SINGAPORE: A group of people has been going to People's Action Party (PAP) Meet-The-People Sessions to be "deliberately confrontational, create incidents, try and provoke", said Mr K Shanmugam, who posted on Thursday (Mar 13) footage of one such disruption that took place the day before at his ward in Chong Pang.

“They then put out a version of what happened, to put the MP and his team in as negative light as possible,” said the Home Affairs and Law Minister in a Facebook post.

While Mr Shanmugam did not identify the group, a PAP spokesperson said in response to CNA's queries that the group calls itself Monday of Palestine Solidarity.

The group has disrupted more than 10 Meet-The-People Sessions (MPS) in the past few months, the spokesperson said.

In his post, Mr Shanmugam said two sisters, who lived in Punggol, approached him on Wednesday evening to talk about the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). He told them he had to prioritise his residents, to which they accused him of lying.

“Their accusation, that I was lying, was typical of the way the engagement proceeded, through the night,” said Mr Shanmugam, who heads the PAP Chong Pang branch in Nee Soon GRC. 

“The antagonistic way in which they spoke, behaved, interrupted, threw accusations of lying, suggested that they wanted to make a scene, get some material to put out, rather than engage in a genuine discussion.”

As he headed back into the branch office, the pair and another person shouted “coward” very loudly, Mr Shanmugam said.

“I went back to them to tell them off for behaving in this way – I was quite unhappy with the disruption they were causing. I pointed to them to behave. I also pointed out to them that they were disrupting the MPS,” he said.

“They can’t, as non-residents, come to MPS and insist that their political discussion take priority over the needs of the waiting residents.”

He added that the group showed their middle finger – with a photo showing so – and caused a scene which drew the attention of waiting residents.

“I understand that people may feel strongly about some issues. But MPS is not a protest venue. It is where residents go to their MPs to seek help. Many have acute concerns — housing, jobs, medical needs, family issues, and would wait patiently,...