WP f**ked itself up by fielding Raeesah Khan as a candidate

[LITTLEREDDOT]

This is the outcome when:
Political parties contesting GRCs are obliged to field a multi-racial team to win votes. The parties ended up fielding not the best candidates, but a team that tries to appeal to all voters: race, gender, income, education, occupation etc.
Organisations (political parties, governments, businesses, sports etc) are pressured to field women just to avoid allegations of gender discrimination.

Police to interview WP MP Raeesah Khan over allegation of mishandled sexual assault case​

WP MP Raeesah Khan affirmed that her account was true but repeatedly declined to reveal any further details due to confidentiality concerns.
PHOTO: GOV.SG

Rei Kurohi


OCT 4, 2021

SINGAPORE - Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam on Monday (Oct 4) pressed Workers' Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan (Sengkang GRC) in Parliament to provide more details of an alleged incident of the police mishandling a sexual assault case.
Ms Khan had told the House during a debate on empowering women on Aug 3 that she accompanied a 25-year-old rape victim to a police station to make a police report three years ago, and that the police officer who interviewed the victim had allegedly made inappropriate comments about her dressing and the fact that she was drinking.
Mr Shanmugam said the police had since checked their records and found no cases that fit Ms Khan's description.
He asked Ms Khan to disclose various details of the alleged incident, including which police station she had accompanied the victim to, details about the police officers involved, whether she had brought the incident to the attention of the police or filed a complaint, as well as the rough date of the incident.
"Can I ask for Ms Khan to confirm in this House that everything she has told us is accurate, that she did accompany such a person and such an incident did happen?" he asked.
The minister said he understood and empathised with the need to avoid re-traumatising the victim, and that an investigation into the incident need not involve publicly disclosing the victim's name.

But he added that the Government takes such allegations concerning the police very seriously and that it was important to identify the officers involved, get their version of the story to be fair to them and take further steps depending on the facts.
Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin also assured Ms Khan that she was not being asked to disclose the name or any details that would identify the victim.
In response, Ms Khan affirmed that her account was true but repeatedly declined to reveal any further details - including the police station they went to - due to confidentiality concerns.
"With regard to confidentiality (of) the survivor, I would not like to reveal any of this information," she said several times.
She also reiterated that she has not been successful in contacting the victim.
Mr Shanmugam said he would leave the matter for the time being, but added that the police will continue to investigate further.
"The officers in charge in the police will interview Ms Khan, and any allegations of misconduct concerning specific officers will be referred to SPF (Singapore Police Force) internal affairs office for further investigation," he said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Alleged mishandling of sexual assault case: No response from WP MP Raeesah, say police​

Police said MP Raeesah Khan has not responded to requests to provide more details on the case she raised in Parliament in August.PHOTO: GOV.SG

Rei Kurohi

Oct 20, 2021

SINGAPORE - The police on Wednesday (Oct 20) said it has not managed to identify a case of sexual assault that Workers' Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan had alleged was mishandled, following an extensive search.
"We cannot confirm that such an incident actually took place," the police said in a statement, adding that Ms Raeesah has not responded to requests to provide more details on the case she raised in Parliament in August.
The Serious Sexual Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, which investigates rape offences, had sent an e-mail to Ms Raeesah on Oct 7 asking her to contact the police and arrange an interview by Oct 14.
"The police needed her to provide details on the case. She was assured that the police would do everything possible to safeguard the victim's identity from public disclosure," the police said.
Another e-mail was sent to Ms Raeesah last Friday (Oct 15), asking her to reply by Monday (Oct 18).
The police said it has not heard from Ms Raeesah, who "has so far not substantiated her allegations against police officers with further details on the case".

In a speech during a debate on empowering women on Aug 3, Ms Raeesah had told the House that she accompanied a 25-year-old rape victim to a police station to make a report three years ago.
She said the police officer who interviewed the victim had allegedly made inappropriate comments about her dressing and the fact that she has been drinking.
On Oct 4, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam asked Ms Raeesah in Parliament to provide more details, such as the rough date of the incident, which police station she had accompanied the victim to, about the police officers involved, and whether she had highlighted the incident to the police or filed a complaint.
The minister said the police had checked their records and found no cases that fit Ms Raeesah's description.
In response, Ms Raeesah affirmed that her account was true but repeatedly declined to reveal any further details, citing confidentiality concerns.
Mr Shanmugam then said the police would interview Ms Raeesah and continue to investigate the case.
The Straits Times has contacted Ms Raeesah for comment.

