否极泰来 Piji Tailai

  From Q&A to Q&Q: Who Is Really “Absurd and Novel”? When Workers’ Party MP Fadli Fawzi suggested that routine ministry-level meetings with foreign counterparts should include discussions on international law, SM K Shanmugam deployed a familiar but formidable parliamentary tactic: shifting the exchange from Q&A (answering questions) to Q&Q (questioning the questioner). Rather than simply addressing the substance of Fadli's proposal, Shanmugam labelled it “absurd and novel”, reframing a legitimate question about international law and diplomatic engagement into a test of administrative practicality and statecraft. It was a clever rhetorical manoeuvre. Instead of having the Government defend why such discussions should not be part of routine diplomatic engagement, the opposition MP was placed on the defensive, expected to justify why they should be. Who won the exchange? The PAP scored points on its familiar ground: pragmatism, operational constraints and the com...