'Unclear communication, vague instructions': Ex-aide testifies on Pritam’s handling of Raeesah’s case on Day 4 of trial

On the fourth day of Workers' Party (WP) leader Pritam Singh's trial on Oct. 17, the court heard testimony from Loh Pei Ying, a former WP cadre and former secretarial assistant to Raeesah Khan.

Loh, along with WP volunteer Yudhishthra Nathan, had worked closely with Raeesah. She learned four days after her Aug. 3 parliamentary anecdote that it was untrue.

Loh took the stand on Oct. 17 after Raeesah completed her reexamination earlier that morning.

Loh's background

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Ben Mathias began by asking Loh about her involvement with WP.

Loh explained that she started as a volunteer in the 2011 General Election and resigned in 2022.

She became a cadre member around 2016 to 2017, gaining certain voting rights for the Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections.

Additionally, Loh worked in WP's media team and briefly served as Singh’s secretarial assistant before becoming Raeesah's aide during the 2020 elections.

When asked about her relationship with Singh, Loh described it as “friendly” and characterised it as a “professional relationship.”

Loh’s knowledge of untruth

Tan then inquired about how Loh first learned that Raeesah's anecdote was false.

Loh stated that she found out on Aug. 7, 2021, when Raeesah herself revealed it.

Referring to WhatsApp messages exchanged among Raeesah, Nathan, and Loh on that date, Tan asked how Raeesah conveyed the truth.

Loh explained that after receiving messages from Raeesah indicating that she "did something bad," she sensed there was clearly something “weighing on her” and suggested a Zoom call to discuss.

It was during the call that Raeesah revealed the anecdote that she had said in parliament was untrue.

Raeesah was emotional, upset and worried about what would happen to her because of this, Loh shared.

Nathan and her mainly offered consolation, she added.

Loh said Raeesah was not very coherent and she and Nathan asked questions to make sure they understood what happened.

"Then we discussed many matters, as I said, mostly about political history, WP history, because she had generally quite a poor understanding of it," she said.

She later felt relieved upon discovering that Singh was already aware of the lie, saying, "It's a big deal or a stain, I would say, on WP's history or track record, for a Member of Parliament to have lied about something like this."

"Emotionally, and morally, I felt also, quite, in a difficult place.

It was uncomfortable to be aware of this and feel like I had to hold this secret, and knowing that Mr Singh already knew sort of made me feel a little relieved because then if something were to be done about it, he would know what to do."

Meeting with Singh on Aug. 10

Loh and Nathan had a meeting with Singh at the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council office in Eunos on Aug. 10, 2021.

She spoke to Singh and encouraged him to affirm Raeesah's experience and not distrust her experience as sexual assault victim, Loh shared.

She explained in court that she had wanted to share with him that survivors of sexual assault often have traumatic experiences that affect their memory and recounting of the experience.

She had also asked Singh if he had spoken to Raeesah and if he knew the facts of what happened with Raeesah, noting that they "avoided saying this out loud".

Tan asked Loh why she did this and she replied that there was a "prevalent belief" among Raeesah, Nathan and herself that their phones might be "bugged or listened to in some shape or form".

"...because I think [Raeesah] had received a text from Apple a while ago that state forces were sort of trying to get into her phone. Mr Singh also was generally, I guess, worried about that, so actually, when I met him, I had to hand over my phone and keep it in the drawer behind him."

When asked how she confirmed Singh's awareness of the situation, Loh said she asked if Raeesah had informed him, to which he nodded.

Loh also mentioned having a “fuzzy” memory but recalled asking Singh if the untruth would resurface, to which he affirmed it probably would not.

From this meeting, Loh understood that “nothing had to be done” regarding Raeesah's untruth.

Between Aug. 10 and Oct. 4, when the matter was again raised in Parliament, Loh stated that no steps were taken regarding the untruth and that she received no instructions about it or checking in on Raeesah.

During that time, her interactions with Singh focused on work-related discussions and included a tour of parliament, but she said Raeesah was not mentioned.

Parliament sitting on Oct. 4

During the parliamentary sitting on Oct. 4, Minister for Law K. Shanmugam pressed Raeesah about her anecdote. Loh learned about this through a Yahoo news article, which she shared in their group chat.

Alarmed by the exchange, she said she felt "a lot of worry and fear" and wanted to understand the situation.

