A few days ago, Minister of Trade and Industry (MTI) Chan Chun Sing addressed MTI’s leaders in a closed-door dialogue session.
This meeting.
Minister Chan Chun Sing was having a closed-door discussion with members of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI).
He was candid about his opinions, presumedly because he trusted the members to keep things “personal and confidential”.
Unfortunately, a recording of the discussion was leaked, mainly on his remarks about the current Covid-19 situation in Singapore.
President Of SCCCI Says It’s A ‘Betrayal of Trust’
Mr Roland Ng, president of the chamber expressed “deep disappointment” in his members.
In a letter sent to SCCCI’s members, Mr Ng said that the chamber will investigate this matter.
It was a “betrayal of trust” and has “social implications” on the chamber and Minister Chan’s standing.
Informed Multiple Times
The chamber also clarified that it has informed members time and again that the closed-door discussion is off the records.
Closed. Door.
As in no one else should know.
These actions will “dilute the trust and confidence” of others in SCCCI and “discourage” such active and open participation from “speakers, guests, and even our own members”.
Masks Not A Solution
One of the things spoken about by the minister was on the mask situation.
He spoke about Singapore’s supply of surgical masks, saying that no matter how many millions of masks Singapore has, it will not “solve the problem”.
He also remarked that if members of the multi-disciplinary task force wore masks like “Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam did”, it would cause a panic.
Minister Chan could also be heard acknowledging that the move to supply every household with four masks is merely a measure to calm people down.
Ashamed Of Singaporeans
In the recording, Minister Chan said he was “sia suay (embarrassed)” of Singaporeans who swarmed the supermarkets.
He added that if small group of people “behaved like idiots”, Singapore would be unable to “negotiate for prices of key supplies internationally”.
Offensive Comments
So, you’re wondering, it leaked. So what?
Isn’t what he said the truth?
If you truly think this way, then congratulations.
You are better than most Singaporeans who would probably take offence to his words. He wasn’t being very nice about it. After all, sia suay isn’t a nice word.
Minister Chan inferred to the leak in his Facebook post, saying that he’s never been one to mince his words.
Hard Truths From The Recording
For those who are mad AF (including Hong Kongers about the Carrie Lam remark), here are a couple of things we got from the recording:
- Masks? No use lah, don’t buy it at 10 times the price. We can only depend on ourselves.
- Chiong to supermarkets to hoard? You’re going to kill the rest of Singapore. And it’s not like there’s a shortage of essential stuff anyway.
- Mr Kee Chiu might have grown a lot since his first political rally but his hokkien is still tok gong.
