Pritam Singh Edwin Tong Face-off Over Raeesah Khan's Parliamentary Lie: PAP Supporter Speaks Out

Singapore — Reflecting upon the exchange that took place between Leader of the Opposition (LO) and Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh, and Mr. Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, during the Raeesah Khan hearing, a self-proclaimed People's Action Party (PAP) supporter spoke out. The PAP supporter brought up the exchange that took place last December. In a Facebook post last week, the supporter wrote: "I am a PAP supporter but I am very sad that they chose to try to bring down the Worker Party through Raeesah's lie". He added that "Edwin Tong's line of questioning is overbearing" and said that it "went on for so long and it is very painful to watch". "PAP should stop doing such things as I am sure it is putting off a lot of educated voters. You just need to establish the facts and come out with a report on how the Worker Party Central Committee could have handled it better," the supporter wrote. The anonymous PAP supporter's initial comment garnered 306 likes. They ended their comment by adding: "My sympathy lies with Pritam Singh".

During the exchange between the two men, Mr. Tong asked the WP leader questions concerning a number of topics ranging from the impact of Ms. Khan’s falsehoods on the police, whether he had approved a statement she made, and why he did not direct the former MP to respond to the police.

The exchanges between Messrs Tong and Singh grew tense at times within the nearly nine hours that the WP head was questioned. Mr. Singh disagreed with a number of key assertions that Mr Tong was making.

In one part of the questioning, Mr. Singh disagreed that allowing a lie to remain on record when one is aware that it is a lie possibly a criminal offense.

He said, “It is for Parliament to address… the Parliament Act, Section 5, I believe covers freedom of speech. Whatever a Member of Parliament says in Parliament is for Parliament to take action. It cannot be questioned in a Committee of Inquiry… or any other place outside of Parliament. So I disagree with that point.”

Mr. Tong then told him, “You appear to know your positions very well.”

“Well, I am Leader of the Opposition,” Mr Singh answered.

https://theindependent.sg/netizens-edwin-tongs-manner-of-questioning-pritam-singh-reflects-badly-on-himself/#google_vignette Last Thursday (Feb 10), the Committee of Privileges (COP) recommended that the former Workers' Party (WP) member Raeesah Khan be fined S$35,000 for lying in Parliament multiple times and abusing her parliamentary privilege. As for WP chief Pritam Singh and party vice-chairman Faisal Manap, they should be referred to the public prosecutor to "consider if criminal proceedings ought to be instituted" due to Mr. Singh's conduct during the committee's probe and Mr. Faisal's refusal to answer relevant questions, the report said. /TISG Read related: Pritam Singh, Faisal Manap under investigation nearly a year after Raeesah Khan case - Singapore News   Singapore Parliament Pritam Singh: A deep dive into the Workers' Party controversy   Pritam Singh Educational Journey: He Is A Proof You Don't Need An ‘Elite' Education    Pritam Singh urges greater efforts for affordable and accessible HDB flats in Singapore   Pritam Singh salary unveiled: In-depth look at Singapore’s Leader of the Opposition package