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Singapore
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Singapore’s political sagas prompt memes but won’t hurt stability: ‘dark clouds will pass’

  • PM Lee has acknowledged ‘no system can be completely infallible’, as his ruling PAP faces a series of high-profile issues
  • Citizens unused to political scandal have spread memes, as social media discussions and commentaries in the local media delve into the implications of the sagas for the country

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Prime Minister Lee, for his part, acknowledged in a press conference on Monday that the PAP was dealing with “a series of high-profile issues”. Photo: via Reuters
Kimberly LimandBhavan Jaipragas

Singaporeans accustomed to a sedate political scene this week have deployed caustic humour to navigate the unexpected intrigue within the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and the main opposition, the Workers’ Party (WP).

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s PAP is facing what observers say is a major internal crisis, following last week’s arrest of Transport Minister S. Iswaran in relation to a corruption probe, and Monday’s effective termination of two MPs, including the parliamentary speaker Tan Chuan-jin, for being involved in an extramarital affair.

The PAP’s biggest rival, the WP, was battling drama of its own on Tuesday, as details continued emerging in the local media of an alleged affair between two of its most popular figures, MP Leon Perera and youth chief Nicole Seah.

While analysts and citizens alike have been asking tough questions about the handling of the sagas, the scandals have also sparked an explosion of memes and wisecracks – some in Singlish, the local patois – across social media and on platforms such as Reddit.

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