PAP and PSP volunteers accuse each other of harassment in Bukit Gombak walkabouts

Both the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and the People's Action Party (PAP) have alleged that the other party's volunteers harassed their own during a walkabout in Bukit Gombak.

This comes after PSP member S Nallakaruppan gave an account of how he and other volunteers from his party were allegedly stalked and harassed throughout their walkabout in that area last Saturday (Jan 4).

"They (PAP volunteers) said it's 'their territory' and they have a right to follow us," Nallakaruppan wrote. "Whenever we managed to reach out to a resident, they quickly handed out their flyers as well.

"It was really unprofessional of them to do so but we did not want to have any confrontation and went about doing our job."

Nallakaruppan was a candidate for PSP in Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the 2020 elections. 

The PAP volunteers also purportedly took photos and videos of them without their consent.

PSP Chairman Tan Cheng Bock also posted video footage, allegedly of the incident, where a man can be seen aggressively filming PSP volunteers using his phone, shoving the device in their face. Another man smiles as he takes wefies with a different PSP volunteer before using his phone to cover his own face.

It is unclear if these men are PAP volunteers.

'PSP has twisted the truth': Low Yen Ling

Chua Chu Kang GRC member of Parliament Low Yen Ling clarified her party's perspective on the matter on Wednesday (Jan 8) in a post on Facebook.

After speaking with her volunteers, Low said in her post: "It is clear that PSP has twisted the truth and has given an untrue picture of what happened."

According to her, at around 3pm last Saturday, a team of PAP volunteers began outreach efforts in Bukit Gombak and later encountered PSP volunteers also on a walkabout.

When one PAP volunteer attempted to leave a lift to join his team, he was "held back" by a PSP volunteer, who was quickly joined by another two who stepped into the lift.

"One of them then went on to intimidate [the PAP volunteer] and slapped his face twice - once in the lift and another time in the corridor," Low stated. "All this while, my [PAP volunteer] was also being insulted with the use of derogatory terms."

Another PAP volunteer was also allegedly taunted by the same individual from PSP, prompting the second PAP volunteer to record the incident with his phone.

The second PAP volunteer was later also harassed into taking a wefie with PSP volunteers, Low said.

Both volunteer parties encountered one another again at 5.30pm, where PSP volunteers allegedly shouted, taunted and took photographs of them.

"Some female PAP volunteers who appeared in these wefies have fallen victim to doxxing. Some are currently undergoing counselling and extra care to protect them from such online harm," Low added.

Addressing the confrontation between volunteers, the Chua Chu Kang MP said: "I was alarmed that two of our male volunteers were physically manhandled. We considered filing a police report but had then decided not to do so. We hoped that PSP will not repeat such conduct in future.

"We now see that despite the conduct above, it is PSP which has chosen to make allegations and file a police report. We look forward to a full police investigation, and for the whole truth to become public."

'We can always be civil': Tan Cheng Bock

Dr Tan, who led PSP in the 2020 elections and stood as a candidate in West Coast GRC, also took to Facebook to share his views, stating "we will not fear bullies".

He claimed that a group of people which The Online Citizen identified as PAP grassroots personnel had harassed PSP volunteers making home visits and distributing flyers.

"The worst incident involved a man in black physically intimidating a petite PSP female volunteer," Tan wrote. "He intruded into her personal space, and aggressively filmed her against her will."

Because the female volunteer felt "very unsafe and violated", she filed a police report the next day, Tan added.

He also stated: "Political disagreements will always exist, but we can always be civil. Everyone should have a chance to put their case forward so that Singaporeans can consider their options.

"However, to physically bully and intimidate someone you disagree with - this is totally unacceptable."

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khooyihang@asiaone.com