PM Lee had joined the social networking site officially on 20 April. He said he “decided to join the fun” after colleagues urged him to set up his own Facebook page. On the first day after the set up his page, he received more than 20,000 “likes”.
PM Lee urged Singaporeans to “use this page to help shape ideas and understanding of what we can do together to improve our lives.”
“I will use it to talk about some of the things I am doing,” PM Lee said in his introductory note on his page, “and thinking about, but I would also like to hear from you. Let's use this page to help shape ideas and understanding of what we can do together to improve our lives.”
Mr See, in his comments, said he is “still under police investigation for organising an indoor forum on ISA” but said that “this is not the time to cross swords on your record regarding civil liberties.” Instead, he referred PM Lee to his blog post titled, “1994 - 2012: A Chronology of Authoritarian Rule in Singapore.”
It is unclear why Mr See has decided to make the invitation to the Prime Minister. In recent years, Singaporeans have been upset about the runaway prices of public housing flats. The government has promised to “cool” the market but so far, the effects have been negligible.
Mr See is best known for his film, Singapore Rebel, about opposition leader Dr Chee Soon Juan. The film, which documented Dr Chee's acts of civil disobedience, was banned from the 2005 Singapore International Film Festival for being a “a party political film” and Mr See was put through a 15-month investigation for possible violations of the Films Act. He also had his computer confiscated by the police.
It was only in September 2009 that the authorities lifted the ban, by which time about half a million people had already viewed it online, on channels such as Youtube and Vimeo.
[Watch the half hour film here.]
How will PM Lee react to Mr See’s invitation to live in his 3-room HDB flat? It would be interesting to find out. Stay tuned.
