In the latest controversy to involve a local politician, it wasn’t another fiery debate in Parliament that sparked an uproar.
Instead, it happened at the WWF Earth Hour Festival and involved a guest of honour, showing a lack of respect for performers.
Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development Sim Ann has been hit by criticism since videos and photos highlighting her disrespect towards the artistes have surfaced on social media.
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What Really Happened
Ms Sim arrived at the event, which took place at the Esplanade on 25 March at 8:10pm. She was led to her seat as singer-songwriter Bernice Lee, 22, known as Benny’s, was performing a song onstage.
At this time, the Soul Jam event, a free performance organised by local music collective Panik Records, was ongoing.
According to Mr Ian Lee, 24, founder of Panik Records, Benny’s had been significantly affected by the incident, as “she had been performing a song that she wrote and was being very vulnerable.”
Ms Sim shook hands with attendees when she arrived at the front row where she was to be seated, blocking some guests’ views as the stage was relatively low.
Some audience members, upset, shouted for her to take a seat.
Mr Lee said what happened was “quite a blow” for Benny’s and “was very undermining.”
But Mr Lee added that Benny’s is looking forward to moving on from this incident.
“She just wishes to express that in a time such as now to be creating art in Singapore, the most important thing we should be looking forward to is cherishing and respecting of all forms of art and expression.”
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One of the audience members, Mr Yun Taehyong, 24, noted to Straits Times that the disruption caused by Ms Sim involved a lot of activity such as “handshaking, greetings, camera shutters and flashes from photographers following her around.”
This would have affected those around her watching a “relatively quiet acoustic performance.”
Mr Yun said that the disruption was disrespectful to both the audience and the performer, citing his frustration at why “they could not simply wait for a few minutes for the performance to be over, or even just do the entire sequence at a less disruptive location” especially since the performance was coming to an end.
She allegedly arrived at the event late.
Ms Sim has also garnered criticism online, with videos and photos of the incident surfacing on social media platforms like Instagram.
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She has also received flak on the subreddit r/singapore for her actions and the lack of etiquette displayed at the event.
Ms Sim’s Apology
Despite claims that she was late, Ms Sim was early for the Switch Off Ceremony she was invited to, which was supposed to start at 8:15 pm, according to WWF-Singapore and Esplanade in response to Straits Times.
As some of the audience members had gotten up to greet her when she arrived, Ms Sim was following cues and greeting everyone. There was “no intention of disrespecting the artistes, performers or audience.”
“We regret any disruption that we may have inadvertently caused,” WWF-Singapore and Esplanade said.
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Ms Sim said that she had seen the posts on social media surrounding this incident and had reached out to the artistes who performed at the event.
She told them she was “sorry that things turned out this way.”
Stating that she had learnt something valuable from this incident, she wished the performers “continued success in their musical endeavours.”
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