Singapore —Netizens came together in support of Raeesah Khan after she apologized for lying in Parliament about a rape victim’s story, while others were out to scapegoat her for her rookie political errors.
In Parliament on Monday (Nov 1), Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Raeesah Khan (Sengkang GRC) admitted that she lied in an Aug 3 speech about the police making inappropriate remarks to a rape victim about her clothing and drinking.
Ms. Raeesah Khan recounted that she was a victim of sexual assault and probably got the events conflated when talking about how sexual assault victims are treated when they seek help from law enforcement agencies.
Ms. Raeesah Khan apologized to the police, the survivor, members of Parliament, the Workers’ Party, her constituents, and her family. Her apology was sincere and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Pritam Singh, said that it was the right thing to do.
The Workers’ Party has also told the media that it will be convening a new disciplinary committee comprising Mr. Pritam Singh, Ms Sylvia Lim, and Faizal Manap.
This could very well be the first time a sitting Member of Parliament has been caught for lying under parliamentary privileges, by the member’s own admission.
However, there are grey areas. While we are ready to hop on the bandwagon to chastise Ms. Raeesah Khan, let’s not forget that there are many instances where lapses are either not reported, under-reported or skewed.
Some netizens have taken issue with this disparity, the double standards, and the lopsided power balance in Singapore.
While some people called out Raeesah Khan for not taking her role seriously, others said that she at least apologized for her actions. On the popular Facebook group Umbrage Singapore, one netizen shared a photo of former Manpower Minister Josephine Teo, who, the netizen wrote, did not “bother to apologize”.
When asked in Parliament on May 4 whether the Government will consider issuing an apology to migrant workers in Singapore on the Covid-19 outbreak in dormitories, the then Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that none of the workers she interacted with demanded an apology.
Ms. Teo said in Parliament: “Ms. Anthea Ong asked about an apology. We interact very closely with the workers themselves, on a very regular basis at the dormitories, and even outside the dormitories whenever I’ll ask teams, you know, follow up on their requests and feedback.
“I think what they’re focused on is how we can help them to handle this present situation, not fall sick, and if they fall sick, help take care of them, how to look after their wages being paid, how to ensure that they can send money home.
“These are the things that they have asked of us. I have not come across one single migrant worker himself that has demanded an apology.”
Singapore’s migrant worker community came under focus during the Covid-19 outbreak, with 90 percent of the country’s then 18,205 cases concentrated amongst work permit holders.
/TISG
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