Following the uproar on Facebook over PAP Member of Parliament (MP) Seah Kian Peng’s post about former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Teo Soh Lung, historian Thum Ping-tjin and their meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Singapore Democratic Party has accepted Mr Seah’s apology. MP Seah apologized for erroneously assuming Ms Teo So Lung as still a part of the SDP, and questioning them for her actions.

In a post that Mr Seah wrote questioning the activists and PJ Thum for meeting with Dr Mahathir, he said, “Separately, in a comment on a TOC video post, Teo Soh Lung said that “Singapore is part of Malaya la””

He continued and questioned, “Really? This is what PJ Thum and Teo Soh Lung and the SDP believe in their heart of hearts?”

Posted by Seah Kian Peng on Saturday, 1 September 2018

In response, the SDP wrote a Facebook post distancing themselves from Teo Soh Lung.

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https://theindependent.sg.sg/sdp-distances-itself-from-teo-soh-lung-and-the-likes/

They said that “Dr Thum and Ms Teo are not members of the SDP thus do not speak for the party or represent us in any way. We did not have anything to do with the meeting nor did we say anything about the matter. We only learnt about Dr Thum’s meeting with Dr Mahathir through reports in the media”.

My posting over the weekend has indeed generated a number of comments. I thank those who supports and agrees with my…

Posted by Seah Kian Peng on Sunday, 2 September 2018

MP Seah responded to their post and added, “As Ms Teo had previously stood as a SDP candidate in GE2011, I had assumed she was still a member. I apologize for this wrong assumption and thank SDP for the clarification”.

The SDP acknowledges that Mr Seah Kian Peng has apologised for his erroneous statement on his FB where he had involved…

Posted by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Monday, 3 September 2018

In a move that netizens and Singaporeans lauded as “classy”, the SDP released a statement saying, “The SDP acknowledges that Mr Seah Kian Peng has apologised for his erroneous statement on his FB where he had involved our party in a controversy over a meeting some Singaporean activists had with Dr Mahathir.

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The SDP accepts Mr Seah’s apology.”

They continued and added, “While we may differ in our views on how to take Singapore forward, politicians should not resort to questioning their opponents’ loyalty to our nation. No matter what our political persuasion, we all remain faithful and committed to this country”.

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obbana@theindependent.sg