It was a sad day that our wall memorial, the Cenotaph, was vandalised. But it was even sadder when Ag MOM Tan Chuan-Jin was quick to jump the gun and point finger at Singaporeans of opposite camp even before the culprit is apprehended.
The job of a minister is not to cause division between Singaporeans. However, by assuming loudly in public that the culprit is a citizen from the opposite camp, Minister Tan had caused further division of the people.
Eventually, if the culprit turned out to be an opposition supporter, it doesn't mean that the opposition supporters condone his illegal and anti-Singapore actions for we are all Singaporeans who love our country regardless of whichever camp we support.
Let's not forget that 40% of our population is made up of foreigners and there is a possibility that the vandal could be a foreigner. Foreigners vandalising public and private properties in Singapore are not rare. Among those convicted were Michael Fay, son of Jiang Long, the former Head of Drama Division of MediaCorp, the two westerners who broke into SMRT's depot and vandalised the trains and others.
Regardless of the nationality of the vandal, an apology from Ag MOM Tan is in order for the wild assumption made.
The following is a comment from Kirsten Han:
"Tan Chuan-Jin's post on the vandals appears to buy into the false binary of the people against the state. Why does he assume the vandal was an opposition supporter, or react as if that vandal represents everyone who disagrees with the government?"
Jason Lee