SINGAPORE: Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Dr Chee Soon Juan apologised on Sunday (Apr 27) after the party’s candidate Dr Gigene Wong used a racial slur to describe her teammate, Mr Ariffin Sha, who said it was appalling.
“On behalf of all the members of the Singapore Democratic Party, I want to make a heartfelt apology to every Singaporean, especially our friends and our Indian community,” Dr Chee told the crowd at the rally near Sun Plaza.
“I am the leader of the SDP and the buck stops with me. I have issued Gigene a stern warning and expressed in no uncertain terms that the SDP does not tolerate such behaviour. It is not in keeping with our values.
“She has assured me that such an incident will never happen again, and that she will do her utmost to uphold the SDP’s values in all that she says and does.”
In her rally speech on Saturday evening, Dr Wong used a racial slur to describe Mr Ariffin, her fellow party candidate in the Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC).
She has issued two separate apologies for her comments on Facebook.
On Sunday, Dr Chee said: “There are no ifs, no ands, no buts – the term that Gigene used was offensive and hurtful, and we are deeply sorry that she used it.”
He noted that Dr Wong had expressed remorse and apologised for using the slur.
“She did not know of its negative connotation. This is, however, no excuse and we want to express how deeply sorry we are. We recognise the pain the episode has caused,” said the SDP chief.
