The film featured interviews with nine Singaporean political dissidents, former activists, and student leaders who fled Singapore from the 1960s to 1980s, living in exile.
However, deputy home minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar denied the allegations, claiming that To Singapore, With Love was not banned and is still under scrutiny.
It is also an insult to Singaporeans, who are in effect being told that they are not smart enough to engage critically with Tan's film, no matter how biased it may be, and to weigh what her interviewees claim against what the official history states.
"[11] Even Chua Mui Hoong, the opinion editor of the conservative The Straits Times, did not support the ban, writing, "When there are diverging interpretations of events, like the arrests of leftist activists in the 1960s to 1980s, the best antidote is not a ban on some points of view, but more openness and access to information...Singapore and its history do not belong to the ruling party.
"[12] Chua had joined a group of about 350 Singaporeans who had travelled to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, to watch To Singapore, With Love after the ban.