Parliament: Shanmugam sets out when taking money from foreigners should not be allowed

SINGAPORE - Whether in business, academia or politics, Singaporeans do and must interact with foreigners to understand what is going on and have deep relationships, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said on Monday (Nov 4) in Parliament.

But that is different from taking money from foreigners or letting them influence operations, he said, adding: "We, in this House, should stand against that."

The minister made the point in his reply to Nominated MP Walter Theseira, on the issue of assessing foreign influence risks.

Associate Professor Theseira had suggested that in such assessments, one should look more at a person's actions and behaviour and "perhaps less at whether they, for example, receive foreign funding or employ foreigners in sensitive positions".

He was concerned that "if we are too quick to judge on these matters, we may deter Singaporeans from engaging in foreign exchanges, and that's going to be very important for us as a globalised society".

Prof Theseira said this when asking Mr Shanmugam what lies behind the concerns he had expressed at a forum last month on Foreign Interference Tactics and Countermeasures. It was organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

The minister had cited then how historian Thum Ping Tjin and freelance journalist Kirsten Han had set up an organisation called New Naratif that was "significantly funded" by a foreign foundation.

It had been reported that OSEA company, which was to provide editorial services to New Naratif, has links to foreign funding from a group led by American billionaire George Soros.

Mr Shanmugam had also said then that online news site The Online Citizen employs foreigners to write "almost exclusively negative articles" on Singapore social and political matters, including inflammatory articles that seek to fracture social cohesion.

On Monday in Parliament, the minister stated categorically: "Politics in Singapore should be for Singaporeans."

Hence, MPs and political parties, are barred from taking donations from foreign agencies and other foreigners, since they seek to contest and represent the viewpoints of Singaporeans.

So, what is important is to identify the risks, he said. "It is no answer to say, we should not prevent Singaporeans from engaging with international opinions."

"There's nothing to prevent politicians, political parties from engaging with foreign parties. But you cannot take money from them. So you need to identify what it is you're speaking about."

He stressed that foreign influence should be kept out of Singapore's political environment, and foreigners should not be allowed to influence the country's political processes.

"We have crafted a series of laws over the years, and I think Singaporeans accept that," he said. Among them is the Political Donations Act.

He also cited cases of foreign interference, including the Hendrickson affair.

It refers to American diplomat Hank Hendrickson, who had encouraged a group of Singaporean lawyers to enter opposition politics and contest in elections against the People's Action Party in the late 1980s. He was eventually expelled from Singapore.

"We all meet with foreign diplomats, there's nothing wrong with it. But when a foreign diplomat engages Singaporeans and encourages them to form a political (party) and run (for elections), that crosses well beyond what diplomats are entitled to do," he said.

Foreigners are not allowed to control or fund newspapers in Singapore under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act.

"The reason is obvious," said Mr Shanmugam as he went into the history of the now-defunct Eastern Sun and Singapore Herald newspapers.

Both newspapers received financing from foreign sources, with Eastern Sun having communist China influence while the Herald's editorial approach, for instance, indicated that national service should be abolished, the minister recounted.

The issue of foreign interference was also raised by NMP Anthea Ong.

She asked whether a list of Singaporean individuals, companies, or media organisations that are at risk of being compromised by foreign influence will be published.

The minister replied: "As the NMP knows, no such general lists have been published... In fact, I am a little perplexed by the question, because how do you make a comprehensive list of all people who may potentially be recruited by foreign agencies, or be subject to foreign influence?

"When I put it in those terms, you can see that the point is quite absurd."

Ms Ong had also asked about controlling the employment of foreigners in organisations involving media, communications or outreach.

Mr Shanmugam said the issue has to be looked at from a broader perspective, and there were a few factors to be considered. For instance, the nature of the organisations, what controls there were and the ability to identify foreign influence.

As for how Singaporean can protect themselves against foreign influence, he said not all foreign influences should be avoided.

"We seek to deal with, for example, foreign influences that seek to disrupt our society, weaken our country and affect our foreign policy. This cannot come as a surprise. Every country seeks to protect itself."

Launched in 1966, the Eastern Sun is an English-language daily run by Mr Aw Kow, who started it with HK$6 million he borrowed from a communist China news agency based in Hong Kong.

He is the son of one of the Tiger Balm brothers.

It faced financial problems soon after it began operations.

The communist officials injected another HK$1.2m, but with an added condition that Aw appoint their representative as adviser to the newspaper. Mr Aw agreed.

The newspaper shut in 1971 after its arrangement with the communist news agency was exposed by the Government.

Mr Shanmugam said Eastern Sun was a case of black ops.

"It was an attempt by Communist China to capture and manipulate the local media, ultimately, to influence public opinion and create political situations favourable to their own interests."

"Communists even allowed the newspaper to take an anti-Communist line. As the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew pointed out, this reflected their long-term approach and patience, so that ultimately they have an institution of influence."

An English-language newspaper that was started in July 1970, its editorial played up issues like national service, which it wanted done away with, said Mr Shanmugam.

Among its shareholders was a Hong Kong businesswoman Aw Sian, who told then-Prime Minister Lee that she gave $500,000 of her own money for the initial financing of the paper.

But she said she had no knowledge of its financial standing, the minister recounted.

"Mr Lee asked her, if you don't know how it is doing, how come you're sending this money if it was yours? You're a veteran businessperson."

She apparently gave the money based on three receipts.

The Chase Manhattan branch in Singapore also gave overdraft facilities to the Herald. But the American bank's chairman had told PM Lee in May 1971 that Chase had a standing rule not to lend money to newspapers, said Mr Shanmugam. The Herald was shut down that same month.

"Singapore's intelligence agencies concluded that American intelligence had a significant role in these operations, and that this was foreign influence operation."

He added: "The motive was to create a weapon that would shape public opinion as a pressure point, and also to create an outlet that would be anti-Communist against the Soviets and against Communist activities in this region.

"So you can see equal opportunity, it's not just one country or another."