 

[jamlim]

I heard somewhere that the case she was quoting happened in Australia leh...Didn't know we have jurisdiction over Australia .....lol

 

[LordElrond]

Agree, just because we have one good bayi doesn’t mean all bayis are good.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Let Bayi-gones be Bayi-gones?

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

WP MP Raeesah Khan referred to committee after admitting she lied to Parliament about sexual assault case​

Rei Kurohi

Nov 1, 2021

SINGAPORE - Workers' Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan will have to appear before the Committee of Privileges, after she admitted to lying in Parliament about details of a sexual assault case that she alleged was mishandled by the police.
On Monday (Nov 1), she apologised in Parliament to the Singapore Police Force and retracted an anecdote she had shared of the alleged incident.
In explaining why she had made up details of that case, Ms Raeesah, 27, said she had been a victim of sexual assault when she was 18.
Leader of the House Indranee Rajah said Ms Raeesah (Sengkang GRC) had lied to Parliament on three occasions, after clarifying details of the matter with the WP MP when she finished her statement.
She raised an official complaint against Ms Raeesah for breaching her parliamentary privilege, and asked for the matter to be referred to the Committee of Privileges, which looks into any complaint alleging breaches of parliamentary privilege. Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin agreed to do so.
Ms Raeesah had told the House during a debate on empowering women on Aug 3 that she had accompanied a 25-year-old rape victim to a police station to make a police report three years ago, and the police officer who interviewed the victim had allegedly made inappropriate comments about her dressing and the fact that she was drinking.

On Monday (Nov 1), she admitted that she had not accompanied the victim to the police station. Instead, she said the victim had shared the account in a support group for women, which Ms Raeesah herself was a part of, and that she did not have the victim's consent to share the story in Parliament.
"I did not share that I was a part of the group, as I did not have the courage to publicly admit that I was part of it. I attended the support group because I myself am a survivor of sexual assault," she said.
Ms Raeesah said she was sexually assaulted as an 18-year-old while studying abroad. The experience continues to traumatise her to this day, she added.
"Unlike the survivor whose anecdote I shared in this House, I did not have the courage to report my own assault. Yet, as a survivor, I wanted so deeply to speak up and also share the account I had heard when speaking on the motion, without revealing my own private experience.

"I should not have shared the survivor's anecdote without her consent, nor should I have said that I accompanied her to the police station when I had not. It was wrong of me to do so."
Ms Raeesah also apologised to the survivor whose story she had shared, Parliament, her Sengkang constituents and residents, the WP, and her family.
Ms Indranee noted that Ms Raeesah had confirmed that did not have any details of the police case and was thus unable to substantiate her allegation when she made her statement in August.
Her actions had resulted in “a cloud hanging over the police” and caused them to devote time and resources to investigate the alleged incident. It also does a “great disservice” to the survivors of sexual assault and rape victims, Ms Indranee added.

In a statement posted on Facebook, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said Ms Raeesah should not have shared in the House an account that contained untruths.
The WP secretary-general noted that the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act gives an MP significant freedom of speech, to the extent that what is said in Parliament cannot be impeached or questioned outside Parliament.
“However, this freedom of speech does not extend to communicating untruthful accounts, even if an MP’s motives are not malicious,” Mr Singh said. “(Ms Raeesah) shared with me that she wanted to set the record straight in Parliament. This was the correct thing to do.”
Ms Indranee said she was raising the complaint to the Committee of Privileges with great reluctance as she had sympathy for Ms Raeesah’s personal circumstances.
“But as Leader of the House, I also have a responsibility and that is to ensure that in this Chamber, all MPs discharge their duties faithfully, accountably and responsibly. Any breaches of privilege have to be dealt with,” she said.

The eight-member Committee of Privileges is chaired by the Speaker of Parliament. Its other members are Ms Indranee, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli, National Development Minister Desmond Lee, Mr Don Wee (Chua Chu Kang GRC) and WP MP Dennis Tan (Hougang).
Ms Indranee said she and Mr Shanmugam would recuse themselves as she had made the complaint, while his ministry was involved.
Under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, Parliament can take action against MPs found to have breached their parliamentary privileges. The punishments include a jail term not extending beyond the current session of Parliament; a fine of up to $50,000; suspension; a reprimand from the Speaker; or any combination of the above.
MPs can also have their privileges and immunities suspended, which means they can be liable to civil proceedings for anything they said in Parliament.

