On Thursday, I attended a meeting with the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, along with Tan Wah Piow, Hishamuddin Rais (Isham), PJ Thum, Jolovan Wham and Sonny Liew. Most of us were curious to meet the two-time prime minister in person, and to see this “new Malaysia” from up close.

During the session we had the opportunity to ask Dr M a number of questions. He expressed a range of views, some of which—such as his views on the differences between racial groups and on LGBT rights—we didn’t agree with. I blogged my thoughts from the meeting; Jolovan Wham also shared his reflections on Facebook. It was clear that while we appreciated a rare opportunity to satisfy our curiosity and meet one of Southeast Asia’s major political figures, it was far from a wholehearted endorsement of Mahathir.

Which is why I was shocked to see a Facebook post made by PAP MP Seah Kian Peng, claiming, “PJ Thum and friends ( including Kirsten Han, Sonny Liew, Jolovan Wham) meet DR M, invite Dr M to bring democracy to Singapore, and suggest that Singapore is part of Malaya.”

Singapore is still in the middle of figuring out what to do about online falsehoods and misinformation. Mr Seah himself is a member of the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods; in fact, he was the chair of the five-hour hearing that I was a part of. Unfortunately, Mr Seah appears to have misunderstood the nature of the meet with Mahathir and the comments that have been made since. His post makes a number of allegations and claims that might lead people to have a very mistaken idea of what happened on Thursday, and our views. As someone who was present at the meeting, I'd like to set the record straight, so as to correct misconceptions that might be spreading online.

Apart from Dr M and his two personal assistants, only the six of us were in the room on Thursday. We did not attend this meeting as a collective, but as a group of individuals.

Wah Piow and Isham are both part of a group called Forces for the Renewal of Southeast Asia, and were planning to organise a conference on democracy in the region. They wanted Mahathir to give the keynote speech at this proposed conference, and so extended an invitation to him, which he accepted in principle, subject to his availability when the time comes. The rest of us are not part of Forces for the Renewal of Southeast Asia, nor are we involved in the organising of the conference. I can't speak for Wah Piow or Isham, but my sense is that it's highly unlikely this conference would be held in Singapore, since Wah Piow himself cannot enter the country.

Following the meeting, PJ posted this on Facebook: