SINGAPORE - Two women confronted Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam at his Meet-the-People Session on March 12, causing a commotion outside his Chong Pang branch office that was caught on camera.

In a seven-minute video posted on Facebook by Mr Shanmugam, the pair are seen wearing shirts with “Press” in front, and the names of journalists killed in Gaza at the back. They approach him to talk about the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma).

The video shows them questioning him in a confrontational tone as residents and volunteers look on. At one point, they show onlookers the middle finger and shout at the minister when he walks away to attend to his duties.

In his Facebook post, the Nee Soon GRC MP said both women, who are sisters, were not residents in his constituency, and belong to a small group that has gone to different PAP Meet-the-People Sessions in the last few months to be “deliberately confrontational, create incidents, try and provoke”.

They typically put out their version of events afterwards, painting the MP and their team in as negative a light as possible, he said.

ST understands the women belong to an activist group called Monday of Palestine Solidarity. The group has visited at least 10 such sessions, including National Development Minister Desmond Lee’s in West Coast GRC and Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo’s in Jalan Besar GRC.

Mr Shanmugam said Meet-the-People Sessions are not places for protests.

“I understand that people may feel strongly about some issues. But (a Meet-the-People Session) 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, often for hours, to speak with their MP,” he wrote.

“Hijacking these sessions is unfair to residents. There are appropriate avenues for advocacy - but disrupting sessions meant to help residents who are struggling with everyday challenges crosses a line.”

In the video, Mr Shanmugam is seen explaining to the women that he only sees his residents, after one of them said she lives in Punggol.

She asks for proof that MPs cannot attend to non-residents at Meet-the-People Sessions, to which he responds that he will speak with them after attending to his own residents, if they do not mind waiting.

Initially, the pair agree. However, one woman then states that Mr Shanmugam’s expla...