MP Zainudin Nordin apologises for controversial quote on Facebook

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Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC Member of Parliament (MP) Zainudin Nordin yesterday apologised for the “unintended offence” resulting from a controversial quote that he posted on Monday on his Facebook page, which was subsequently turned into a meme by a netizen and went viral.

In an e-mail response to TODAY’s queries, Mr Zainudin — who is also said to have e-mailed the creator of the meme demanding that he remove it from his blog — said he posted the quote from American fantasy writer Terry Goodkind to make the point that democracy comes with “tremendous” individual responsibility.

Mr Zainudin had posted an entire passage from Mr Goodkind but the particular quote which sparked the controversy stated: “Democracy in and by itself is not necessarily good. Gang rape is after all democracy in action.”

Acknowledging that Mr Goodkind’s quote was “provocative”, Mr Zainudin said: “My only intent was to present my view that each individual has a choice and each decision comes with tremendous responsibilities. Hence, to follow a majority mob might be democracy, but it is democracy in its basest form.”

He added: “In this particular posting, the quote ... was provocative, but the message is clear: Democracy puts a very potent tool in our hands — the right to choice. The most basic concept of democracy is ‘majority rules’. It does not matter whether the choice of the majority is morally right or supports the overall good. It is simply accepted as a case where more than half have spoken and so, it must be.”

He reiterated his belief that “we should strive for a thoughtful, moral and enlightened democracy, where we each make our decisions based on what is right, what is moral and what is beneficial for us, for our family and for our nation”.

Said Mr Zainudin: “I hope that netizens will see the quote in its entirety. I never for a moment intended to offend anyone and I apologise sincerely for the unintended offence which the posting has caused.”

Since Monday, Mr Zainudin’s Facebook post which cited Mr Goodkind’s quote has sparked a furore online.

Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) and Singapore People’s Party Chairman Lina Chiam, on her party’s Facebook page, urged Mr Zainudin to “retract his statement and apologise to the women in Singapore”.