By Jun Yuan Yong
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Pictures of Singaporean ministers and a ruling party lawmaker together at dinners that included a man convicted in a high-profile $2.2 billion money laundering case have caused a stir in the city-state, where there has been increased public scrutiny of the government’s clean image.
The photos shared widely on social media showed Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and lawmaker and former Education Minister Ng Chee Meng at dinners with Cypriot national Su Haijin, who was jailed last year in one of the biggest cases of its kind in Singapore.
It was unclear when the pictures were taken. The press secretaries of both ministers said in a joint statement they were invited to the dinners by a friend and Su “happened to be there”.
Su was one of 10 foreign nationals arrested in relation to the money laundering case in August 2023.
“As ministers, they meet a diverse range of people at various events and gatherings. The ministers do not know Su personally and have had no contact or dealings with him, before or since these occasions,” it said.
Ng, who won a parliamentary seat in Saturday’s general election after losing in the 2020 contest, said in a statement that as head of the country’s main labour union he attended many events and had no further interactions with Su after learning of the legal proceedings against him.
The wealthy city-state, an Asian financial hub that has been governed by the People’s Action Party since independence six decades ago, prides itself on its reputation for clean governance.
The party was returned in another landslide in elections on Saturday and, by tradition, its members dress in white during campaigning to symbolise purity and incorruptibility.
The prime minister’s office and the PAP did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the pictures.
Online forum platform Reddit and social media posts by mainstream news outlets on Tuesday drew many comments from Singaporeans, some questioning how the ministers could have met Su and others calling for the graft agency to investigate whether there was a relationship between him and the officials.
The PAP has faced increased public scrutiny in the past two years, including over former transport minister S. Iswaran who was jailed for improperly receiving $300,000 of gifts and obstructing justice, and the resignations of the house speaker and a lawmaker over an extramarital affair.
Two ministers were also investigated and cleared of wrongdoing over their rental of exclusive state-owned properties, an issue that generated intrigue on social media.
(Reporting by Jun Yuan Yong; Editing by Martin Petty and Kate Mayberry)
