'Time to try & move on': Shanmugam not filing police report over activists who disrupted MPS

Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament K Shanmugam said on Mar. 27, 2025 that he will not be filing a police report about an incident involving two women from an activist group who disrupted a Meet-the People session (MPS) on Mar. 12.

The MP, who also serves as Minister for Home Affairs and Law, said:

“I haven’t actually taken advice or checked the law, but based on my knowledge, it’s potentially a criminal offence, what has happened. But I haven’t filed a police report, and I’m not filing a police report."

Shanmugam, however, noted that the two women are under investigation for offences not linked to the MPS incident.

All the same, he said it was time to try and move on from the incident, and focus instead on building a stronger community:

“There’s a video about the incident. I don’t really want to talk more about it. People can see the video, and my view is that we ought to try and move on.

And I would say, that message is even stronger in this month of Ramadan, this final stretch. So let’s focus on building a stronger, better community together.”

He added that the two women were young, and hoped they could learn from the experience:

"I’m in their parents’ generation, and really, I hope that they will have the space to learn and grow from this incident.”

Shanmugam was speaking during a visit to the former North View Secondary School, now a temporary prayer site while the Darul Makmur Mosque undergoes upgrading works, The Straits Times reported.

What happened

On Mar. 12, a group of activists turned up at Shanmugam's MPS in Nee Soon, demanding to talk about the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA).

A tense exchange ensued, culminating in the group calling the minister a coward, and a heated confrontation between them.

Neither of them were Nee Soon GRC residents. When Shanmugam explained that MPS are for residents, they accused him of lying.

"Their accusation, that I was lying, was typical of the way the engagement proceeded, through the night," the minister noted in a Facebook post on Mar. 13:

"The antagonistic way in which they spoke, behaved, interrupted, threw accusations of lying, suggested that they wanted to make a scene, get some material to put out, rather than engage in a genuine discussion."

Activists from Monday of Palestine Solidarity

A party spokesperson had said that the activists were from a group called Monday of Palestine Solidarity.

The group had disrupted more than 10 MPS in the past few months.

Following the incident, politicians and prominent members of the Singaporean Malay community also took to social media to push back against the activists.

PAP MP for Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC, Sharael Taha, shared that many have reached out to him to express their disappointment, embarrassment, and anger over these individuals' actions:

"Some have shared how difficult it is to reconcile their outward appearance with their behavior, including their rude gestures. But one thing is clear—they do not represent the values of our community—Ramadan or not."

Top photo from K Shanmugam/Facebook.