‘Disbelief, shock’: Singapore PM on Faishal’s inappropriate messages with woman

A married Singapore minister’s sudden resignation amid revelations he had exchanged inappropriate messages with a woman has rocked the city state’s establishment circles, with a groundswell of sentiment calling for him to be retained. Amid online petitions and calls to keep former minister-in-charge of Muslim affairs Faishal Ibrahim following his resignation on Monday, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong shed further light on the controversy, suggesting the matter was more serious than previously believed. Faishal resigned from the cabinet, parliament and the People’s Action Party (PAP) after accepting he had fallen short of standards expected of him in his online interactions with a woman, which resulted in harassment accusations by both parties. Wong learned of the interactions after the woman emailed him with details of their exchanges. Speaking to local media on Wednesday, Wong said he initially thought the contents in the “detailed” email were fabricated. “My initial reaction was disbelief and shock.” Police were called in to investigate the accusations but no criminal action was taken. Faishal, 58, who was also senior minister of state for home affairs, said in his resignation letter that while there was no physical relationship between him and the woman, and he did not intend for the interactions to develop into one, there was a “lapse of judgment” in how he handled the matter. Wong noted that he had attempted to see if there was a way for Faishal to continue in office despite the circumstances, but the complaint against Faishal had made it a public matter. Several key colleagues on his team independently reviewed the evidence and reached the same conclusion, Wong added. The prime minister stressed that if any other MP from the ruling PAP had been in a similar situation, the same standard would have applied. He said he recognised the temptation to make an exception for Faishal, but “doing so will only cause more damage and harm to Singapore”. “We have to do the right thing, and we have to continue to uphold the trust that Singaporeans have in our political system and in our public institutions,” Wong said. “He accepts that he made a very serious mistake in engaging her, even when the nature of the interactions crossed the line, and he also accepts that his responses, his interactions with her, objectively speaking, were questionable and inappropriate,” Wong added. On Tuesday evening, Wong, the new acting minister in charge of Muslim affairs Zaqy Mohamed and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam met members of the Malay-Muslim community. It was understood that the issue of retaining Faishal was raised during the meeting. Earlier on Wednesday, Shanmugam revealed on social media that there was a series of online interactions between Faishal and the woman, and Faishal expressed concern that the woman might react negatively if he abruptly cut her off. Faishal himself … acknowledged that he should not have allowed his exchanges with the lady to carry on Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam “Nevertheless, his responses were, objectively, inappropriate and questionable. They come across as engaging with her. Indeed, that was how the lady interpreted his responses, and said she was encouraged to continue,” Shanmugam said. According to Shanmugam, the standards governing personal conduct in these situations are straightforward: where a matter remains private and the inappropriate conduct stops after counselling, it can remain private. However, when the matter enters the public domain through a complaint or otherwise, it must be examined and if impropriety occurred, action must follow. Therefore, once the woman emailed the prime minister, the matter was no longer a private, consensual one between two people and became “semi-public”. Since she lodged a complaint against a public office holder, the Prime Minister’s Office had to “consider the appropriateness of Faishal’s interactions”. “Faishal himself reflected on the matter and acknowledged that he should not have allowed his exchanges with the lady to carry on, and he should have established clear boundaries from the start,” Shanmugam said. Independent political observer Felix Tan said Wong and Shanmugam’s comments reinforced the point that the interactions were egregious enough to warrant Faishal’s resignation. He noted that the comments and petition in support of Faishal appeared to be gaining traction among Singaporeans, suggesting that segments of the public questioned whether the response was proportionate to the circumstances. “Having to deal with such an issue early in his tenure is far from ideal, so the government is signalling that the decision was not made lightly or on a whim, but followed careful consideration,” Felix Tan said. “By addressing the matter decisively, PM Wong is also seeking to prevent the issue from escalating into a prolonged distraction for the government.” Political observer and law professor Eugene Tan said he believed the minister’s comments on Wednesday had to do with the public clamour over whether Faishal’s lapse of judgment warranted his resignation. “I think the preference was not to go into more detail, but there was probably pressure to demonstrate that Faishal’s resignation was warranted,” Eugene Tan said. Regarding the principle Shanmugam laid out concerning when personal conduct required examination, Eugene Tan said that standard was not evident or well articulated until now. “Where there is a complainant, the consideration that the matter could go public – and thus the government could lose control of the narrative – means it would not be surprising that a proper inquiry be conducted and a fair hearing accorded to the MP or political officeholder as well as the complainant,” Eugene Tan said. He noted that what was clear now was that not every inappropriate relationship warranted a resignation: “The consequences may be clear to the PAP MPs, but it appears not to be so for the public trying to understand how different personal indiscretions are dealt with by the party.” An online petition urging Wong to reject Faishal’s resignation has since garnered 1,340 signatures. The petition’s creator, Ridjal Noor, wrote that Singapore needed “experienced, steady public leaders who understand the realities people face and can keep serving without disruption”. “We therefore appeal to the Prime Minister of Singapore to reject the resignation and confirm that Assoc Prof Faishal Ibrahim should remain in his position,” Ridjal said. “This decision would reflect respect for public service, confidence in proven leadership, and a commitment to keeping capable ministers where they can continue to do the most good.” Some political observers also spoke against Faishal’s resignation. On Tuesday, Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, an associate professor of public policy at Nanyang Technological University, said on social media that while the public did not know much about the interactions, what was known was that they were not criminal and were unrelated to his public work. “I therefore do not think he should have resigned. And I wonder whether we are setting impossible standards to meet for (aspiring) politicians, and whether younger people would be deterred from stepping forward to join politics because of that,” Walid said. Former nominated member of parliament Calvin Cheng said on Facebook on Monday: “A good man should not have his whole career and life destroyed for something like this.” Cheng said Faishal should be allowed to apologise and be transparent, while community leaders could decide whether he should keep his Muslim affairs position. A by-election could also be called in his ward to see if he should retain his MP position. “We don’t live in 17th century Puritan England. The people will understand,” Cheng said.

‘Disbelief, shock’: Singapore PM on Faishal’s inappropriate messages with woman

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}PM Lawrence Wong sheds further light on how accusations against Faishal had to be investigated as a public matter after an email complaint

PM Lawrence Wong sheds further light on how accusations against Faishal had to be investigated as a public matter after an email complaint