4 weeks ago
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SINGAPORE: The People's Action Party (PAP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP) have clashed over allegations of harassment and intimidation of their volunteers during Bukit Gombak walkabouts.
Member of parliament for Chua Chu Kang GRC, Ms Low Yen Ling on Wednesday (Jan 8) addressed the claims by PSP who said its volunteers were harassed on Saturday.
Mr S Nallakaruppan, who was a candidate for PSP in Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2020 elections, wrote that members of the party were visiting residents of Goodview Gardens in Bukit Gombak and distributing flyers when people associated with the PAP started to follow them around.
He said PSP members "politely" asked them to conduct their outreach at other blocks or units, but were told that the area was "their territory". He also wrote that they took photos and videos of his group at Block 386 and tried to follow them to the carpark.
PAP SAYS PSP "TWISTED THE TRUTH"
Ms Low said in a Facebook post that it was clear PSP has "twisted the truth" and given an "untrue picture" of what happened.
Ms Low wrote that PAP volunteers started their outreach at 3pm on Saturday and encountered a few male PSP members at about 4pm.
The PSP members came from a nearby void deck where some female PAP volunteers were. The PSP members were joined by others before they started to walk around the estate.
Ms Low said a PSP member stopped a PAP volunteer - who she called Male Volunteer 1 - from getting out of a lift, and was then joined by two other PSP members.
"One of them then went on to intimidate Male Volunteer 1 and slapped his face twice - once in the lift and another time in the corridor. And all this while, my Male Volunteer 1 was also being insulted with the use of derogatory terms," she wrote.
Another member of the team, who she called Male Volunteer 2, was also allegedly taunted by the same PSP member who attacked and insulted the first volunteer.
Male Volunteer 2 used his phone to record the PSP member's actions and insults, said Ms Low. He was also confronted by two other male PSP members that same afternoon, one of whom "forcibly pulled him by his shirt to forcibly take a wefie and video with him".
Meanwhile, she wrote that female PAP volunteers noticed that their movements were being recorded by PSP members, and responded in kind.
At 5.30pm, the two groups met at a sheltered walkway and Ms Low said PSP members shouted at PAP volunteers, taunted them and took a photo of them.
She said some female PAP volunteers, who appeared in photos posted online by PSP, have fallen victim to doxxing. Doxxing refers to the publishing of information that identifies a person and is meant to harass, threaten or incite violence against them.
Some volunteers are undergoing counselling, said Ms Low.
"These recent developments are concerning. When the incidents were brought to my attention, I was alarmed that two of our male volunteers were physically manhandled," she wrote.
She said they considered filing a police report but decided not to do so, and hoped that PSP would not behave this way in future.
"We now see that despite the conduct above, it is PSP which has chosen to make allegations and file a police report. We look forward to a full police investigation, and for the whole truth to become public," she said. "That way, the public can know what actually happened."
PSP VOLUNTEER FELT "UNSAFE AND VIOLATED"
Mr Nallakaruppan's post said PSP members "did not want to have any confrontation" and just did their jobs despite "unprofessional" behaviour, such as PAP volunteers quickly handing out their flyers to residents that PSP was talking to.
He wrote that a similar incident took place in November 2024 when PSP was reaching out to residents in Hillview.
"A group of PAP members closely followed us as well. We thought it was a one-off incident (and) let it pass," he said.
PSP Chairman Tan Cheng Bock on Wednesday said a group of people aggressively harassed and intimidated PSP volunteers - following, stalking and taking pictures as well as filming them at close range.
"The worst incident involved a man in black physically intimidating a petite PSP female volunteer. He intruded into her personal space, and aggressively filmed her against her will," Dr Tan wrote on Facebook.
He shared a photo and video allegedly showing an interaction between PAP volunteers and PSP members.
In the video, a man wearing a black T-shirt tries to take videos of PSP volunteers, moving quickly from side to side as a man in a PSP shirt tries to avoid the camera. The man also turns the camera on a female PSP volunteer who was filming him, while another man took selfies with her.
"This act of harassment made her feel very unsafe and violated and she filed a police report the next day." CNA has contacted the police to ask for confirmation that a report has been made.
"Now that the police and the PAP are aware of this incident, our volunteers, party and I await their response," Dr Tan wrote.
Dr Tan led PSP in the 2020 elections and stood as a candidate in West Coast GRC. He served as a Member of Parliament for PAP for 26 years in the Ayer Rajah constituency.
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