Singapore — The blame for the downfall of former Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Raeesah Khan should fall squarely on her own shoulders, many netizens feel.
Responding to an opinion piece written by TISG’s consulting editor, Mr Tan Bah Bah, entitled Raeesah Khan started the mess, not Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim or Faisal Manap, which was published on Sunday (Dec 5), many netizens expressed the belief that Ms Khan caused her own downfall, and that she should not drag the rest of the party down with her.
Mr Tan was addressing a turn of events that has left Singaporeans wondering whom to trust to be telling the truth.
“And yet we are left with a Rashomon scenario,” he wrote, referencing the iconic Japanese film that showed characters presenting contradictory accounts of the same incident.
In a Dec 2 press conference, Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh said they had found out that she had lied in Parliament shortly after it happened, and urged her to admit this and to clarify the situation as soon as possible.
However, when testifying at the Committee of Privileges, Ms Khan said that after she admitted to having lied, she was told Mr Singh, WP chair Sylvia Lim, and vice-chair Faisal Manap to maintain her falsehood.
“Much mainstream online chatter and not a small part of alternative social media have shown their fangs and accused the WP leaders of throwing Khan under the bus to save their own skin.
Now, why would they need to do that? They did not start the mess. Khan made her own mistake and has gone down with it – herself. Sadly,” Mr Tan wrote.
Netizens agreed that Ms Khan, and not the WP leadership, should take responsibility for her lies in Parliament.
Others felt that she had betrayed the leaders, who had only shown her sympathy.
“What is her motive?” one commenter wondered, adding “Many people like to know WHY????”.
Others expressed concern for the WP, which has worked hard over the years to build a credible opposition party. “She should not pull everyone onto her ship, which is sinking fast.”
Another netizen seemed to lament Ms Khan’s lack of integrity.
Others expressed anger toward Ms Khan.
/TISG
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Raeesah Khan started the mess, not Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim or Faisal Manap