The late WP chief J.B. Jeyaretnam was referred to the Committee of Privileges four times – once in 1982 and three times in 1986 – for accusing the Government of tampering with the judiciary on multiple occasions, and the police of abusing their powers of detention.
He was fined $1,000 for two counts of breach of parliamentary privilege – the maximum fine at that time. Later, he was also fined $25,000 for publishing a distorted report of the committee’s proceedings and $1,000 for not declaring a pecuniary interest in a question he raised.

 

[shittypore]

Very unstable and immature, an asset to the Pappies if she stays on with WP.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Raeesah Khan should not have shared account with untruths in Parliament: Pritam Singh​

Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said Ms Raeesah had told him that she wanted to set the record straight in Parliament.

PHOTOS: GOV.SG, ST FILE

Rei Kurohi

Nov 1, 2021


SINGAPORE - Ms Raeesah Khan (Sengkang GRC) should not have shared in Parliament an account that contained untruths, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said on Monday (Nov 1).
In a statement, the Workers' Party secretary-general said that the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act gives an MP significant freedom of speech, to the extent that what is said in Parliament cannot be impeached or questioned outside Parliament.
"However, this freedom of speech does not extend to communicating untruthful accounts, even if an MP's motives are not malicious," Mr Singh said.
"(Ms Raeesah) shared with me that she wanted to set the record straight in Parliament. This was the correct thing to do."
Ms Raeesah admitted on Monday that she had lied about details of a sexual assault case that she had alleged was mishandled by the police. She did not accompany the rape victim to a police station, as she had recounted in the House on Aug 3 during a speech.
Instead, she said the victim had shared the account in a support group for women, which Ms Raeesah had attended in her capacity as a survivor of sexual assault, and that she did not have the victim's consent to share her story in Parliament.


The Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) on Monday said Ms Raeesah's actions had set back advocacy around sexual violence in Singapore and did a disservice to other survivors.
"While we believe that her intentions - to raise the need for more sensitive first response from officials handling sexual violence cases - were sound, we are disappointed that (Ms Raeesah) lied about the details of this situation."
The gender equality advocacy group said on Facebook that sexual assault advocacy must be survivor-centric, which means it must put the needs of survivors above all other considerations.
It added that Ms Raeesah's decision to share the participant's experiences without seeking permission was not survivor-centric.

"Survivors are unlikely to talk about the trauma they experience unless they feel they can do so safely, without their privacy being violated," Aware said.
"This is why support groups, which play an important role in allowing survivors to process feelings, connect and recognise that they are not alone, impose rules of confidentiality upon participants. The sanctity of such spaces must be maintained, and survivors must continue to feel comfortable to attend them."
Raeesah Khan admits to lying about sexual assault case that she alleged was mishandled by the police


Ms Raeesah's actions also play into the persistent myth that women frequently lie about assault, which has long been used to discredit survivors of violence while enabling perpetrators to escape accountability, Aware noted.
It cited figures from the Ministry of Home Affairs that showed that only 4 per cent of sexual assault reports are found to be false. On the other hand, the majority of survivors do not file police reports, Aware said.
It added: "Unfortunately, high-profile instances of untrue stories can disproportionately colour the way society views other testimonies from women."
What's ahead for Raeesah Khan? | THE BIG STORY

​

Aware noted that Ms Raeesah's own experience of sexual assault had played a role in her decision to conceal the truth about how she had heard about the other survivor's account.
"We sympathise greatly with her reluctance to disclose her experience... it can be immensely difficult and traumatic to identify yourself as a victim-survivor of assault, particularly in the public eye."
Aware also said it hopes the incident does not undermine the original matter that Ms Raeesah was trying to address, namely the need to deal with sexual assault more sensitively and effectively.
"This is an important societal issue that we hope will continue to be discussed and debated in Parliament," the group said.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Raeesah Khan resigns from WP and from position as Sengkang GRC MP​

Ms Raeesah Khan had, at 4.30pm on Nov 30, indicated to Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh her intention to resign from the Workers' Party.

