By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen

(Bloomberg) — Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told ruling party lawmakers to be vigilant in their interactions to avoid perceptions of impropriety.

In a letter laying out so-called Rules of Prudence for the People’s Action Party’s parliamentarians after the 3 May general election, Wong said they should separate their public political position from private, professional or business interests, and be wary of potential conflicts. He also told them to be “shrewd in assessing the motives of people” who try to get close to them.

“A few will seek to cultivate you to obtain benefits for themselves or their companies, to gain respectability by association with you, or to get you to influence ministries and statutory boards to make decisions in their favour,” Wong wrote. “Both in conduct and perception, you must stand above any hint of favour or influence.”

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The PAP won the election with close to 66% of the national vote, a wider margin than in 2020. A few days later, three of the newly-elected politicians defended themselves after photos from around 2020 showing them dining with a man who was convicted last year in Singapore’s largest money-laundering case surfaced. Wong did not mention the case in the letter and has not publicly commented on the photographs.

Last year, former transport minister S Iswaran was jailed for obtaining valuable items including tickets to musicals and for obstruction of justice.

“Gift hampers on festive occasions, dinners and entertainment, concert tickets, and personal favors big and small are just some of the countless social lubricants which such people use to ingratiate themselves to MPs and make you obligated to them,” Wong said.

Wong also urged MPs not to depend heavily on a few large donors and to check on the background of the donors.

The PAP, whose distinct white outfits are meant to symbolise purity and its politicians’ incorruptibility, has ruled the island since before the country’s independence in 1965.

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