PUBLISHED ONSeptember 02, 2023 5:55 AMByDrima ChakrabortyAfter a day at the polls on Friday (Sep 1), Singaporeans elected Tharman Shanmugaratnam as their ninth president.
While candidates Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian were gracious in their defeat, it appears that a supporter of the latter was less than impressed about the election results.
Iris Koh, founder of the controversial anti-vaccine group Heal the Divide, was spotted at Tan's residence, ranting at the journalists present. She had previously pledged her support for the former NTUC Income chief on her social media.
In a video posted by MustShareNews, Koh can be seen saying: "Nobody is writing negative news about the establishment, and nobody is writing negative stories about the PAP, and that's the truth.
"You guys shape how the voters think, and you keep painting negative pictures of people who are against the establishment and people who are speaking up. Shame on all of you. That's why we have the results today."
Koh called the mainstream media "100 per cent corrupt" and alleged that the bosses of the journalists present would not want to publish "this story", presumably of her rant.
Another voice can be heard saying in the background: "You pay $900 million for them to report, but they only report the PAP. Also, they always figure the worst angle, that's why they're coming here to do all kinds of crap again."
It is unclear if the voice is of another dissatisfied supporter of Tan or a journalist responding sarcastically.
@mustsharenews A journalist stood up to the anti-vaccination activist, defending her fellow members of the media. #mustsharenews #tiktoksg #sgtiktok #tankinlian #iriskoh #singapore #presidentialelectionsg ♬ original sound - MustShareNews
Koh's tirade has generated some buzz online, but not because of what she was saying.
In the video, she can be seen piling up on food at the buffet while yelling at the journalists before leaving the room, leading netizens to conclude she was "hangry", a portmanteau of hungry and angry.
"When you're angry but the bee hoon is good," commented a Redditor.
Another responded: "When I'm at a birthday party I don't want to be at but the bee hoon is good, I'll stay a while longer."
"Ranting like that while scooping your supper is next level crazy," wrote another.
One Redditor wrote that Koh "doing this and standing with Tan Kin Lian makes Tan Kin Lian look worse".
"When I saw that she was one of the assenters for Tan Kin Lian's application, I said no way am I voting for him," a response read. "His subsequent conduct and words just reinforced my belief that he’s not fit for office."
Another Redditor wrote: "If her first instinct is to blame the mainstream media for Tan Kin Lian's election performance, she is really delusional.
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"Nobody forced Tan Kin Lian to make all the boliao (bored, with nothing better to do) posts about pretty girls and Mumbai, or make unsubstantiated promises about what a president can do."
Tan came under scrutiny for previous Facebook posts he had made about "pretty girls" he had encountered on public transport. Initially calling it a "smear campaign" against himself, he later apologised, saying they were meant to be "light-hearted" and not insulting to women.
He was also asked by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to remove three paragraphs from a speech he made on Aug 24.
"They asked for it to be removed on the grounds that it is outside of the president's prerogative. I do not agree with the decision but I have no choice," he said then.
Some netizens did show their support for Koh, however, with a TikTok user commenting that she was a "brave woman" while another wrote that they "admire her courage to go against the establishment".
Tan eventually received 13.88 per cent of the votes at PE 2023, with Ng getting 15.72 per cent and Tharman 70.4 per cent.
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drimac@asiaone.com