PHOTO: ST FILE

Hariz Baharudin

Nov 30, 2021


SINGAPORE - Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan has resigned from the Workers' Party (WP), which also means that she has resigned from her position as an MP.
The WP said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Nov 30) night that its top leadership met earlier in the evening and reached this decision.
"The Workers' Party Central Executive Committee (CEC) met at 8pm on 30 November to deliberate and decide on the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee which had been formed on 2 November to investigate Ms Khan's admissions in Parliament," it said.
Ms Raeesah, 27, had earlier this month admitted to lying in Parliament about details of a sexual assault case that she had alleged was mishandled by the police at an earlier sitting.
The WP said that Ms Khan had, at 4.30pm on Tuesday, indicated to Mr Singh her intention to resign from the Party. She then attended the CEC meeting at 8pm and conveyed in person her intention to resign.
The party added that it will hold a press conference on Thursday (Dec 2) to provide more information on the matter and to share its plans to ensure that Sengkang residents, particularly in Compassvale ward, continue to be cared for and represented.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

WP leaders told Raeesah Khan to stick to the lie she had told Parliament: Committee of Privileges​

Ms Raeesah Khan speaking at the Committee of Privileges hearing on Dec 2, 2021.PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOV.SG

Lim Yan Liang
Assistant News Editor

Dec 4, 2021


SINGAPORE - Three senior Workers' Party (WP) MPs had told their party colleague Raeesah Khan to stick to the lie she had told in Parliament on Aug 3, the Committee of Privileges heard this week.
Ms Khan and two other party members said she was told by WP chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, WP chairman Sylvia Lim and WP vice-chairman Faisal Manap at an Aug 8 meeting that there was no need for her to clarify herself or for the truth to be told.
Following that meeting, she texted her secretarial assistant and a WP volunteer: “I just met Pritam, Sylvia and Faisal... they’ve agreed that the best thing to do is to take the information to the grave.”
These were among a number of revelations contained in a special report that the committee presented to Parliament on Friday (Dec 3), and which was published on Parliament’s website, alongside footage of the committee’s hearings over the past two days.
Ms Khan and her former assistant Loh Pei Ying gave evidence to the committee on Thursday and Friday, while the volunteer, Mr Yudhishthra Nathan, did so on Friday. Ms Khan’s former legislative assistant Lim Hang Ling testified on Thursday.
Ms Khan, who resigned from the party and as an MP for Sengkang GRC on Tuesday, told the committee chaired by Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin that the WP leaders had told her to keep to the lie.

"My interpretation (of the meeting with WP leaders on Oct 3) was that that there would be no consequences for me to continue the narrative that I had begun in (Parliament) in August," she said in the recorded footage.
The committee said in its report: "If Ms Khan and the WP could get away with it, there was no need to clarify the lie. If the matter was brought up again, there would also be no need for her to clarify and there was no need for the truth to be told."
Committee of Privileges Hearing on 2 December 2021 - Ms Raeesah Khan

The report comes a day after Mr Singh told a press conference that the party leaders had decided to give Ms Khan time to deal with the matter, as she had also told them she had been a sexual assault victim herself, and had not told her family about it.
In her Aug 3 speech, Ms Khan said she had accompanied a 25-year-old rape victim to a police station to make a report, and that the officer who interviewed the victim had made inappropriate comments about the victim's dressing and the fact that she had been drinking. But Ms Khan never accompanied the victim to a police station.


She later admitted that the victim had shared the account in a support group for women, which Ms Khan herself was in, and said she did not have the victim's consent to share the story.
In her evidence to the committee, Ms Khan also disputed statements made by Mr Singh at his press conference on Thursday (Dec 2), where, among other things, he told reporters that he had directed Ms Khan to take responsibility and admit to her lie in Parliament, and that she had contradicted this order.
No one from WP advised her to tell the truth, Ms Khan told the committee. There was also no order for her to clarify the facts.

When the committee put to her on Thursday that Mr Singh said he had ordered her to clarify the matter in Parliament in October, Ms Khan replied: "I'm hearing this for the first time."
She said that on Oct 3, a day before the Oct 4 Parliament sitting, Mr Singh had visited her at her home and said that if she kept to her existing narrative on the untruths which she had said on Aug 3, there would be no judgment by him.
"Ms Khan understood... that Mr Pritam Singh was advising her to continue to lie, should the matter come up the next day during the parliamentary session.
"Mr Pritam Singh did not ask Ms Khan to clarify and state the truth in Parliament," said the committee.
"To the contrary, Ms Khan was advised that she can continue to lie."


