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14 Facts to Know From the New Oral Evidence Given by WP Vice-Chair Faisal Manap

2021-12-12 , 11:24 am

Once again, the Committee of Privileges appears to work super late.

The first special report, which comprises oral evidence given by former Sengkang GRC Raeesah Khan and three of her aides, was released on 3 December when most people have slept.

The bombshell oral evidence shook Singapore, because it suggested that the Workers’ Party leaders, comprising primarily secretary-general Pritam Singh, chair Sylvia Lim and vice-chair Faisal Manap, had known about Ms Khan’s lie shortly after she made the untruth in Parliament, and had allegedly suggested that Ms Khan continued with the untruth.

You can watch this annoying video to the end to understand what had gone on prior to today:

On 9 December 2021 (Thursday), vice-chair Faisal Manap was called in to give his oral evidence, and two days later, the Committee of Privileges released a summary of his hearing late last night.

Other than the summary, the Committee of Privileges also shared two videos, each about three hours, on the full hearing.

Because you won’t have six hours to spare, and you don’t have time to watch a video of people reading papers and trying to remember what went on in the last few months, here are 14 facts that you’re probably dying to know.

Ms Khan Did Provide Evidence of the WhatsApp Conversations They Have

Much like the NOC saga, I guess you’ve the same thoughts: are the receipts real based on what they say?

In the hearing, it was revealed that the WhatsApp messages Ms Khan mentioned were real—which makes sense lah, since no one would go up to Parliament and lie, right?

Right?

In other words, to some extent, if Ms Khan said anything about any WhatsApp messages as receipts, they’re not made up.

Ms Khan Trusted Mr Faisal

In one of the WhatsApp messages that Ms Khan sent to her aides, she said that she trusted Mr Faisal and that he won’t “betray” her.

In fact, she had, according to other WhatsApp messages, sought to seek advice from him for other matters.

Simply put, Ms Khan trusted Mr Faisal.

Trusted, I think.

Mr Faisal is a Full-Time Member of Parliament

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking forward to hearing what occupations the witnesses hold.

For example, Ms Khan said she didn’t hold any position, which meant she was a full-time MP before that.

It turns out that Mr Faisal is a full-time MP as well.

The veteran MP has been representing the Kaki Bukit ward of Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) since 2011.

Now, let’s move on to the meat of the hearing.

First Meeting with Ms Khan After the Lie Was Disclosed Was Focused on Other Issues

After Ms Khan lied on parliament on 3 August, she had met the three Workers’ Party leaders on 8 August to confess to her lie.

There was apparently no discussion on what to do next after the lie was made, as they were concerned about Ms Khan’s welfare due to her disclosure of her own sexual assault.

Instead, Ms Khan and Mr Faisal discussed on what to do about another issue that was brought up in Parliament, which led to Ms Khan making a Facebook post online.

No More Meeting or Discussion With Ms Khan After That Until 29 October

The main issue is actually the 4 October 2021 seating, since Ms Khan could’ve taken the opportunity to admit that she lied in her previous speech. This means that between 8 August to 4 October, the WP leaders who knew about her lie could’ve given her instructions on what to do.

As we all know, she repeated the lie on that day, which begs the question: was Mr Faisal involved in this?

Well, here’s the thing: Mr Faisal let Mr Singh to handle the matter.

In short, he wasn’t involved in any decision.

Shocked When Ms Khan Repeated the Lie on 4 October

And so, when Ms Khan repeated the lie on 4 October, Mr Faisal was “shocked and worried”, because he knew that this was going to be a big problem for both Ms Khan and the Workers’ Party.

But he did not check with Mr Singh or Ms Khan about the matter as he trusted that Mr Singh would be able to handle the matter.

How About the Police Request?

When Ms Khan received a request from the police for an interview, she did contact the three leaders for advice.

According to Ms Khan, the WP leaders, Mr Singh and Ms Lim, told her not to respond to the police.

Mr Faisal said that he didn’t even reply to her. And even more interestingly, he think (i.e. to his knowledge) that Mr Singh and Ms Lim did not reply too.

In other words, is Ms Khan lying or are the leaders lying? Or are people starting to remember different things?

Mr Faisal: Ms Khan Should Proactively Ask for Advice

According to Mr Faisal, he felt that Ms Khan should have asked the leaders for guidance if she needed any advice on what to do next since she is an adult and a mother of two children.

What About the “Taking the Lie to the Grave”?

Here’s the thing: according to Ms Khan, she told her aides that the leaders told her to “take the matter to the grave”, the matter being the lie.

In other words, continue to lie until it’s swept under the carpet.

So, did they really say that?

Mr Faisal just said, “No.”

So, what was really said on that 8 August meeting if they’ve not told her to take the matter to the grave?

The “Grave” Meeting

Of course, Mr Faisal was asked about what was spoken on 8 August that led to Ms Khan saying that.

Well, all Mr Faisal said was that the meeting was mostly about Ms Khan admitting to the lie, admitting to her own sexual assault and the leaders consoling her. They then spoke about another matter—there was no mention of what they should do next pertaining to the lie.

Simply put, if Mr Faisal had remembered correctly and was telling the truth, then Ms Khan has either lied during her hearing or she had misinterpreted what the leaders were saying.

Anger or?

Mr Faisal specifically pointed out a sentence said during Ms Khan’s narration of what happened on 8 August, whereby she claimed that there were anger by the leaders.

He said that there was “no anger” at all, and it was more of a “shock” instead.

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The Disciplinary Panel

The issue Ms Khan and her team has is the formation of the disciplinary panel, given that the leaders knew about the lie long before we do.

Mr Faisal said that the panel was to look into the lie that Ms Khan has made, and the goal was to focus on what was told or discovered between 8 November (when the DP first sat to receive evidence), and 29 November (when the DP concluded hearing evidence).

In other words, what happened before 8 November was not “relevant” and won’t be “considered”.

The Central Executive Committee (CEC) Did Not Know About the Lie Earlier

So, did any other party leaders know about the Ms Khan’s lie before 1 November?

The simple answer is no: so far, it appears that only Ms Khan, Mr Singh, Ms Lim, Mr Faisal and Ms Khan’s aides knew about her lie before her admission in Parliament.

Refused to Answer Questions Pertaining to Questions About His Meetings With Ms Lim and Mr Singh

Just a recap: the hearing was held on 9 December 2021, and according to Mr Faisal, he had met with Ms Lim and Mr Singh two times before the hearing to discuss whether he got the dates right.

However, when pressed on on what was discussed with them during their meetings, Mr Faisal refused to answer.

Mr Faisal and Mr Edwin Tong crossed sword pretty aggressively for about 15 minutes pertaining to this issue, but Mr Faisal continued to refuse to answer. If you’ve only 15 minutes to spare because you like drama, those are the 15 minutes you should spend on (the first 15 minutes of the second video).

If you’ve six hours to spare, here are the videos you can watch: