Fathership

Raeesah Khan convinced WP's leadership to turn the other cheek by using the #MeToo card

A wolf in sheep's clothing

|5 min read
Raeesah Khan convinced WP's leadership to turn the other cheek by using the #MeToo card

On 3rd August 2021, Workers' Party (WP) former MP Raeesah Khan lied in parliament.

A day after Raeesah's speech, she was pressed by Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh to “make her best efforts to contact the victim or to contact the individuals” involved as authorities sought more details.

On 7th August 2021, Raeesah spoke with Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh over the phone and confessed that she had told a lie in Parliament.

The next day on 8th August, a meeting between Raeesah and WP's leadership which included Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap took place at Pritam's house.

Raeesah initially told to go to the Committee of Privileges to confess

At the meeting, Raeesah confessed to her party leadership and told them that she had lied in Parliament on Aug 3, and that she had no way of substantiating the statements she had made.

When the Committee of Privileges (COP) asked about her colleagues' reaction, Raeesah said, “I have to say though, that Pritam Singh’s initial response was that I should go to the Committee of Privileges, but after discussions and me explaining the circumstances that led me to the information in the first place, that changed."

According to Raeesah, the party leadership decided that there would be no need to confess and allegedly told her that if she was not questioned about the falsehood, there would be no need to clarify the truth.

Raeesah pulls out the #MeToo card; Pritam changed his mind about having Raeesah report herself to the COP

While Pritam initially tasked Raeesah to report herself to the COP, he changed his mind after Raeesah explained her circumstances.

According to Pritam in a press conference on Thursday (Dec 2), he explained that during the meeting, Raeesah also disclosed some "disturbing personal revalations" that included her own sexual assault.

“Initially, Raeesah stuck to her untruth in her communication with me,” said Pritam.

“After being repeatedly pressed, a number of new facts and disturbing personal revelations were disclosed. These concerned Raeesah’s sexual assault and events which were unknown to the party leadership at that time, and other related matters of a deeply personal nature," he added.

Of “immediate concern” to Pritam was that Raeesah had not previously informed her family members of her sexual assault.

In light of Raeesah's #MeToo moment, Pritam decided that it would be in her best interest to inform her loved ones first about the new revelations before addressing the reasons behind her falsehood.

“In my judgment, it was important that she did so before she could fully address the reasons behind her untruthful conduct in Parliament, and to correct the record."

"In view of a sexual assault and my assessment of her state of mind, I was prepared to give her the space necessary to address the matter with her loved ones.”

He also added that he did not give her a “direct timeline” to correct herself.

“I suppose one could make an argument that it could have been faster but in my judgment, given where she was emotionally, I took the decision that she had to close that loop with her parents.”

Raeesah's account of events inconsistent with Pritam's statement

Shortly after the meeting, Raeeseh sent a text to her secretarial assistant Loh Pei Ying and WP volunteer Yudhishthra Nathan:

"Hey guys, I just met pritam, Sylvia and Faisal. And we spoke about the Muslim issue and the police accusation. I told them what I told you guys, and they’ve agreed that the best thing to do is to take the information to the grave. They also suggested that I write a statement to send out this evening."

But did Pritam actually say that?

According to Pritam, Raeesah was not forthcoming with the truth and maintained that her accusations against the police were true when she was questioned by him shortly after the August 3 parliamentary speech.

Raeesah also claimed to not understand what Pritam's comments were when he wrote "substantiate?" on the draft of her speech which contained the contentious anecdote.

Pritam said:

"There was a process that was undertaken. She had put that anecdote down. It was made known to her that you better be ready to substantiate this, because it is an allegation ... you can make that allegation and I don't think any of us will stop an MP from doing that. But she was put on notice to substantiate it. So the process did not fail in that regard. Why she didn't take heed of that instruction, why did she ignore it? That's not a question I can answer."

The question that is not being asked is whether Raeesah's text message to her colleagues Loh and Nathan can be relied upon, and whether Raeesah concealed from them certain key points that transpired during her meeting with Pritam, of which both Loh and Nathan was not privy to?

Afterall, Raeesah had wilfully propagated an untruth and tried to hide the fact even from her party leaders until she was pressed to come clean.

If she could withhold the truth from the leadership, would it be far-fetched to say she knowingly twisted the context of her message in order to rationalise her actions to her colleagues Loh and Nathan?

Hotel? Trivago.

Read next article ⬇️

Who is Nurul Afiqah, the activist who stormed Law Minister K Shanmugam's MPS?

