'PAP needs to grow up': M'sian politicians & 'Keluar Sekejap' podcasters on response to Pritam Singh appearance

Malaysian politicians and podcasters Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan have responded to Petir, the publication of the People’s Action Party (PAP), after it had criticised Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh’s post General Election appearance on their popular "Keluar Sekejap" (KS) podcast.

The pair felt that the Petir article which referred to Singh was unfair and pointed out their own appearances in Singapore to discuss Malaysian politics.

They were speaking on a Jul. 29 episode, where they were answering questions sent to them by listeners.

On the road

At around the 58:54 mark of the show, they were asked when the podcast would travel to Singapore and host an episode of the show there.

KS, while based in Malaysia and on Malaysian politics, has on occasion hosted shows in other countries such as the United Kingdom

The pair have previously suggested that they were looking to take the show on the road again, having suggested countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia, where it has sizeable followings.

KS is notable as its hosts are prominent Malaysian politicians: Khairy was the former Minister of Health during the Covid 19 pandemic, and Shahril was the former Information Chief of UMNO, the political party both were members of and were ultimately exiled from.

Khairy revealed that in terms of “engagement data”, Singapore was amongst the biggest audiences, but suggested a public visit would not be forthcoming as he and Shahril had a “not-so-pleasant experience” recently.

Both men spoke a mix of Malay and English throughout the segment, saying that they had not touched on the matter since it “blew up” at the beginning of July.

Ride the lightning

Singapore’s Leader of the Opposition had made his first podcast appearance on the KS show and had spoken candidly about the results of Singapore’s May 2025 general election and the state of politics in Singapore more generally.

But the official PAP publication Petir said it was "strange" and "unusual" that Singh took part in a Malaysian podcast, hosted by Malaysians to give his "most comprehensive post-elections media interview", in an unsigned article entitled “What is Pritam Singh up to?”

Amongst a range of criticisms, the Petir article questioned whether Singh had inappropriately brought politics beyond “the water’s edge”.

The article also brought up the Noor Deros case, where a former religious teacher currently in Malaysia listed demands to political parties competing in GE2025 in exchange for his vote.

He claimed that only the WP had "taken his concerns seriously", but Singh later said the party met with various religious leaders, was unaware that Noor Deros would be present and he is "sadly mistaken" if he thought WP would push for his agenda in Parliament.

And although the article did not name KS or its host, it asked, “Does Mr Singh think it appropriate for outsiders to interfere in our domestic politics if it benefits the WP?”

Khairy said that the article “accused Pritam Singh’s appearance of being akin to interference in Singapore’s internal politics”.

Water's edge

He explained the “Water’s Edge” metaphor for his listeners, saying that it means “don’t you talk about our politics” and that “over here (in Malaysia) you can talk about Malaysia, over there (in Singapore) you can talk about Singapore”.

He did not take kindly to that interpretation, saying “I thought (it) was such an immature take”, and later also describing the PAP as being “juvenile on this issue”.

Khairy related that Singaporean news outlets such as The Straits Times and CNA had previously interviewed him about his views on Malaysia’s internal politics.

Khairy, who is currently a senior visiting fellow at the ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute, said that the institute had invited him to be a commentator for a study on UMNO, his former political party, two weeks ago.

Local appearance

He also related his appearances at the ISEAS’s annual Regional Outlook Forum, where he had spoken on the results of the 2022 Malaysian GE during the 2023 iteration of the forum.

His presence at the 2025 iteration was directly referenced by that year's panellists, who also spoke on Malaysia’s internal politics.

Khairy's co-host, Shahril, has also participated in a 2019 ISEAS seminar on Malaysia’s 2018 GE in Singapore.

Khairy was stinging in his rebuke, saying, “When it happens to you, when Pritam comes here to talk about the Singaporean election, suddenly it’s ‘Oh, foreign interference’.”

“I have a lot of friends there (in Singapore)”, Khairy said in English, “But PAP needs to grow up”.

Majority view?

Shahril seemed to cut a more conciliatory figure, while saying that his views were not too different from Khairy’s, he suggested that Petir’s view was not a “majority view”.

Shahril recounted his own experience speaking on Malaysian politics on Singaporean academic platforms, suggesting that Singapore's having extensive analysis of its neighbouring countries was a “social strength”.

He proposed that the article represented a moment that was “less self-aware”, made by a small part of “the establishment” to “voice their dissatisfaction that an opposition leader “could perform and shine so well on our podcast”.

Khairy pushed back, saying that the article was “the view of the ruling party” and that “nothing unsanctioned would be published on their (the PAP’s) portal”.

Then speaking in English, he added that “Until the PAP stops being juvenile on this issue, I don’t think we’re going to go to Singapore”.

Natural feel

The pair noted that they had an irreverent approach to some topics, making jokes to lighten what can be “heavy topics”, and that if they did not feel comfortable doing that in Singapore, the show would not “feel natural”.

When the show had been in the UK, the pair said they had examined the UK’s colonial history with Malaya, and intended to touch on Malaysia’s relationship with any country they decided to visit.

Who is Khairy anyway?

Khairy Jamaluddin is a former Malaysian minister, most notably Minister of Health from 2021 to 2022, in the heat of Malaysia’s Covid-19 response, a role which many will say he served commendably.

But in 2022, he was made to give up his safe seat in Rembau by UMNO party leadership, seeing him parachuted into a seat in a different state, which he ultimately lost.

Khairy looked likely to challenge Zahid Hamidi for the role of UMNO President, but was expelled from the party before he got the chance.

Despite this, he insists he is an UMNO man through and through, although he has been approached by other parties looking to trade on his newfound media notoriety.

Khairy is probably the most prominent politician of his generation.

With many Malaysian leaders being over the age of 65, including the most recent four PMs, and the party leaders of UMNO, PAS, and Bersatu, leading many to reasonably ask who will come after them.

Najib Razak, the fifth PM on that list, was 55 when he became PM.

Others are waiting in the wings, such as the Menteri Besar of Kedah, Muhammad Sanusi (50) of PAS, Johor chief minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi (46) of UMNO, and People’s Justice Party Deputy President Nurul Izzah Anwar (44).

The once and future PM?

But Khairy is probably best placed at the moment to go far, to the point that what is questioned about his ambition is not the limit, but the urgency.

Khairy through the medium of KS, but also academic and speaking roles, he is a visiting Senior Fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS- Yusof Ishak Institute, has carved out an influential space for himself.

He has taken KS on tour before, notably to the United Kingdom, and has stated plans to visit Indonesia and Australia.

This would allow him to display statesmanship in a different context, while reaching out to a relatively wealthy and politically unsettled Malaysian diaspora.

But for now, perhaps not in Singapore.

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Top image via Keluar Sekejap/YouTube