Prominent historian Dr Thum Ping Tjin has rigorously rebuked any notions of him being a traitor to Singapore after his meeting with Dr Mahathir in which he discussed democracy issues and asked Dr Mahathir to take leadership in the promotion of democracy in South East Asia. Dr Thum clarified that he will never stop fighting to attain a Singapore who embraces democracy, human rights and freedom of expression. He also said that the solution to Singapore's problems lied with Singaporeans but we can always learn from the experience of others like Malaysia which is now a beacon for democracy in South East Asia.
PAP MP Seah Kian Peng, the Chairman of the Deliberate Falsehoods Select Committee and Law Minister K Shanmugam have both criticized Dr Thum and his colleagues who met with Dr Mahathir and accused them of ill-intentions towards Singapore.
