SINGAPORE, April 11 – Singapore’s Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam yesterday said he had met with lawyer Chia Boon Teck following the latter’s controversial comments on a rape case posted online last month.

According to Shanmugam, Chia expressed willingness to reflect on his comments, change, and explore ways to contribute positively to society.

"When we met today, I told Mr Chia that he needed to reflect on his comments, and his approach,” Shanmugam posted on Facebook.

"I suggested that he considers a journey of deeper reflection and understanding, appreciate that his remarks were quite wrong.”

Shanmugam said in a statement that he disagreed strongly with Chia’s remarks, which were made in a Facebook post in late March and described as "quite inappropriate.”

Last month, Chia resigned as vice-president and council member of the Law Society of Singapore following public outcry over his comments about a rape survivor.

Chia faced backlash after posting remarks on LinkedIn about the victim of convicted rapist Lev Paniflov, suggesting she was not naive and questioning the circumstances of the assault.

He previously tried to justify his remarks as attempts to highlight the importance of situational awareness as well as to avoid actions that could later be misconstrued.