Risk of foreign entities meddling in local politics is 'quite substantial': Shanmugam

In an exclusive interview with TODAY, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said that with new political agendas emerging and tools like social media being readily available, the risk of foreign entities meddling in local politics is 'quite substantial'.

Indeed, foreign media meddling in domestic politics is not something new. It has existed since independence.

Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew did not hesitate to ban or restrict circulations of foreign magazines when they attempted to meddle in our domestic politics and he made no apology for it.

He said:

Singapore domestic debate is a matter for Singaporeans.

Renewed warning

In 2004, in a forum with the Foreign Correspondents Association of Singapore, then Senior Minister, Mr Lee renewed his warning to foreign media against interfering in Singapore's affairs.

He said at the forum:

"We are not that daft. We know what is in our interest and we intend to preserve our interests and what we have is working. You are not going to tell us how to run our country." 

In the interview with TODAY on the amendments to the Public Order Act passed earlier this man, Mr Shanmugam pointed to the serious allegations being made about foreign interference in many countries.

Of interest in the legislative amendment was the move to give the Commissioner of Police powers to reject applications to hold assemblies and processions, so long as he has “reasonable grounds” to believe that the event is “directed towards a political end”, and involves foreign entities and foreigners.

Mr Shamugam pointed to the recent examples in the United States, Italy and elsewhere in Europe and stressed that the risk of foreign entities interfering in domestic politics is 'pretty substantial'.

International analysts have suggested that Russia-linked entities had meddled with the results of the US presidential elections last November, as well as a referendum over Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s flagship constitutional reform a month later, by injecting bogus news reports through social media sites.

Mr Shanmugam said:

"So you cannot assume that these things won’t happen (in Singapore). It is happening around the world and you must assume that it can happen here."

Singapore's long established position has been non-interference by outisders in domestic policy and the legislative amendment merely crystallizes this position, he said.

LESSON FROM THE PAST. WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST CAN ALSO HAPPEN TODAY.

In 1971, Eastern Sun, a local English daily was shut down because it had accepted loans from overseas backers in exchange for a promise to slant news.

Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had also struck out at two other newspapers, Nanyang Siang Pau and Singapore Herald, for being “black operations” funded by foreigners.

SINGAPORE PRIME MINISTER QUESTIONED ABOUT DETAINED NEWSPAPER EXECUTIVES

Singapore must deal with local politics and controversial issues ourselves.

“If it is for us to decide on our own fate then we must make sure others don’t influence us in this way, particularly if it is insidious, hidden, if it is through money ... (If) you ask people, should we make sure that foreigners don’t interfere with out politics, I think the overwhelming majority will agree,” he added.