Bukit Gombak residents call PAP-PSP spat childish, 'boh liao'

A video showing an encounter between two men and two Progress Singapore Party volunteers inside a lift was making its rounds online on Jan 6.

The incident is believed to have taken place at Block 386 Goodview Gardens in Bukit Gombak on Jan 4, during a walkabout in the Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency.

In the video, the man in a black top films the PSP volunteers – a senior-looking man and a woman who appears to be uncomfortable as she tries to avoid the camera – while his companion snaps wefies of himself and the woman volunteer. 

But the men's antics were not the only "childish" behaviour residents have witnessed.

One of the Block 386 residents said People's Action Party volunteers knocked on his door on Jan 4 and advised him to keep his door closed.

“There were two women from PAP who knocked on my door and they told me the opposition party was here to 'disturb',” he told The New Paper.

"They told me to ignore knocks from PSP members and keep my door closed.

“It's my first time seeing this type of behaviour and I find it childish.”

A senior citizen who lives on the 22nd storey said PSP volunteers visited her flat but she was unaware of what went down in the lift until she saw the video online.

She added that the behaviour of the two men in the video and the online mud-slinging were boh liao (meaningless).

More than 30 residents said they chatted with PSP volunteers who visited their flats and handed out flyers on Jan 4, but none of them recalled seeing PAP volunteers.

Except one 12th-storey resident who insisted that PAP volunteers visited every household on his floor and there was no sign of anyone from PSP.

“I saw PAP members knocking on every door on my floor and I even had a chat with Ms Low Yen Ling,” he said.

“There was no sight of anyone from PSP though.”

The race to win over voters in the area might stem from the past General Election results in which PAP beat PSP in the Chua Chu Kang GRC by a slim margin – PAP's 58.64 per cent to PSP's 41.36 per cent.

pap says...

Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Low Yen Ling on Jan 8 wrote on Facebook that PSP volunteers were the ones who started the altercation.

She claimed that a man from PSP had intimidated a PAP volunteer and slapped his face twice. The PSP man apparently taunted a second PAP volunteer.

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is also an MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC, on Jan 8 shared Ms Low's Facebook post.

He wrote: "Am sure Dr Tan (Cheng Bock) would agree that PSP volunteers should not be involved in conduct that involves restraining, assaulting and insulting others – though he says nothing about this."

psp says...

On Jan 4, PSP member and former candidate S. Nallakaruppan wrote on Facebook that PAP volunteers had stalked his team during PSP’s block visits at Goodview Gardens.

He said the PAP volunteers filmed PSP members and handed out flyers to residents whom PSP volunteers were engaging.

On Jan 8, PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock shared on Facebook the video of the lift incident.

"In addition to following and stalking our volunteers, they also tried to intimidate them by taking pictures and filming them at close range," he wrote.

"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."

A PSP volunteer has since filed a police report over the incident.

The police confirmed that a report was lodged and that investigations are ongoing.

Ms Low said the PAP team had considered filing a police report after two of its male volunteers were “manhandled”, but decided against it.