Ho Ching defends dinners that involved Su Haijin & ministers

Ministers Ong Ye Kung and Chee Hong Tat, and NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng recently came under scrutiny for pictures they took at separate dinners with Fujian gang member Su Haijin.

The three came out with statements regarding the pictures.

Sam Goi, who organised the dinners, recently came out to clarify the dates in which the dinners occurred.

According to The Straits Times, Goi said the dinner with Chee was held on Nov. 19, 2020, the dinner with Ng was on May 1, 2021, and the dinner with Ong was on May 10, 2022.

Goi had earlier told Bloomberg, the dinner involving Ng took place "around 2020".

He also said that he paid for the meals that Su and the ministers attended, adding that he hasn’t kept in touch with Su.

Compliance with Covid safe management measures

In his statement to the media, Goi emphasised that the group size for the respective dinners were in "full compliance with the applicable Covid safe management measures at the material time,".

Ho Ching, referencing these dates, also came out to defend the dinners.

In a Facebook post on May 11, she put up a Facebook post on the issue.

In it she lays out, in the form of what appears to be a series of rhetorical questions, why the dinners were not an issue.

Her first point was that the dinners were at reputable restaurants, who would have "made sure" diners complied with Covid restrictions.

"'Popiah king', Sam Goi’s dinners during covid complied with the relevant Covid restrictions at each point?

How do we know?

These are not secret private dinners at home, but meals hosted at reputable restaurants which would have surely made sure that the diners comply with the applicable covid restrictions, right?"

And that those who claimed the meals contravened Covid restrictions "are just trying to stir resentment, no?"

She noted that the May 1 dinner was on Labour Day, and could have been the reason for the dinner invitations "during a quiet May Day" during Covid. And that it was "certainly not a nefarious gathering to hatch any plots".

Ho then touched on the issue of Su's money laundering.

"And if anyone at the dinner, other than Su Haijin himself, had known that Su had been involved in money laundering, they would have surely not invited him, nor attended a dinner involving him, right?"

Ho also urged critics not to "act holier than thou over a dinner mtg".

In the comment section, in response to this comment...

Ho had this response.

You can read the full post here.

Image from Temasek Holdings and Toxicstatenarrativeinsg/IG