Dr PJ Thum to join PSP’s fundraising forum happening on October 1

Singapore – Opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP) announced they would be holding a fundraising forum to discuss reflections on the 2020 General Elections, featuring historian Dr PJ Thum.

The PSP has released the date for their ticketed event happening on October 1, entitled “Fund Raising Forum: The Past and Future of Singaporean Democracy – Reflections of GE 2020.”

“Donations are the lifeblood for any political party in Singapore,” read the caption. “A party’s clout depends on its coffers to operate and conduct activities, and PSP is no different.”

On Thursday, October 1, at 6:30 pm, the party will be hosting a forum to be held at Bukit Timah Shopping Center. PSP has invited historian Thum Ping Tjin, also known as PJ Thum to speak at the event. Party leader Dr Tan Cheng Bock, among other leaders, will also share their thoughts on the recent elections and answer queries from the attendees.

Due to the limited seating capacity at the party headquarters and to maximise donations, tickets for the event will be allocated according to the amount of donations pledged. “Only those whose seats are confirmed need to make the payment for their tickets unless one makes an outright donation,” the post explained. Confirmation of seats will begin by mid-September.

Members from the online community shared their excitement for PSP, with some wondering if Dr Thum would be the next member to join the party, after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s brother, Lee Hsien Yang joined on June 24, before the 2020 General Elections. A few hinted that former People’s Action Party parliamentarian, Inderjit Singh, should also join PSP due to his critical and outspoken views against the government.

Earlier this year in May, Dr Thum released an episode on his YouTube channel called The Show by PJ Thum, claiming that Pofma (Protection From Online Falsehoods And Manipulation Act) made the meaning of “false” into anything with “even one bit found to be wrong or misleading, the whole statement can be considered false.”

He went on to say that “the definition is so broad that the omission of a fact, accidentally or otherwise, is sufficient for something to be considered misleading. The problem is, it’s impossible to include every single fact about anything in the statement. You can’t! And even if you could, anyone could selectively quote it, so that what they quote is misleading. So under this law, every statement can be considered false in some way.”

A few days later, on May 13, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam issued a Correction Direction under Pofma for what Dr Thum said.

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