WORRYING TREND OF FOREIGN INTERFERENCE
Speaking to the media at another event at Keat Hong Market on Saturday, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng called foreign interference in politics a “worrying trend”.
“Our election should be entirely a domestic affair, and I hope that all foreign players, regardless of where they are, should take the cue that Singapore’s politics is entirely for Singaporeans,” said the PAP candidate for Chua Chu Kang GRC.
“And for us, it is our existence, it is our survival, it is our ability to come together, to be united, to reject all these foreign influences and interference, because we want to chart our own path ourselves for a better and a more united Singapore.”
While fellow PAP candidate for Chua Chu Kang Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim said it is “concerning” to hear foreign parties were trying to influence the election, he added he was “heartened” that Singapore has the legislative framework to tackle such issues.
“With that, I ask all Singaporeans: We may have different thinking, we may have disagreements about how to make things done, but I think we are all headed in the right direction, the same destination,” he said.
“And I think all of our Singaporeans, even the Chua Chu Kang residents, they understood the importance of it – that their voice must be their voice alone, and not be altered by foreign interference.”
INAUTHENTIC ACTIVITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Back at Fuchun Market, Mr Zaqy also touched on the inauthentic activity detected on social media recently, saying this risks distorting real ground sentiments during the election period.
This comes after checks by CNA had found that anonymous Facebook profiles with inauthentic or falsified origins, also known as bots, have been active online, targeting both the PAP and WP.
Mr Zaqy said these profiles seem to be locked or have very few posts and followers, and that they are targeting the pages of more mainstream news sites.
“They probably want to target where you find most traction, and where national mainstream news comes out,” he added.
“I think this distorts the perception of what the realities could be, or what the ground sentiments could be.”
