K Shanmugam and Pritam Singh cross swords over political parties' handling of sensitive matters

Minister for Home Affairs and Law, K Shanmgum, confronts Leader of the Opposition, Pritam Singh over the use of "rape" when describing Raessah Khan's ordeal in the case of lying to the Parliament. Mr Singh retorted Mr Shanmugam, stating that it is exactly the situation that leaders of the Workers' Party was faced with when Ms Khan confessed that she had lied in Parliament and gave the reason for her sexual assault for not coming out with the truth earlier. Mr Singh had questioned Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on why it took so long for the People's Action Party to take action on former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan Jin and PAP MP Cheng Li Hui after knowing about the affair since 2020 and despite stating sensitivity being the reason of delay, noted how PAP hounded on WP for the two months delay before having Ms Khan come out with the truth. "But the matter here is about the point the Prime Minister raised about sensitivity. The Prime Minister believes that it is appropriate to respond sensitively given the circumstances at hand. And the point I was making was we were dealing here with someone who said she had been raped, and I did not sense that sensitivity coming from the PAP at the time."