Shanmugam Refutes Post Suggesting He Left Event After 5 Minutes To Avoid Ridout Road Questions

Shanmugam Refutes “Active Efforts To Spread Falsehoods” About Him Leaving Chong Pang Event Early

On Saturday (1 July), Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam posted on his social media accounts in response to one alleging that he left a Chong Pang event “after five minutes”.

Mr Shanmugam said he noticed “active efforts to spread falsehoods”, notably from someone named Serene.

The post claimed that Mr Shanmugam “did not want people to ask him about Ridout“, referencing recent allegations that he and Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan had unfairly benefited from renting black and white bungalows at Ridout Road.

Mr Shanmugam responded that he attended four events in Chong Pang and spent around 25 minutes at Goodlink Park to have durians.

Shanmugam denies leaving Chong Pang event after 5 minutes

Mr Shanmugam explained in the Facebook post on 1 July that he attended four events in Chong Pang yesterday evening.

The photo in the post that Serene had attached was at Goodlink Park, the first event Mr Shanmugam attended.

“Went around the tables, residents here always friendly. Very warm reception. Took photo with everyone,” he said.

According to Mr Shanmugam, he spent around 25 minutes at the event before explaining that he had to leave for the next one.

In total, he attended four events that night.

No reason to put out untruths

Addressing the post, Mr Shanmugam noted that Serene “seems (from her posts) to be anti-vaxxer, and an opposition supporter”.

“That doesn’t however require her to put out untruths.”

Serene later put out several posts in response to his claims.

She rejected being labelled an anti-vaxxer, saying she is not opposed to other vaccines, only “Covid vaccines which have caused deaths and vaccine injuries”.

Serene also mentions being “quite disappointed that a respected minister would take such a cheap potshot” at her, and raised the possibility of herself being “collateral damage” to distract from the Ridout saga.

Ministerial statements on 3 July

It was previously announced on 30 June that four ministers would deliver ministerial statements on Ridout Road in Parliament on Monday (3 July).

Among them are Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, and Mr Shanmugam.

This follows the release of investigation results by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and Mr Teo stating that there had been no wrongdoing in the rental process of 26 and 31 Ridout Road.

The report claimed that ministers and their spouses also did not receive preferential treatment. It also said they had no access to privileged information in their respective rental transactions.

Before the report, they’d said they had nothing to hide and welcomed the investigations.

MPs, including Hazel Poa and Leong Mun Wai, have submitted questions about Ridout Road.

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Featured image adapted from K Shanmugam SC on Facebook.