Pritam Singh trial: Loh Pei Ying describes Raeesah Khan as 'lao hong biscuit' as defence grills ex-WP cadre

The fifth day of Pritam Singh's trial unfolded in the State Courts on Friday (Oct 18), where the defence continued their cross-examination of Loh Pei Ying.

Loh was secretarial assistant to former Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament Raeesah Khan.

After pressing Loh on whether she had advised Khan to keep up with the lie the latter had told in Parliament, the trial took on a lighter tone.

Bringing up a meeting on Nov 25, 2021, defence lawyer Andre Jumabhoy asked Loh if she had told the WP disciplinary panel that Khan was "naive and stupid".

The phrase appeared in the notes taken during the meeting by WP chair Sylvia Lim.

"I can't remember if I used those terms, but I definitely would have said naive," Loh answered, adding it was possible she had said Khan was stupid.

She also said she thought that Khan was "sometimes" self-centred.

On Nov 30, 2021, five days after the meeting, the WP announced that Khan had resigned from the party. 

Jumabhoy then asked Loh if she would describe Khan as "lao hong", while spelling the Hokkien term out in court.

"Does that mean you think she's weak and crumbles under criticism?" he questioned.

"I wouldn't use the word weak, but I used that term because I felt she was quite susceptible to criticism, yes," replied Loh.

The pair then went back and forth about what "lao hong" meant.

"Would you call a 'lao hong' biscuit a weak biscuit?" Loh asked. "It's just not a crispy biscuit… in Singapore, 'lao hong' sometimes means it's soft."

Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan then asked her to clarify what "lao hong" meant.

"I mean she can buckle quite easily under pressure. She's susceptible to criticism... what people say online about her affects her mental health quite easily," she said.

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During the trial, Jumabhoy also questioned Loh about her deleted text messages with Khan and ex-WP cadre Yudhishthra Nathan after she was done giving her evidence before the Committee of Privileges on Dec 2, 2021. 

“I deleted many things, including large groups with other volunteers,” she said.

Loh was also asked about a phone call she had with Nathan to give him a heads-up about being called down to testify to the COP. 

She told the defence: "I said, 'I can't believe Pritam said those things to the press, you have to come here and tell the truth'. Those were my exact words."

Loh also denied conspiring with Khan and Nathan during their meeting on Dec 1, 2021, to "align" their evidence before the COP. 

ALSO READ: 'It's so absurd, it didn't happen', says defence to Raeesah Khan on day 3 of Pritam Singh's trial

chingshijie@asiaone.com