SDP has issued an official response to the recent TRS article JEREMY CHEN: WHY I LEFT THE SINGAPORE DEMOCRATIC PARTY which covered a fairly critical post written by Jeremy Chen, a former SDP member, on why he chose to leave SDP.
SDP explained that it was Mr Chen's Facebook posts which caused SDP to have to take action.
See the full response from SDP's Asst. Secretary-General Christopher Ang below:
Jeremy Chen's FB posts reason for SDP action
We have, in the past, received numerous complaints with screenshots from our members and netizens regarding Jeremy Chen's Facebook posts. Some of these include Jeremy:
calling Roy Ngerng “deceitful”, saying that the funds that he raised were “ill-gotten”, mentioning ISIS murderers' and rapists' justifications with Roy's matter, and comparing him to Yang Yin,
writing that Vincent Wijeysinghe should “stop pretending to be hurt for personal publicity”,
making uncalled for remarks against other opposition parties such as saying that the NSP lacked principles, questioning the general character of SingFirst, and calling out WP's Sylvia Lim's argument as being “very silly”,
likening PAP's Heng Swee Keat to Judas Iscariot
putting up a tasteless caption of a photo of Lee Kuan Yew
saying that, “some religious people are stupid”
casting aspersions on SMU's teaching system
saying that one “...can rob, rape, murder...just say that you are against the PAP and anything also can. No need to take responsibility.”
Dr Chee Soon Juan and other members had repeatedly cautioned Jeremy from making such offensive posts but to no avail.
The party then conveyed to Jeremy that if he continued with such Facebook posts, he cannot play a prominent role in the party. This is the only point of contention the party has with him. SDP members and activists are expected to conduct themselves with decorum, whether online or off.
Jeremy tended his resignation as a member of the SDP on 27 January 2015.
Christopher Ang
Assistant Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party