So what’s new? Nicole Seah and Leon Perera had confessed and resigned. A few days ago, we were still studying that leaked video, accusing it of being some AI creation. Sadly, even if the video were indeed fake, their relationship is real. It’s a sad day for WP and their supporters. I could hear the guys crying: “Why? Why? Why (not me)?”
I’ve mentioned before that the WP is not my favourite opposition party. I feel that they are not pushing hard enough. We need the likes of Lim Tean and Chee Soon Juan. They may not be as “moderate”, “civil” and “non-confrontational” as WP, but if we really want change, there must be fire in the arena.
Earlier on, former Speaker of the House Tan Chuan Jin was under fire for “unparliamentary” language. I was quite OK with that, but it revealed what an uncaring elitist he is. If it’s for that, I’m happy to see Tan Chuan Jin leave Parliament, but another bombshell was dropped. He had an affair with MP Cheng Li Hui (first time I’ve heard of her). 恨不相逢未嫁时 Quite a good match hor? Got 夫妻相。
Both Tan and Cheng resigned. As mentioned, no loss, but the ramifying repercussions, a domino theory if you will, is highly indicative of our cold, exacting and unforgiving society. Tan Chuan Jin has already lost his Parliamentary seat which I think he doesn’t deserve. What more do we want him to lose? Folks out there are baying for blood. Enough lah. 得饶人处且饶人。So much for a gracious and compassionate society. I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t enjoy living among saints. Leaders so what? As demonstrated by our fallen politicians, Singaporeans are not as puritanical as they appear. That includes all the disgusted, virtue signalling folks loudly preaching on social media.
One interesting point is the timing. Tan and Cheng’s affair has been known for years and it could have been covered up while they quietly resigned. Why expose them? At first, I was thinking that they might want to ruin Tan’s reputation to preempt him joining the opposition after his resignation. Then, I was informed that Tan’s wife had threatened to take legal action. Frankly, I’m not convinced. What was Tan’s wife after? Did she want her husband back or did she want a divorce? Either way, Mrs Tan would not benefit from the publicity. But as TOC pointed out, why did the party allow Tan’s and Cheng’s candidacy in GE2020 if their inappropriate relationship had been known since then? Almost immediately after the Tan and Cheng affair, the WP side was also hit by a scandal in the form of a video showing Nicole Seah and Leon Perera behaving intimately at a restaurant. This was quickly followed by a testimony from a former driver of Mr Perera.
The WP took immediate action but we waited in agony for their announcement. It has been alleged that the WP also knew about Leon and Nicole’s affair during GE2020. However, at the party’s press conference, WP Secretary General, Mr Pritam Singh denied this. He justified the party’s inaction against the two back then due to the lack of corroborative evidence and the denials from the two former WP members about the affair.
But how was AsiaOne able to contact the driver, one Mr Wong and produce a video interview in which he “gave evidence”, all within less than a day of the restaurant video leak? Well, it seems that TOC uncovered a potential connection that could possibly explain AsiaOne’s prompt access to driver Mr Wong. According to sources, an employee of AsiaOne named Edmund Chua, who is not a journalist but heads AsiaOne’s Consumer Insights and Analytics Office, had been in contact with Wong for over a year.
When contacted, AsiaOne initially denied any involvement of Chua in contacting Wong or uncovering the affair. But there’s one interesting finding. Apparently, Mr Chua was an employee in the Prime Minister’s office for close to five years until 2019 and has been a Data Analyst for Chong Pang Grassroots Organizations since 2008 – an entity headed by Minister for Home Affairs and Law, Mr K Shanmugam. Bingo!
Could there be a spy network inside the WP? The real cautionary tale here is not so much the spy network but having an affair. We are a strait-laced and unforgiving bunch. Having an affair is like committing political suicide. But what if the “victims” are OK with their spouses “cheating” on them? What if Tan’s wife says “I’m OK with it?”. Are you still going to impose your “morals” on them?
Or if their spouses have all forgiven them, can they move on without their entire career falling down like a tower of cards? It’s quite pointless to dig into Mr Wong’s connections now. It doesn’t even matter if he had been bribed. Nicole and Leon had confessed and irreparable damage has been done.
Then, some folks talked about lust arising from wealth, power and influence. One FB tabloid even called Nicole Seah a slut. Yes, pure lust for sex and power could be seen in Chinese emperors and their harems, but as far as our Singapore scandals are concerned, these folks were having meaningful (albeit forbidden) relationships with their colleagues. Neither Leon nor Tan had women crawl to their feet and kiss their toes. They had worked closely together with their comrades and over time, feelings developed. I don’t know if it had been love at first sight, but I doubt if any one of them planned it this way. Perhaps it’s just unfortunate that they got married before they became colleagues. In case you’re not aware, this is the kind of relationships we read about in bestselling romance novels. People without the opportunities fantasise about them but get judgemental when they see people with the opportunities living out those fantasies.
As usual, we see cheering from the NOS (Naive Opposition Supporters) camp. They speculate that this would be the end of the PAP. Yao mo gao chor ah? Since time immemorial, Singaporeans have been voting for the folks who hold the purse strings. Regardless of their contributions to Singapore scandals, the party still holds the country’s purse strings. WP cannot be populist even if it wants to. This government can. I bet they only need to throw a few more freebies and goodies out to swing the electorate back to their side.
The saga should end. Let’s give the protagonists a break. There are far juicer stories out there. Singapore scandals where got standard?
New Book!
