Ho Ching clarifies her reaction to Taiwan donating masks to Singapore

Singaporeans and Taiwanese alike have been kicking up a fuss over Ho Ching's take on Taiwan's mask donations. But was it 'mask' ado about nothing?

Personal remarks will not affect ongoing talks on Taiwan's donation of face masks to Singapore, the island's ministry of foreign affairs said on April 12 in response to the controversy over Ho Ching's reaction to the news.

The ministry announced on April 7 that Taiwan would be donating a total of one million face masks to several countries, including Singapore.

Ho, the chief executive officer of Temasek Holdings and wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, then shared an article on the donation to her Facebook page on April 11, captioning it with an enigmatic "Errrr".

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Her post left some Taiwanese feeling slighted, many of them chiming in to suggest that the masks should be channelled to other countries instead.

Some Singaporeans also disavowed Ho's comment and expressed their thanks to Taiwan.

On the flip side, others expressed scepticism about Taiwan's mask donation efforts, claiming that it had banned Singaporean mask production lines from exporting masks back to Singapore in the first place.

Following the backlash, Ho clarified her stance, editing her post to add: "To all our friends and friends of friends in Taiwan, a huge thank you to all that you have done, and please know that I'm forever grateful."

"Hugs, everyone, and stop trying to beat each other up in cyberspace," she added.

When asked about Ho's comments on April 12, a spokesperson for Taiwan's foreign ministry, Joanne Ou, told reporters that talks with Singapore regarding the donation of masks are still ongoing and will not be affected by any individual's personal remarks.

Ou also clarified that Taiwan's ban on the export of masks does not affect foreign production lines.

Singapore's two mask production lines in Taiwan have also been moved back to Singapore, Ou said.

The mask production lines belonged to ST Engineering and were relocated two months ago, Ho confirmed in a Facebook comment made in February.

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kimberlylim@asiaone.com