PAP volunteer accuses PSP member of taunting & slapping him in Bukit Gombak, shares footage

A male People's Action Party (PAP) volunteer, who was allegedly slapped by a Progress Singapore Party (PSP) member in Bukit Gombak on Jan. 4, has identified himself on Facebook.

To support his claim, the volunteer, Azman Ibrahim, also published a video he took that captured the alleged slap.

According to Azman, he was "Male Volunteer 1" mentioned by PAP Member of Parliament (MP) for Chua Chu Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), Low Yen Ling, in her Jan. 8 Facebook post.

Low was responding to allegations made by PSP members, who accused some PAP activists of "harassment" during a walkabout in the GRC.

Details of video

According to the video, a PSP member could be seen holding up his phone to take selfies with Azman, dressed in black, along a common corridor of a public housing block.

The PSP member continued to do so even after Azman indicated his unwillingness to take photos together, saying, "On camera can already lah."

In the video caption, Azman also accused the PSP member of "taunting him" continuously.

Soon after, a colleague of the PSP member could be heard telling him to stop taking photos and get going.

However, just as the colleague walked past Azman, he allegedly slapped Azman before continuing walking ahead with the PSP member.

In his Facebook post, Azman also stated that he "did not expect that [PSP members] would get agitated and physical".

Allegedly slapped twice

In her post, Low provided a fuller account of Azman's encounter, which she said happened at around 4pm on Jan. 4.

According to her, Azman "was getting out of the lift to join his team" when he was allegedly held back by a PSP member.

"That PSP member was joined by another two male PSP members who stepped into the lift," wrote Low.

Thereafter, one of them "went on to intimidate" Azman and "slapped his face twice", apparently once in the lift and once in the corridor.

"And all this time, [Azman] was also being insulted with the use of derogatory terms," said Low.

She also accused Azman's alleged attacker of taunting another male PAP volunteer later that day.

Response to harassment allegations

Besides showing the footage of the alleged slap, Azman also addressed the allegations by a woman dressed in PSP uniform, who accused him of "harassment" and filming her in "tight proximity".

According to PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock, the woman was a PSP volunteer, and she filed a police report after the incident.

In his post, Azman said he was supporting his fellow PAP volunteers while visiting estate residents when he noticed a female volunteer was "being surrounded" by PSP members.

Claiming that "both sides were taking videos of each other" at the time, Azman, who was worried about the female PSP volunteer, took out his phone to record the scene.

Interaction with female PSP volunteer

In the video Azman took, around six PSP members could be seen gathering around the female PAP volunteer.

After the female PSP volunteer noticed him, she turned around and walked towards Azman with a smile on her face.

She continued to look into Azman's camera, while another PSP member behind her whipped out his phone to record the scene.

In the video's caption, Azman also alleged that the female PSP volunteer "hit [his] phone with the flyers in her hand" and continued to do so even after he stepped backwards.

Throughout their interactions, several individuals, presumably residents of the public housing estate, could be seen walking in the background.

'Hope truth will come out'

Azman wrote in his post that he decided to share the videos because he had been "very troubled" over the last few days, with many asking him "if what the PSP said was true".

He added that due to the incident, he and his family have been "targeted online" and "hurt".

"Now that a police report was made [by the PSP], I hope the truth will come out," wrote Azman.

Likewise, Low also stated in her post that her team looked forward to "a full police investigation" and "for the whole truth to become public".

Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam shared Azman's post and wrote: "PSP conduct."

Top images via Azman Ibrahim/Facebook