According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), founder of the Wah Kee restaurant chain, Alex Yeung, a Hong Kong resident, was warned, and subsequently repatriated after he was found to have committed an offence under the Public Order Act (POA). He is only able to return to Singapore with the specific permission of the Controller of Immigration.
Yeung organised a public assembly without obtaining the proper permits.
He had invited people of Chinese ethnicity residing in Singapore to attend a gathering on 11 October where they can air their views on the Hong Kong isssue.
The SPF did not accede to calls for Yeung to be released and take no further action against him.
On the contrary, the SPF was firm with its stance that foreigners here should not partake or advocate in any political causes or activities through public assemblies or any other prohibited means.
Taken at face value, the stance by the SPF is admirable. As a small, seemingly vulnerable country, we cannot afford foreign political causes to destabilise us.
By the same token, our ministers should not try to comment on developments in other countries because as foreigners,they have no right to do so. Such unwelcomed comments will only serve to sour our relationships with those countries/territories.
Apart from Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, the rest of them should do Singaporeans a favour and shut up and stop commenting on political developments in other countries.