On Oct 4, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam had asked Ms Khan to provide more details about the alleged incident, saying the police had since checked their records and found no cases that fit her description.
In reply, Ms Khan maintained that her account was true but repeatedly declined to reveal any further details – including the police station they went to – citing confidentiality. She added that she had not been successful in contacting the victim.
On the same day, Ms Khan met Mr Singh and Ms Lim at the Leader of the Opposition’s office in Parliament, where the three discussed the matter.
“Neither Mr Pritam Singh nor Ms Sylvia Lim asked Ms Khan why she had lied again earlier, in answering questions asked by the Minister for Home Affairs,” said the report. “Nor did they suggest that Ms Khan clarify the truth in Parliament.”
Ms Khan was also directed by both Mr Singh and Ms Lim to ignore requests by the police for information, after the authorities sent her an e-mail on Oct 7 for her to assist with investigations into the case she had raised.
The two WP leaders told Ms Khan that the police could not compel her to speak to them.
When asked whether she was concerned that she was ignoring a legitimate request from the police, Ms Khan told the committee that she was, but that she had been unsure about what to do.
"I was concerned, but I was not sure what to do. When I asked for advice, that was the advice that was given to me (by Mr Singh and Ms Lim)," said Ms Khan.

On Oct 12, Ms Khan attended a meeting called by Mr Singh. At the meeting, which Ms Lim was also at, the three discussed the matter and came to the view that the matter would not be dropped and was not going away. As such, Ms Khan should come clean and tell the truth.
“At this meeting, Ms Khan asked if disciplinary action will be taken against her and the answer given to her was no,” said the report.
Ms Khan then made a personal explanation in Parliament on Nov 1, clarifying that she had lied on Aug 3 and on Oct 4.
In her evidence to the committee, Ms Khan said she was “shocked and surprised” to learn that the WP had formed a disciplinary panel the next day to look into her lies to Parliament.
She went before this disciplinary panel on Nov 8 and again on Nov 29.

Ms Khan told the Committee of Privileges that she would have come clean to Parliament in October and assisted police in their inquiries and told them the truth if the WP leadership had told her to do so.
“She had done neither because they had told Ms Khan that there would be no judgment if she did not clarify the truth in Parliament,” said the report.
“She took that to mean that she should continue to lie.”
The committee also asked Ms Khan about Mr Singh’s statement at the WP press conference that she would be expelled from the party if she did not resign of her own accord.
Ms Khan said this was not said to her. The WP leaders had suggested she resign for her well-being and because she had lost the support of her fellow Sengkang GRC MPs, she added.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Aide, volunteer say WP leaders were not upfront about being told Raeesah Khan lied in Parliament​

Ms Raeesah Khan's former assistant Loh Pei Ying (left) and WP volunteer Yudhishthra Nathan testifying before Parliament's Committee of Privileges.PHOTOS: GOV.SG

Tham Yuen-C
Senior Political Correspondent

Dec 4, 2021


SINGAPORE - Unlike what the Workers' Party leaders had claimed, former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan had not been the sole actor in allowing her lie in Parliament to go uncorrected, two party members told a Parliament committee looking into the matter.
In fact, the leaders had asked her to "take the information to the grave", and by not being transparent about their own role, they had been highly unfair to the erstwhile MP, Ms Loh Pei Ying and Mr Yudhishthra Nathan added.
Ms Loh, who was Ms Khan's secretarial assistant, and Mr Yudhishthra, a WP member assisting Ms Khan, were testifying before Parliament's Committee of Privileges.
The committee, on Friday (Dec 3) night, released a special report on its investigation into Ms Khan's conduct, including video testimonies of Ms Khan, Ms Loh and Mr Nathan recorded over two days of hearings on Thursday and Friday.
Ms Loh has been a party member for 10 years, and was WP chief Pritam Singh's secretarial assistant. Mr Nathan has been a volunteer since 2013, became a member in 2016 and had been in the council of the WP youth wing.
They corroborated Ms Khan's testimony to the committee, that WP leaders had asked her not to confess about having lied. Both knew by Aug 7 that what Ms Khan said in Parliament on Aug 3 was not truthful, after she confessed to them.