When Tan asked about deleted messages in the conversation, Loh explained that Raeesah was "paranoid" about their devices being bugged.

"She did not want us to say explicitly on text that she had lied, and she had requested me to delete the messages referencing that specifically," Loh said.

After the deleted messages, Loh had also asked Raeesah to "lawyer up".

Loh said she did so as she thought the best course of action was to seek legal advice on what Raeesah was obliged to do and what her rights were as a Member of Parliament.

Loh's advice to Raeesah, as well as Nathan's, came under scrutiny on Oct. 16 in court, with the defence asking Raeesah if her former aides were "blocking an investigation" or suggesting that Raeesah not tell the lawyer the full details of the case.

Meeting with Singh on Oct. 12, 2021

Following the Oct. 4, 2021 parliamentary session, Loh said she became aware of plans to address the lie on Oct. 12, 2021.

She met with Nathan and Singh at Singh's house to discuss whether Raeesah should maintain the lie or come clean.

Loh expressed her concern that the party would be criticised as "lacking integrity" and full of "liars".

"We discussed also the possibility of, or rather the impossibility of, retaining the lie, because there was a surety that Minister Shanmugam would pursue the matter until it was addressed, so it could not be kept secret anymore."

Loh recalled that Singh informed them that he had consulted former WP leader Low Thia Khiang, who believed the best course of action was to clarify the issue in parliament, assuring them that WP would "survive the fallout that would follow".

This advice reassured Loh and Nathan, as they had confidence in Low's judgment.

Singh expressed that he "had a feeling" the issue would arise in parliament and said he would give Raeesah a choice to come clean without judgment, according to Loh.

Loh said in court she understood this to mean that he would not have a poor opinion of Raeesah regardless of what she did and would not punish or judge her.

Loh added that she was surprised to that Singh would say such a thing.

“It was unclear communication. It was vague instructions”.

At the meeting, Singh had also set out the reasons for why the untruth had to be clarified, Loh said.

The main reason was that Shanmugam "wasn't going to let it go", and the "strong second reason" was for Raeesah's "own conscience and for the party".

They also discussed drafting Raeesah's clarification statement, but Loh was concerned that Raeesah was "not in a mentally good place to draft it properly" and felt it would be more "personal than professional".

She then requested that Nathan and herself assist with the drafting process so that when Singh viewed the statement, it would be with their "advice in mind".

Meeting with WP leaders on Oct. 23, 2021

On Oct. 23, 2021, Loh met with Raeesah and the three WP leaders — Singh, Sylvia Lim, and Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap — to review printed drafts of Raeesah's statement.

Loh and Nathan had provided feedback on earlier versions of the draft on Oct. 19 and 20.

They discussed Raeesah's parents' concerns about the statement and the necessity of coming clean in Parliament.

Loh said the meeting ended with a conclusion that there was "no escape from the need to clarify the lie".

Loh reminded Singh that he would face questions about his knowledge of the situation, to which he responded that "he knew how to handle it."

Disciplinary panel

After Raeesah clarified her untruth in Parliament on Nov. 1, WP announced the formation of a disciplinary panel to investigate her conduct.

On Nov. 10, a message was sent to WP members regarding the panel, requesting their opinions.

To this, Loh said that she was "extremely angry" as she felt "members had no business giving comments on the matter when they did not know the true timeline of events which was that Mr Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Manap knew she had lied a week after she first lied".

Loh had then sent a message to Singh saying, "I feel that it's as plain as day to me and the people involved in her apology that this is a little backwards pedalling."

When asked to clarify her message, Loh replied:

"I was of the opinion that the disciplinary panel was performatory. Meaning that it was an action Singh had taken to quell party and public anger on the matter, but it did not have real consequences, so to speak. They weren't going to take drastic action on her."

Loh later told Singh that he should have clarified the truth in Parliament in October 2021 if he believed it was necessary.

"He's the leader of the opposition — it's not just Ms Khan's responsibility, given he had knowledge that a lie had been done, he also had every opportunity to step up and clarify," she said.

Loh testified that Singh was "quite upset" with her for saying so, and she referenced a similar mistake he had made in Parliament regarding a plagiarised speech, noting that he did not face equivalent consequences.

"He took my point," she concluded.

Loh is expected to continue testifying on Oct. 18, the fifth day of the trial.

Top photos by Ashley Lee and Aiman Nadzri