SINGAPORE: On Wednesday (April 30), leaked messages from Workers’ Party candidate Andre Low were posted on social media, receiving negative attention due to the explicit language Mr Low had used.
He issued an apology shortly afterwards, explaining that they had come from a private Telegram chat with his business school classmates from as far back as the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Acknowledging that he made “completely inappropriate” remarks, the WP candidate for Jalan Kayu SMC wrote, “I am not proud of the way I expressed my views, and I am deeply sorry for the language I used.”
On Wednesday night, a Reddit user put up a post where he “wanted to also share a few of my personal experiences with Andre.”
“I know the real Andre Low,” wrote u/Affectionate_War_188 on r/SingaporeRaw. He explained that he and Mr Low had gone to university in London together and confirmed what the candidate had said in his apology, “that he is indeed brash, opinionated, and prone to going off on a bit of a rant sometimes.”
However, he also vouched for Mr Low’s warm welcome to young Singaporeans who arrived at the university, hosting them at his flat, and attested to the care he took for the Singaporean students during freshman events. He said that Mr Low even took the time to give him feedback regarding his mooting style.
“Even thousands of miles away, Andre’s heart was for his countrymen,” the post author added.
While Mr Low once told him he had gone for a month on two hours of sleep while he worked for top lawyer Davinder Singh. He later gave up the dream of becoming the next Mr Singh for the sake of spending more time with his parents.
He wrote that despite Mr Low’s opinionated personality, he “wouldn’t doubt the sincerity of Andre’s compassion and empathy for a nanosecond,” otherwise, he would not have put his life under intense scrutiny as a candidate for MP.
“The real Andre Low is a man who’s dissatisfied, but who has channelled that dissatisfaction into a life of sacrificial service for his nation. If he seems more calibrated in his speeches than he does in his texts, that is only because he’s sensible enough to know that screaming firebrands don’t effect lasting change,” he wrote, adding how proud he is.
“I’m damned proud of him for rising to the challenge and I’d gladly send a bulldog like him to parliament. I encourage the voters of Jalan Kayu to judge Andre’s sincerity and commitment based on his actions, not on some out-of-context screenshots of his personal messages posted by someone with a vendetta.”
Like many commenters who wrote that Mr Low should be given a chance after he issued his apology, many Reddit users voiced their support for the WP candidate.
“If Andre is reading this, go, man! Go do what you are called to do! You have apologised, move on to do a greater thing for your fellow Singaporeans at Jalan Kayu,” one wrote.
“If this is the worst of him, bro got my vote, man. He’s full of passion, and he’s channelling that energy to become an MP to make changes. I’d rather have an MP like him instead of an MP who wants to collect a free monthly salary,” a commenter added.
“Being opinionated is not a negative trait. This is what prevents him from becoming a Yes-Man. And for the fact that he came forward and stepped up, that itself is a feat. Everyone and anyone will have something to say. But why aren’t they coming forward? Always easy to comment as a bystander,” another chimed in. /TISG