Ms Loh said she was assuaged that the party's leaders had been informed. However, she soon realised they wanted Ms Khan to batten down and keep to her untruthful story, instead of coming clean to the House, she said.
When Ms Khan again repeated her lie in Parliament on Oct 4, Ms Loh felt shocked and scared for her. It turned out that Mr Singh had met Ms Khan a day earlier to talk about it, and indicated that he would leave it up to her to decide if she wanted to tell the truth in Parliament. He also told Ms Khan that he would not judge her. This was related to Ms Loh and Mr Nathan by Mr Singh, during a meeting on Oct 12.
Asked about the matter by the committee, Ms Loh said she was disappointed with what Mr Singh had said to Ms Khan. Mr Nathan, meanwhile, said he felt Mr Singh had been rather indecisive.
When the party set up a disciplinary panel into Ms Khan's conduct on Nov 2, both Ms Loh and Mr Nathan were shocked, given the role the leadership had played.


Ms Loh said she felt the panel composition - Mr Singh, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Faisal Manap - was self-serving, as they were the very people who had advised Ms Khan on what to do and played a part in allowing the matter to drag on.

Mr Nathan felt any inquiry should have been done earlier, since the panel's members already knew of Ms Khan's lies since Aug 8.
He added the panel had contributed to an uninformed, biased and jaundiced view of the incident, because it had invited WP members and volunteers to give their views on the incident without revealing that Ms Khan had acted with the guidance of the senior WP leaders now making up the panel.
Eventually, Ms Loh and Mr Nathan met the panel on Nov 25, and told the three WP leaders they should tell the public the true events that took place. They said not disclosing the full events would be highly unfair to Ms Khan.

Ms Loh told the Parliament Committee what Mr Singh had said on Thursday was not completely true.
"Ms Khan's mistake and the extent of her mistake is lying in Parliament on three occasions. But beyond that she is not a sole actor in how things transpired, and when she could, when she felt the need to come clean, she had informed leadership of the matter," she said.
"In case anyone thinks I am coming in with an agenda, I just want to clarify that I've been a member of WP for 10 years and I've given the cause a reasonable amount of my personal time and my youth."
Tearing up, she added: "I'm very aware of the ramifications of what I've shared... it pains me greatly. But to me, beyond anything else, it's important to be truthful to my country. I'm genuinely very afraid of what will happen after."

 

[knnb40]

Aide, volunteer say WP leaders were not upfront about being told Raeesah Khan lied in Parliament​

Ms Raeesah Khan's former assistant Loh Pei Ying (left) and WP volunteer Yudhishthra Nathan testifying before Parliament's Committee of Privileges.PHOTOS: GOV.SG

Tham Yuen-C
Senior Political Correspondent

Dec 4, 2021


SINGAPORE - Unlike what the Workers' Party leaders had claimed, former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan had not been the sole actor in allowing her lie in Parliament to go uncorrected, two party members told a Parliament committee looking into the matter.
In fact, the leaders had asked her to "take the information to the grave", and by not being transparent about their own role, they had been highly unfair to the erstwhile MP, Ms Loh Pei Ying and Mr Yudhishthra Nathan added.
Ms Loh, who was Ms Khan's secretarial assistant, and Mr Yudhishthra, a WP member assisting Ms Khan, were testifying before Parliament's Committee of Privileges.
The committee, on Friday (Dec 3) night, released a special report on its investigation into Ms Khan's conduct, including video testimonies of Ms Khan, Ms Loh and Mr Nathan recorded over two days of hearings on Thursday and Friday.
Ms Loh has been a party member for 10 years, and was WP chief Pritam Singh's secretarial assistant. Mr Nathan has been a volunteer since 2013, became a member in 2016 and had been in the council of the WP youth wing.
They corroborated Ms Khan's testimony to the committee, that WP leaders had asked her not to confess about having lied. Both knew by Aug 7 that what Ms Khan said in Parliament on Aug 3 was not truthful, after she confessed to them.

