Forum: Foreigners should not think they can tell Singaporeans how to run the country

As a Singaporean, I was very heartened to read the Ministry of Home Affairs’ respectful and succinct response to British billionaire Richard Branson’s false statements on Singapore’s judicial system and the country’s carrying out of the capital punishment on a drug trafficker (Richard Branson ‘pontificating from a distant mountaintop’, his reasons to decline debate don’t hold water: MHA, Nov 5).

Foreigners, whether celebrities or not, should not think they can tell Singapore and Singaporeans what they should do and how they should run the country. Only Singaporeans can decide how the country should chart its course.

Singapore respects other countries’ sovereignty and respectfully requests that they do so too.

Using one’s status as a celebrity with a huge following to perpetuate misinformation is a dangerous thing to do in this increasingly fractured and polarised world.

Singaporeans must be cautious and discerning when celebrities who have no stake in the country make spurious statements, as we cannot allow such falsehoods to take root and divide our country.

Lee Swee Mei