Shanmugam Says Media Critics Have Omitted Country Reforms When Criticising Qatar
Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam has called out media critics of Qatar hosting the World Cup, calling such articles “quite sensational, but skinny on the facts”.
Qatar has been criticised for its poor human rights record, allegedly treating migrant workers poorly and discriminating against LGBTQ people.
But Mr Shanmugam says the critics usually do not add that Qatar has introduced steps to improve the welfare of migrant workers and other reforms.
He also questioned other countries for their seeming cultural superiority — courting Qatar’s wealth and resources while criticising their values and remaining silent about these dealings.
Shanmugam asks questions about Qatar critics
In a Facebook post on Thursday (7 Dec), Mr Shanmugam shared four thoughts he had regarding criticism of Qatar as World Cup hosts.
Source: Channel NewsAsia on YouTube
The first deals with how “sensational” he found these articles to be but apparently neglects to state the facts underlying the allegations.
“I found that the reports also usually omit the steps which Qatar says it has taken, on several fronts, including improving the welfare of the workers,” he said.
He then said it “will be relevant” to compare the situation in Qatar with other countries, such as the United States.
He then cited a Pew Research Centre link that claimed the US is estimated to have around 11 million illegal immigrants, many of whom perform jobs that Americans are not willing to do.
“The context is slightly different in that the US Government is not officially sanctioning the import of these workers. Nevertheless, is it fair that these workers get exploited badly?” he asked.
He also questioned if government agencies could do more to prevent or at least improve the plight these workers face, and asked how much attention such workers get from the media compared to Qatar’s migrant workers.
Hint of cultural superiority
Mr Shanmugam then said there is “more than a hint of cultural superiority” from the critics, pointing out criticism of Qatari norms being different from Western ones.
He said Qatar’s values are consistent with their religious beliefs and are similar to that of many other Gulf countries.
These norms and values already existed when Qatar was chosen to host the World Cup in 2010, Mr Shanmugam noted.
Mr Shanmugam also pointed out that many businesses, as well as governments, have looked to Qatar for their wealth and resources.
This includes gas supplies due to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian gas.
Some have apparently even asked Qatar to break their existing contracts to other buyers so they benefit by getting the supplies.
He then asked if people who want Qatar’s gas and money should reflect on whether it’s principled to also “deliver sermons on Qatar’s values and norms”.
It’s easier to moralise, Mr Shanmugam said, and at the same time keep quiet about their countries benefitting from deals with Qatar.
It smacks of hypocrisy. Virtue signalling. With racial undertones.
As a young nation with a small population, Mr Shanmugam said this makes Qatar an “easy” and “cost-free” criticism target.
One may infer that Singapore is also in a similar position, although Mr Shanmugam did not make a direct comparison.
Mr Shanmugam questions critics’ motives
In ending, Mr Shanmugam pointed out that several other countries with records that can be criticised have not received coverage akin to Qatar’s.
This includes Russia which hosted the World Cup in 2018.
This is not just “whataboutism”, Mr Shanmugam said, in a rebuttal to possible criticism of his comparisons to other countries,
It is about questioning what the true motives are for targeting Qatar, while keeping relatively quiet about others.
“Are the critics really as concerned about the underlying issues? Or is there a large dose of sanctimonious hypocrisy allied with a disregard for the facts,” he questioned.
He also said that it’d be interesting to see if the media will scrutinise future World Cup hosts in this manner.
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Featured image adapted from Channel NewsAsia on YouTube and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 on Facebook.
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