Singapore Democratic Party's (SDP) Gigene Wong issued another public apology at the SDP rally on Sunday (April 27) for a racial slur towards Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC teammate Ariffin Sha.
Ariffin responded on the same stage, addressing the incident and its impact on the campaign's discourse.
Ariffin responded on the same stage, addressing the incident and its impact on the campaign's discourse.
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00:00Good evening, everyone. The past day have brought about a difficult and necessary learning experience for me.
00:14At the rally last night, I used a term which was very offensive to my fellow candidate, Eraphin, and the Indian community at large.
00:30I have been counseled by my party colleagues, and I am deeply sorry for what I have said, and the pain and the anger that have caused.
00:45I humbly seek your forgiveness on this matter, and hope to be given another chance to meet a man.
00:53I would like to take a moment to address what happened last night.
00:58Yesterday, Jijin Wong appallingly used the K-word, amongst other things.
01:06I can accept that there was no malice, but intention is irrelevant when it comes to such matters.
01:14Some even think that it's okay to use the K-word.
01:21Well, it's not entirely new or surprising, but honestly, it stinks like hell, especially from someone close to you.
01:33What happened yesterday has no place in Singapore, let alone a rally stage.
01:43Dr. Paul Tambaya, our Chairman, Dr. Chi Sun Juan, our Secretary General, took swift action in reprimanding and disciplining Jijin.
01:51She has apologized publicly.
01:55She apologized to me in private as well.
01:58She took full responsibility.
02:01Jijin explained to me that she did not think that the term was derogatory.
02:07As soon as she learned it, she was remorseful.
02:10She labored under the impression that it was a neutral term that Hokkien speakers use to refer to Indians.
02:17She genuinely did not know.
02:20I am not going to justify her behavior or make any excuses for her.
02:26I just want to state that there is no room for racism in Singapore, intentional or otherwise.
02:34There's no room for racism in the SDP.