Online support grows for WP’s Raeesah Khan despite police reports

Singapore – Workers’ Party Sengkang GRC team member Raeesah Khan continues to garner support amid the charges made against her during the 2020 General Election.

Facebook page All Singapore Stuff uploaded a photo on Saturday (July 11) with the caption: “They tried to smear her, but Sengkang stood by her.” With more than 3,800 positive reactions and 450 comments, members of the online community expressed their continued support for Ms Khan and the whole WP team.

Ms Khan has made history by becoming the first female Malay opposition Member of Parliament (MP) and, at 26, the youngest MP in the new Parliament. Also in her WP team are Ms He Ting Ru, Dr Jamus Lim and Mr Louis Chua.

On July 5, five days before Polling Day, two police reports were lodged against Ms Khan regarding comments she made online in 2018 on race and religion. She immediately apologised publicly and confirmed that she would fully cooperate with police investigations. A day later, the People’s Action Party issued a statement requesting the WP to clarify its stance on the incident. Ms Khan received full support from the party and everyone continued with the campaign.

It did not take long for the public to extend their support for Ms Khan and this only continued to grow throughout the campaign. Many people online believed the police reports were unwarranted and unjust; hashtags such as #IStandWithRaeesah began trending in Twitter and a public group page called We Stand Behind Raeesah! was started on Facebook.

The WP team took 52.13 per cent of the vote in Sengkang, resulting in cheers being heard around the constituency when the results were released.

Ms Khan went to Facebook on Saturday to thank everyone for believing in the WP team, their values and vision for Singapore.

On top of congratulating her, members of the online community encouraged Ms Khan to continue being a voice for the younger generation but to be careful because “there are people just waiting for her to say the ‘wrong’ things”.

Many also commended the kampung spirit of Sengkang.

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WP’s Raeesah Khan makes history: 1st female Malay opposition and youngest MP