Vivian Balakrishnan says he didn't 'like' Calvin Cheng's FB post to relocate pro-Palestine S'porean activists, Meta investigating
Minister Shanmugam urged Singaporeans to be "sensitive when commenting on Israel/Palestine issue".
Meta is investigating unauthorised activity on the Facebook page of Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, the press secretary to minister told
Mothership.
Netizens found that Vivian's Facebook account was one of two belonging to political office holders who "liked" a
controversial Facebook post by former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng.
The minister said on Apr. 1 that he did not "like" Cheng's Facebook post.
Vivian, who is also the Member of Parliament for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said:
"I do not share those views. I have since taken measures to enhance account security."
He did not elaborate on the account security enhancements nor explain what necessitated them.
The press secretary to Minister Vivian said on Apr .2:
"A report has been filed with Meta on unauthorised activity on the Facebook page of Vivian Balakrishnan. Meta is investigating."
K Shanmugam: Be sensitive when commenting on Israel/Palestine issue
Minister for Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam have weighed in on the issue.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a separate event, Shanmugam stressed the need to "be sensitive in making comments on the Israel/Palestine situation".
"I have previously said in November 2023 that Israel's actions are illegal and oppressive to Palestinians, and that remains my view."
Shanmugam also said that he has a "very sharply different view on Israel/Palestine from Mr Calvin Cheng".
What is the controversial Facebook post about?
Cheng made three Facebook posts on Mar. 13, two of them referring to the activists and one about the President's Annual Diplomatic Reception, but it was the post shared on 11:51pm that garnered the most attention.
In that post, Cheng called out activists from the so-called "Monday of Palestine Solidarity" group and offered to relocate them to Gaza, expenses paid by him, on the condition that they don't return.
The group is responsible for disrupting several PAP Meet-the-People Sessions in recent months.
https://mothership.sg/2025/03/activ...have-disrupted-over-10-pap-mps-in-past-months
The Online Citizen subsequently noted that the accounts of political office-holders like Vivian and Tan Kiat How had "liked" the Facebook post.
Tan replied to the group in an Instagram comment that he had "accidentally" liked the post. He had since "unliked" Cheng's Facebook post.
Top images: Calvin Cheng/Facebook, Vivian Balakrishnan/Facebook
