“The Economist can’t resist sneering at us. It’s an instinct lodged deep in the unconscious of the British commentariat class,” he said in a scathing rebuttal on his Facebook page.
In its piece titled “Lawrence Wong will be only the fourth PM in Singapore’s history” published last Thursday, The Economist pointed out that Wong “remains relatively unknown among Singaporeans”.
Wong will take over from sitting prime minister Lee Hsien Loong on May 15.
The Economist noted that he was not the first choice among the 4G, or fourth generation, leaders.
Deputy prime minister Heng Swee Keat, who was originally in line to succeed Lee, decided to step aside in 2021. Wong is also deputy prime minister.
The 180-year-old newspaper claimed that the People’s Action Party (PAP) would retain power after the upcoming general election thanks to its “formidable organisation, unrelenting attacks on the opposition and a docile press”.
It also said the 72-year-old outgoing prime minister’s father, Lee Kuan Yew, “ruled with an iron will for 31 years” and that the PAP has “made sure never to lose” in an election.
Shanmugam’s rebuttal
In response, Shanmugam said the British “can’t stand that a people they were accustomed to lecturing are now doing better than they are, across the board”.
He pointed out that Singapore started as a British colony with a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of only US$500. “Now it’s more than US$80,000.”
According to Forbes, he said, this makes it the fifth highest GDP per capita in the world by purchasing power parity, “well ahead of the UK”.
Shanmugam also noted that Singapore provides “far better” healthcare, housing and education for its people.
On the issue of good governance, he pointed out that Boris Johnson had accepted a holiday worth £15,000 and received another £50,000 for renovations of his residence, from donors.
“In Singapore, anyone who did what Johnson did would have been charged in court,” he said.
On the issue of press freedom, Shanmugam said The Economist “obviously prefers a situation like in the UK where one person can control major media outlets and have politicians pay court to him, and where media owners can influence who gets elected and who becomes PM”.
He also took a swipe at the UK’s social cohesion, or lack thereof, citing the case of a Conservative Party donor’s comment that looking at a black woman MP made him “want to hate all black women”.
The party later said that all should move on. Shanmugam said that in Singapore, such comments would likely land a person in court.
“What price your sneer?” he asked.
Takedown gets mixed reaction
On social media, where Shanmugam’s response has gone viral, a majority of netizens have commended him for what they described as a “brilliant response”.
However, there are detractors, too. One, who disagreed with his views, described The Economist article as “a good summary of the situation in which Lawrence (Wong) finds himself”.
Another netizen pointed out that while the journalist “had it coming”, it was one thing to demolish the writer but another to drag a country through the mud.
“I think we have no problem with the way the UK PM runs his country. It is their country after all,” he said.
One commentator said he felt that the minister had overreacted “perhaps because he was singled out by the author”.
In its article, The Economist had described 65-year-old Shanmugam as a member of the “Old Guard” and a home minister who takes “a bleak view of threats to Singapore”.
This is not Shanmugam’s first run-in with the British. In 2016, he criticised the British high commission in Singapore for issuing a statement urging countries, including Singapore, to abolish laws relating to scandalising the judiciary.
His rebuke came in a speech in Parliament where he justified the government’s decision to criminalise contempt of court.
Noting that this offence was abolished in the UK in 2012, he said: “It is quite astonishing that the British high commission should give us advice to follow what Britain did.”
Clearly, there is no love lost between Shanmugam and the British elite class.