Locum nurse by day, local disruptor by night.

|4 min read
Who is Nurul Afiqah, the activist who stormed Law Minister K Shanmugam's MPS?

What started as a polite exchange at a Meet-the-People Session (MPS) on Wednesday evening (Mar 12), spiraled into chaos at the Chong Pang Branch office in Nee Soon GRC.

Law Minister K Shanmugam found himself squaring off against a group of activists who stormed the session with a singular demand: a rhetorical back and forth over the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)—Singapore’s 2019 weapon against online lies, and Palestine.

Activists branded Shanmugam a “coward,” flashed middle fingers, and clashed with volunteers trying to capture the melee on video.

Who Is Nurul Afiqah?

Enter Nurul Afiqah, aka Afiqah Kamel—a rising star in Singapore’s activist galaxy. By day, she’s a locum staff nurse; by conviction, she’s a megaphone for the downtrodden, tethered to Sick and Tired, a collective amplifying the voices of healthcare workers and patients.

Her first foray into public activism was on Labour Day 2024, Afiqah seized the mic, railing against the paltry wages and grueling conditions plaguing grassroots healthcare staff. But her fire burns beyond the hospital's burn unit—she’s a fierce advocate for Palestine.

Afiqah Kamel

Since December 8, 2023, she’s hosted Chapterwise Bookclubs every Friday night, first at Punggol - where she resides, and later on at Our Tampines Hub.

These aren’t your average book chats; they’re curated deep dives into the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Her activist streak flared in February 2024 with a cheeky “Free Airshow Attendee Shaming Service”—a satirical jab at Israel’s role in the Singapore Airshow.

Hungry for bigger waves, she teamed up with seasoned rabble-rouser Suraendher Kumaar, trading quiet defiance for full-on disruption.

The art of disruption

Afiqah’s baptism into disruptive activism kicked off on September 16, 2024, alongside Suraendher, targeting MP Edward Chia’s MPS in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

Edward Chia MPS

Armed with pointed questions about Singapore’s alleged ties to Israel’s actions in Palestine, they unleashed a verbal barrage. Chia humored them, and the night ended in a tense “agree to disagree,” with vague promises of follow-ups.

A month later, they cornered MP Sun Xueling—Afiqah’s own Punggol West rep—at her MPS.

The script was familiar: Singapore-Israel ties took center stage, and the back-and-forth felt like a broken record.

By January 2025, REACH, the government’s feedback arm, dangled a closed-door chat. Afiqah and her posse pushed for an open forum but got shut down.

REACH Meeting

The Playbook

The group, operating under the banner we.the.pofma, developed a clear modus operandi: "raid" MPS sessions, pose leading questions about Singapore-Israel ties, present a petition signed by over 70 people condemning Israel, and share interaction summaries on Instagram.

They’ve rallied the public with a battle cry—join the “ongoing initiative,” complete with talking points, constituency hit lists, and post-raid recaps.

Activist Strategy

Interactions reviewed by Fathership suggest the group plans to intensify MPS visits in the lead-up to anticipated elections later in 2025.

The People’s Action Party (PAP) tallies over 10 such ambushes across constituencies in recent months. They’ve slammed the group’s antics as disruptive and antisocial, lamenting the hijacking of a forum meant to serve residents.

Afiqah’s rebel alliance

Afiqah’s activism intersects significantly with Suraendher Kumaar (sometimes spelled Kumarr), a veteran activist known for championing workers’ rights, labor issues, minority rights, and the Palestine cause. Suraendher leads we.the.pofma, a seemingly collaborative group tied to prominent activists like Kokila, Kirsten Han, PJ Thum, Jolovan Wham, and Elijah Tay.

Activist Network

Suraendher Kumaar

His network also includes ties to Leon Perera, a former Workers’ Party member who resigned in 2023 over an infidelity scandal with Nicole Seah. Perera notably served as a keynote speaker at the launch of Suraendher’s People’s Manifesto in July 2024.

Afiqah, through Suraendher Kumar also works closely with SDP Young Democrats.

SDP Young Democrats

Afiqah’s on a collision course with Singapore’s status quo, hell-bent on spotlighting the Israel-Palestine saga and picking apart policies like POFMA.

She has opted for disruptive activism because her Chapterwise Book Club meets weren't impactful enough to change the world.

Trading quiet enlightenment for loud MPS ambushes proved disruptive activism is the real spice of life when polite discussion just won't cut it.