The ripple effects of the discovery that the Singapore government allegedly made a deal with Taylor Swift for that to be the only locale she played an Eras Tour concert in Southeast Asia are still flowing. Now Singapore is clapping back at Thai and Philippine politicians' reactions to their countries being bypassed as lucrative stopping points on Swift's blockbuster international tour.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin recently alleged that Singapore offered subsidies of up to $3 million for each concert in exchange for Swift exclusively performing there in the Southeast Asia region during her Eras tour — creating an uproar in the region. Singaporean lawmaker Joey Salceda then called on his country's Department of Foreign Affairs to bring up the issue with Singapore's envoy there, lamenting that “If true, [this] isn’t what good neighbors do.”

Now, a famous name in Singapore politics is responding to the controversy with some strong words of his own. “Sour grapes,” posted Bilahari Kausikan on Facebook, who is Singapore's former permanent secretary for foreign affairs.

“Whenever I hear calls for Singapore to be more ‘sensitive' to others in Southeast Asia, it really means be as inefficient as they are,” the post continued.

“That way lies ruin for a small city-state. We have to be better, faster and more creative than the competition,” added Kausikan.

He doubled down on the tough talk, questioning “What’s to have stopped any Southeast Asian country from negotiating an exclusivity deal with her if they had thought of it?”

Kausikan elaborated that, “The point is they did not think of even inviting her to perform in their countries until they found out she was performing in Singapore.”

“So are we supposed to hold ourselves back just because some of our neighbours are slow?” Kausikan questioned. Ouch. That's some seriously undiplomatic trash talk (especially for a diplomat).

Kausikan was just getting warmed up. “And do you think she would have agreed to even perform in Singapore if our infrastructure, connectivity and security was not world-class?” he wondered.

“I am not a fan of Taylor Swift but many in Southeast Asia are fans and our deal with her will be worth millions more than what was paid to secure exclusive rights. That’s good business,” Kausikan stressed, although he didn't give specifics about the financial figures in question.

“Kudos to STB for moving fast and thinking creatively to secure the deal,” Kausikan concluded, referring to the Singapore Tourism Board.

That type of defiant rhetoric most likely won't lessen the controversy or keep Thailand and the Philippines from continuing to express frustration. Regardless, sounds like Taylor Swift isn't the only one on the Eras Tour sounding off about having bad blood with her peers, at least during her Southeast Asia Singapore shows.