An opposition candidate in the Singapore 2025 general election had to apologise to a fellow party member after she used a racial slur when campaigning in Woodlands last night.
According to a media report, Gigene Wong, from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), had used the term “keling kia” to describe fellow candidate Ariffin Sha during a ceramah held at a primary school.
“Keling” is a derogatory term that is used to describe Indians, while “kia” is a Hokkien word that refers to a child or a younger person.
“I apologise for the comment I made at last night’s rally, which disrespected my fellow candidate Ariffin.
“I also understand that it offended the Indian community. I have been counselled by my party members about the word, and now I understand it is offensive,” Wong said in a Facebook status she posted this morning.
Singapore is in the midst of its general election, with close to 2.75 million Singaporeans going to the ballot box on May 3 to elect 97 MPs across 33 constituencies.
Wong and Ariffin are a part of SDP's group of candidates contesting the Marsiling-Yew Tee group representation constituency.
‘Hurtful and unacceptable’
According to a viral video clip of the speech, Wong referred to Ariffin as a “keling kia” when asking voters to vote for the 28-year-old, whom she described as having a bright future in politics and that he can be their next “Pritam Singh”.
Pritam is the Singapore opposition leader.
In her apology, Wong admitted that her comments were “very hurtful and unacceptable”.
“I am fully responsible for them. My original vetted speech did not include the comment I said, which happened impromptu.
“There is no excuse, and I am sorry for all the pain and anger that I caused.
“SDP is a party of respect and equality where everyone is included. I have learnt an important lesson from this incident and from now on, I will uphold these values in my words and actions,” she said. - Mkini
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