10 Facts About the COP’s Final Report Whereby Mr Singh & Mr Faisal Might Face Criminal Proceedings

There are a few shows we look forward to in 2022:

• Squid Game Season 2
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Conclusion of the WP Saga

While we might have to wait a while for the first two shows, the final report of the WP Saga, which ended on a cliff-hanger, is finally out.

If you’ve no time to read this 1,400 -word essay, then just know this few points:

1. The Committee of Privileges (COP) “believes” former Sengkang GRC MP Raeesah Khan’s version of the story, and therefore thinks that the three WP leaders should be “punished”, too
2. Ms Khan should be fined $35,000, while two of the WP Leaders, Pritam Singh and Faisal Manap, should be charged
3. These are merely recommendations by the COP, so they might or not might happen
4. For point 3…come on lah

If you’ve more time to burn, here are 10 facts you need to know about the final report that has 319 pages, simplified and summarised for you.

Basics of the Conclusion

Lest you’ve not been up to speed on the WP Saga, here are three points to sum it all up:

• Raeesah Khan lied on Parliament about police officers being insensitive to a victim, and admitted to the lie after being pressed for more details
• A Committee of Privileges was set up to investigate why she lies
• Ms Khan said the WP Leaders told her to continue lying after she admitted that she has told the untruth in Parliament to them, but the WP Leaders said they didn’t do that

It’s a he-said-she-said situation, and the conclusion by the COP is that Ms Khan had acted under the guidance of the  WP leaders to stick to the untruth, and that Ms Khan was “not solely responsible” for repeating the lie in Parliament on Oct 4 last year (when she could have admitted that she lied).

Simply put, the COP “believed” Ms Khan’s version lah.

Conclusion Isn’t Set to Stone

Well, kind of.

You see, the COP doesn’t have the power to feed Ms Khan to the tigers or to throw Mr Singh to jail. They’re merely lawmakers (i.e. Members of Parliament) selected to investigate and then submit the recommendations to Parliament.

And that 319-page report is actually given to other Members of Parliament to read, so that they can vote and decide on whether to follow its recommendations.

Between you and me, I’d say that if Singapore Pools has odds on whether the recommendations would be implemented, I’ll bet on the odds that they’ll go with the suggestions even if the odds are $1.00001.

Now, what are the recommendations?

Raeesah Khan Should be Fined $35,000

For a start, the COP finds Ms Khan Guilty of Abuse of Privilege. And because the COP isn’t asking for recommendation about the best Hokkien Mee from your friend, they’ve to substantiate their recommendations based on past cases.

And with that, they come to a conclusion that she should be fined $25,000 for the first lie, and an additional $10,000 for repeating the lie.

Yup, that’s all for her.

Now, given that the other three WP Leaders might have been partially responsible for her to continue lying, they’d face “punishments”, too.

By right, there should be another COP to investigate them lah, but if this goes on and on right, I think Edwin Tong would’ve retired before a final conclusion is made.

Therefore, it’s a tad different, because according to, erm, Section 20 of P(PIP)A, they can also “refer the matter to the Public Prosecutor with a view to the institution of criminal proceedings against the person”.

Which is what happened to two of the WP Leaders.

Recommendations for Mr Pritam Singh

According to the report, “Mr Singh appears to have played the key and leading role in guiding Ms Khan in respect of the Untruth. He was, by all accounts, the key orchestrator of the circumstances which led to the 4 Oct Untruth.”

Suffice to say, that’s very serious.

If you’re still watching the first episode of the WP Saga, no worries: Here’s a summary of what Ms Khan said Mr Singh had initially said:

After that, Mr Singh responded, saying that Ms Khan was lying. Watch these videos to the end and you’ll understand:

And eventually, it ended on a cliff-hanger when Ms Khan then said that Mr Singh was lying:

The reported stated that they are “satisfied that Mr Singh had told untruths to this Committee”. They recommend that Parliament refers Mr Singh’s conduct to the Public Prosecutor, with a view to consider the institution of criminal proceedings.

In other words…get charged lah.

Mr Singh’s Response

Shortly after the report was out, Mr Singh took to Facebook to give his take.

He said that there are now many unknowns, and he would speak about the report in the upcoming Parliament sitting. He did speak about the prospect of losing his parliamentary seat (i.e. removed from being an MP) should the verdict be against him, but added that he’ll continue to work as usual.

You can read his post here:

Of course, the next question is…would he really lose his seat?

Prospect of Losing Seat is Real

Here’s the thing: according to Singapore laws, an MP would lose his or her seat if the person “has been convicted of an offence by a court of law in Singapore or Malaysia and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than one year or to a fine of not less than $2,000 and has not received a free pardon.”

So yes: if he’s found guilty and fined $2,001, he’d lose his seat.

But it’s not just him.

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WP Leader Faisal Manap Also Faces The Same Prospect

While Mr Singh’s alleged offence is lying to the COP, Mr Faisal will also face the same consequence of being charged in court.

However, it’s because he refused to answer a question to the COP—watch this video to the end and you’d understand:

In fact, he was warned that he could face the consequences if he didn’t answer, but he stuck to his guns.

This means that two MPs from Aljunied GRC could be facing the axe.

How about the third WP Leader, Sylvia Lim?

Sylvia Lim’s Recommendations “Deferred”

While the COP did find that Ms Lim “did not tell the truth on some other aspects”, they noted that she has provided an important evidence voluntarily despite knowing that it “directly contradicted Mr Singh’s evidence that he did not give Ms Khan a choice.”

However, for her case, it will be “deferred until after the conclusion of the investigations and/or criminal proceedings against Mr Singh,” but it should be noted that the report did mention that her action during the hearings “would be relevant and should be taken into account (in the Committee’s respectful view), by Parliament, in assessing Ms Lim’s position.”

If you’re confused over what evidence they’re talking about, you can read the 319-page report here or just watch this 2-minute video:

The Only WP Member in the COP Has Objected to the Report

Mr Dennis Tan, the only WP member in the COP, had objections to the report.

His argument is that it wasn’t relevant that the WP Leaders had played a part in Ms Khan’s lie, and it could lead to young MPs to “run to a leader” for advice so as to be absolved of any responsibility.

Instead, the MP (in this case, Ms Khan) should have taken full responsibility.

What’s Next

As mentioned earlier, this is merely a report sent to all MPs, and they can debate about it.

After a debate, there’ll be a vote, and only a simple majority is needed for Parliament to accept the report.

This means if half of all the MPs accept it, then Mr Singh and Mr Faial would be charged.

As for when the debate would take place…it’s mentioned that it’ll be “in due course”.

Well, it appears that Season 2 is coming soon.

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Featured Image: YouTube (govsg)