PM Lee has tea with Singaporean netizens at Istana

SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong invited 19 bloggers and fans of his Facebook page and Twitter stream for tea at the Istana on Thursday.

He met them for about an hour to chat about issues ranging from education to social media, The Straits Times reported.

Also present were Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin and MPs Zaqy Mohamad and Low Yen Ling.

Among the netizens invited were YouTube child stars Dr JiaJia and Bigbro, whose real names are Chua Jin Sen, 6, and Chuan Jin Chou, 12, and their parents. 

Popular blogger Lee Kin Mun, better known as "mr brown", was also among those invited.

PM Lee posted pictures from the tea on his Facebook page hours later, and said they talked about many issues, from Twitter and Reddit, to online behaviour and Singapore's declining birth-rate.

In his post, he thanked netizens for their feedback on Facebook and added that he looked forward to meeting more of them in the future.

Participants told The Straits Times that PM Lee had asked them about their opinions on online anonymity, where most said they felt online commenters should not be anonymous. 

candicec@sph.com.sg

PM Lee meets netizens at Istana Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: PM Lee's Facebook page)