Ms Loh said she was assuaged that the party's leaders had been informed. However, she soon realised they wanted Ms Khan to batten down and keep to her untruthful story, instead of coming clean to the House, she said.
When Ms Khan again repeated her lie in Parliament on Oct 4, Ms Loh felt shocked and scared for her. It turned out that Mr Singh had met Ms Khan a day earlier to talk about it, and indicated that he would leave it up to her to decide if she wanted to tell the truth in Parliament. He also told Ms Khan that he would not judge her. This was related to Ms Loh and Mr Nathan by Mr Singh, during a meeting on Oct 12.
Asked about the matter by the committee, Ms Loh said she was disappointed with what Mr Singh had said to Ms Khan. Mr Nathan, meanwhile, said he felt Mr Singh had been rather indecisive.
When the party set up a disciplinary panel into Ms Khan's conduct on Nov 2, both Ms Loh and Mr Nathan were shocked, given the role the leadership had played.


Ms Loh said she felt the panel composition - Mr Singh, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Faisal Manap - was self-serving, as they were the very people who had advised Ms Khan on what to do and played a part in allowing the matter to drag on.

Mr Nathan felt any inquiry should have been done earlier, since the panel's members already knew of Ms Khan's lies since Aug 8.
He added the panel had contributed to an uninformed, biased and jaundiced view of the incident, because it had invited WP members and volunteers to give their views on the incident without revealing that Ms Khan had acted with the guidance of the senior WP leaders now making up the panel.
Eventually, Ms Loh and Mr Nathan met the panel on Nov 25, and told the three WP leaders they should tell the public the true events that took place. They said not disclosing the full events would be highly unfair to Ms Khan.

Ms Loh told the Parliament Committee what Mr Singh had said on Thursday was not completely true.
"Ms Khan's mistake and the extent of her mistake is lying in Parliament on three occasions. But beyond that she is not a sole actor in how things transpired, and when she could, when she felt the need to come clean, she had informed leadership of the matter," she said.
"In case anyone thinks I am coming in with an agenda, I just want to clarify that I've been a member of WP for 10 years and I've given the cause a reasonable amount of my personal time and my youth."
Tearing up, she added: "I'm very aware of the ramifications of what I've shared... it pains me greatly. But to me, beyond anything else, it's important to be truthful to my country. I'm genuinely very afraid of what will happen after."

wonder if RK's father "Farid Khan" is one of the consideration for WP- leader to struggle with a immediate decision what to do with her ?

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Committee recommends WP's Pritam Singh face further probe, $35k fine for Raeesah Khan over lies in Parliament​

The parliamentary committee has recommended that former WP MP Raeesah Khan be fined a total of $35,000 and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations. PHOTOS: GOV.SG

Justin Ong
Political Correspondent

Feb 10, 2022

SINGAPORE - A parliamentary committee has recommended that Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations and that former Workers' Party (WP) MP Raeesah Khan be fined a total of $35,000 for their involvement in lies told by Ms Khan in Parliament in August and October last year.
In a report released on Thursday (Feb 10) following a series of hearings held in December last year, Parliament's Committee of Privileges said that Mr Singh's referral was with a view to considering if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted regarding his conduct before the eight-member panel.
The committee is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and comprises six other People's Action Party lawmakers and Hougang MP Dennis Tan from the WP.
The committee also recommended that Ms Khan be fined $25,000 for stating an untruth in Parliament on Aug 3, when she claimed to have accompanied a sexual assault victim to a police station where officers allegedly handled the matter insensitively and drove the victim to tears.
She repeated the untruth on Oct 4 - for which the committee is recommending an additional fine of $10,000.
In November, Ms Khan confessed in Parliament that she had in fact heard this anecdote in a support group she was part of, and had shared it without the victim's consent.
Ms Khan, 29, resigned as a WP member and MP for Sengkang GRC on Nov 30, a mere 15 months after being sworn in as Singapore's youngest MP after the 2020 general election.

The committee further recommended that WP vice-chair Faisal Manap, an MP for Aljunied GRC, be similarly referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations, namely into his refusal to answer "relevant" questions put forth by the committee, and to also consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted.
For Mr Singh, who is WP chief and an MP for Aljunied GRC, the appropriate sanctions should be deferred until after the conclusion of investigations or criminal proceedings against him, said the committee.

COP Report ——————- I have looked at the COP report and its recommendation to refer Faisal Manap and I for prosecution....
Posted by Pritam Singh on Thursday, February 10, 2022

The committee's recommendations are expected to be debated when Parliament sits next week.
This is a developing story.