Progress S’pore Party acknowledges apology from ex-member, says it frowns on dirty politics
Mr Daniel Teo was expelled from the Progress Singapore Party after he confessed to making an anonymous video.
SINGAPORE — The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) has acknowledged an apology from former member Daniel Teo Weilong, who had made a video in which he anonymously accused the party of being “infiltrated by foreign proxies”.
In a statement on Monday (May 11), the party led by former presidential candidate Tan Cheng Bock also said it frowns on the use of "dirty politics" leading up to the General Election and will stand united against any false and slanderous attacks on its members.
The next General Election must be held by April next year.
The party added that it is satisfied that the members implicated in Mr Teo’s “libellous accusation” are all exonerated and are innocent.
“PSP maintains high standards of integrity and truthfulness, and will not hesitate to expel members that fall short of the party rules of accountability,” it said.
Mr Teo, 36, was expelled by the party two weeks ago after confessing to making the video, in which he accused the party of having been infiltrated by foreign proxies.
The video also named 10 PSP members whom Mr Teo claimed had been working with Singapore People’s Party chairman Jose Raymond and historian Thum Ping Tjin.
A number of those named, including Mr Raymond, Mr Kumaran Pillai and Mr Ravi Philemon, have made police reports on the matter. Mr Pillai and Mr Philemon are both PSP members.
The acknowledgement by PSP was in response to a public apology by Mr Teo on May 9, which he posted on Facebook.
Mr Teo’s apology was directed at PSP members Khush Chopra, Augustine Lee, Michael Chua, Anthony Lee, Dexter Lee, Wendy Low, Hani Mohamed, as well as Mr Pillai and Mr Philemon.
It also named former PSP member Jan Chan. The 30-year-old technology consultant had been expelled by the party on March 21 after his admission that he was behind an offensive Facebook post that was the subject of a police investigation.
In his apology, Mr Teo said that he “admits and acknowledges that these allegations are false and without basis”, and that he “unreservedly apologises” to everyone named in the post.
Mr Teo had earlier made apologies to Mr Raymond as well as some individual PSP members named in the video.
Last Tuesday, Mr Teo also issued an apology in writing to Mr Raymond, after Mr Raymond’s lawyer served a letter of demand to him on May 2.
He also issued an apology to Mr Philemon on May 9, after a letter of demand was served to him. When asked if he was expecting further compensation, Mr Philemon told TODAY on Monday that he did not believe in the “culture of suing” and was willing to let the matter rest.
When contacted, Mr Pillai, who also lodged a police report, said that Mr Teo had apologised to him over the phone shortly after confessing to Dr Tan. He added that he is not seeking damages.
