Workers’ Party MPs Stop Fundraising After Raising Almost $1 Million in 3 Days


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Unless you’re so apathetic towards Singapore politics that you don’t even know what Workers’ Party is, and think that it’s a party that your boss has prepared for you workers during Christmas, you should know that there’s an ongoing trial involving three Workers Party MPs and two councillors.

Almost every weekday, if you’ve followed any mainstream media Facebook, you’d have seen at least one story about it.

If you’d like to follow it, you can go to Mothership.SG’s microsite which reports the trial in a digestible format.

Now, we Goody Feed usually steer clear of politics (though you’ve got to admit that this is not exactly politics here) ‘coz our office politics is already interesting enough, this is one inspiring and amazing story that should be shared.

Because the Workers’ Party MPs managed to raise $1 million in 3 days.

Backstory: What Happened

Lest you’ve missed it, Mr Low Thia Khiang, Ms Sylvia Lim and Mr Pritam Singh, all opposition MPs from Aljunied GRC, together with two councillors, are being sued by Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council and an independent panel acting on behalf of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, for alleged improper payments to their own managing agent, FMSS, and other third parties.

They said that the money used to pay for the legal expenses so far were from their own pockets and contributions from friends, emphasising that the no money was used from the Workers’ Party.

It was added that, so far, the total amount spent by the three of them adds up to about $600,000.

Now that their resources are drying up, they are appealing for financial support from the public or they will face bankruptcy should they lose the case.

Instead of using an online crowdfunding platform, they did so via an announcement in a blog post that has been validated by another Workers’ Party.

People can make the donation via PayNow, Internet fund transfer or through cheque.

The blog post is updated every 10:00 p.m., and in 24 hours, they’ve managed to raise $477,653.

And in yesterday’s update?

Image: ingoodfaith.blog

Yeah, you’ve read it right. That’s a whopping $1 million contributed by 6,101 individuals.

Which means on average, each person donated about $174.92.

That’s more than half of the SG Bonus Singaporeans are receiving…if your income is less than $28,000 per year, that is.


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Image: giphy.com

Enough Liao

In a new blog post yesterday, which is published in three languages (English, Chinese and Malay) they announced the closure of the appeal and tell people not to send over funds now, as the amount raised “substantially covers the legal fees required at this point in time.”

They will also provide updates on how the funds are being used in the blog. They added, “We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. The financial support is crucial but the moral support you have given us is incalculable.”

No matter what you think, raising $1 million from the Internet in 3 days is indeed amazing. And when each individual’s average donation is more than $150, you can bet that the three Workers’ Party MPs have real hardcore fans.

Now, tomorrow is Monday, which means the trial continues.