Singapore — Some already read the writing on the wall when Raeesah Khan, then the youngest MP in Parliament, admitted she had lied in a speech she made in the House in August.
She rose so fast – hailed as a rising star, a “woke” millennial and the future of the Workers’ Party – that her fall could not but be precipitous after she made what amounted to a confession in Parliament on Nov 1.
The former Workers’ Party MP (Sengkang GRC), dropped a bombshell in Parliament a month ago, admitting she had lied when she told the House on Aug 3 she had accompanied a victim of sexual assault to the police station and accused the police of making inappropriate remarks.
On Nov 30, she announced her resignation from the Workers’ Party, and consequently, her seat in Parliament as well.
And while her career in politics has been suddenly cut short, it has not been uneventful.
In last year’s General Election, Ms Khan made history when she became not only the first Malay female Member of Parliament representing the Opposition, but was also, at 26, the youngest MP to be elected.
A hint that she would be joining WP’s candidates came in January 2020, when she was seen with party members clad in blue, the party’s colour while handing out leaflets at a walkabout in the Punggol region.
The daughter of former presidential aspirant Farid Khan, Ms Khan, who is married and a mother of two, is a freelance digital marketing consultant by profession.
A social activist since she was 17, she is the founder of the Reyna Movement, a non-profit organisation to empower women through community engagement and upskilling programmes to support refugees. In 2019, Ms Khan was featured as one of the “Changemakers” in Cleo magazine.
Along with the rest of the WP slate that contested the then newly created Sengkang GRC—lawyer He Ting Ru, economist Jamus Lim, and research analyst Louis Chua Kheng Wee—she was rated among the most promising figures of GE2020.
But even her election campaign was not without controversy.
On Jul 5, 2020, the Public Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) released a statement confirming that two reports were filed against Ms Khan concerning comments she made online in 2018 about race and religion.
Ms Khan issued a public apology a few hours after SPF released its statement, in a press conference with Mr Pritam Singh, WP’s secretary-general, by her side.
The police report did not derail Ms Khan’s campaign. Instead, online support for her grew, and even Mr Singh was praised for how he stood by her.
Hashtags such as #IStandWithRaeesah began to trend on Twitter, while on Facebook, a public group page called We Stand Behind Raeesah! was created, with thousands of netizens joining within a matter of days.
The police issued her a stern warning over her online comments on Sept 17, 2020, after an investigation. She was not, however, charged in court.
Over the past year, she has spoken up on such topics as the need for sexuality education to begin from preschool age, Singapore’s inequality, and treating women with respect.
On Aug 3, during a debate on empowering women, Ms Khan alleged that the police had mishandled the case of a rape victim, whom she claimed to have accompanied to file a police report in 2018.
She said the interview had ended with the victim, then 25, leaving the police station crying, as the police officer allegedly made comments about her clothing and the fact that she had been drinking.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan asked her for clarification of the details of the case, saying “We take any form of questions raised about how the police have handled or mishandled this case very seriously, and it should be investigated.”
In October, she was further questioned by Law Minister K Shanmugam in Parliament. He asked for more details on the incident, which Ms Khan declined to give, citing the need for confidentiality.
“Ms Khan has said that she didn’t want the victim to be re-traumatised or re-victimised. I understand and empathise with that. And we will bear that in mind as we seek to investigate what happened, especially since a member has raised this here in Parliament, to make sure that we know what happened, and if necessary, discipline the police officers involved,” said Mr Shanmugam.
The minister said the police had not been able to identify any case where Ms Khan was present with the victim.
“It is entirely possible that they didn’t note down Ms Khan’s name, but it is most important that the matter is not left hanging with doubt over what may or may not have happened,” he said.
Then on Nov 1 came the bombshell admission that she had in fact lied to Parliament.
She apologised to the Police, the rape survivor, Members of Parliament, the Workers’ Party, her constituents, and her family.
In her apology, she revealed that she herself had been a victim of sexual abuse at 18 while studying overseas, and had heard the victim’s story in a support group for sexual abuse survivors.
Afterwards, the Leader of the House, Ms Indranee Rajah, said she was referring the matter to Parliament’s Committee of Privileges.
While she expressed sympathy for Ms Khan, Ms Indranee added that she had “no choice” but to raise a complaint about the breach of privilege based on Ms Khan’s disclosure that she had thrice lied in Parliament, and also her inability to substantiate an allegation she made. /TISG