government is truly committed to racial integration, is there any reason to exclude private housing from the EIP, depriving residents of the opportunity to interact with other races and nationalities?” PPP asked.
The party suggested that the exclusion of private housing could undermine efforts to help immigrants and foreign workers integrate into Singaporean society, a goal highlighted by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
PPP concluded its statement by urging the government to engage in constructive dialogue rather than resort to personal attacks on opposition members.
“The people of Singapore deserve open and fair debate, not politically motivated diversions,” PPP said.
