Law and home affairs minister K Shanmugam said in a Facebook post on June 23 that he was glad that the Workers' Party under current chief Pritam Singh continues to have the same stance with the government when it comes to foreign relations.
Wants to hear Pritam's views in good time
Shanmugam noted that this "continues the stance" of former WP chief Low Thia Khiang.
Shanmugam said that Pritam "admits now" that he had not examined playwright and poet Alfian Sa'at's statements before calling him a “loving critic” and "admonishing the government" for not heeding Alfian's wisdom.
The law minister added that Pritam "need not rush", but he hopes to hear his views on Alfian's statements "in good time", and he is looking forward to hearing if the theatre practitioner's views merit Pritam's support.
Shanmugam clarified that this matter was not about questioning artistic freedom or license, but about Pritam asking the government to listen to a specific individual.
What has been said so far
Shanmugam's post was written in response to Pritam clarifying his position with regard to Alfian.
On June 19, an article by Jurong GRC MP Tan Wu Meng was published on the People's Action Party's (PAP) official platforms, pointing out Pritam's support for Alfian.
The article was written in response to a single line in Pritam's speech in Parliament on June 5, during the Fortitude Budget debate.
Tan wrote in his article that Alfian is no "loving critic", and included screen shots of past Facebook posts the playwright had made over the years demonstrating his open support for Malaysia.
At a media interview during a Sunday morning walkabout on June 21, Shanmugam called on Pritam to clarify his position regarding the playwright, and if Pritam is aware of Alfian's posts about Malaysia over the years.
Subsequently, Pritam responded and clarified his position stating that neither he nor the WP will stand for any Singaporean who rejects Singapore or our Constitution, or runs Singapore down.
In his post, Pritam said that while he did not "specifically track what our playwrights say about Malaysia", he said that he had "always appreciated the perspective of theatre practitioners in Singapore".
Pritam also called Tan’s post a "belated but calculated decision to express his views on the PAP website on the eve of imminent general elections".
You can see Shanmugam's full Facebook post here: