~ by Cheong Yaoming ~
Q: What was your explanation to WP Central Executive Committee (CEC)?
A: I felt there was a need for a back-up plan, to prepare for a worst case scenario. What if there was a walkover; would the down-side risks of that be manageable?
Therefore I decided to act quietly, behind the scenes mainly because Elections Department officer, Ms Doris, confirmed that the applicants’ names are confidential when I applied for the political donation certificate.
I did not to inform Mr Low Thia Khiang or anyone else in the CEC based on 3 reasons:
– I was unsure of what to do next and what would happen next. You must understand that there has been no precedent of a by-election.
– In part, I was waiting for Mr Low's call. I believed he had the situation under control with his many years of experience in politics.
– I was also really busy with both afternoon and evening classes.
The interview at East Asia Institute of Management (EASB) by The New Paper reporter Esther Ng is not completely true, and I referred the CEC to my explanation in Facebook. This false transcript was a major point of contention during the Q&A portion of the meeting.
In my honest opinion, it is unethical and definitely not right for The New Paper to engage in such false reporting.
The bottom line is I had good intentions and motives but in hindsight I understood the lapse and oversight in implementation. I admit this is my fault and take responsibility for this. However, this is definitely not “a lack of professionalism and/or basic courtesy” as Mr Low said on Nomination Day.
Q: What did the CEC members say in response to your explanation during the meeting? Or did they just listen to your explanation and sent you the letter 2 days later?
A: It was basically more of a show cause session for me to explain my actions and to answer any question the CEC had. And I was not given any response after the meeting and only received the letter on 16 July 2012 .
Q: Did they vote for the decision with you present?
A: No, after my explanation and no further questions from the CEC members, I thanked the CEC and left the meeting.
Q: Were there any CEC members who voted in favour of accepting your explanation or any CEC members who spoke up for you?
A: I do not know anything about how the voting went. I was only asked questions by the CEC and I answered them.
Q: What are you plans for the future?
A: I will focus on some of the social projects close to my heart:
– enhance the management and processes of some faith-based organizations.
– leveraging on neighbourhood faith-based organizations to reach out to the some of the less well-off segments of the community.
– strengthen the people-to-people relationships between our Poh clan in Singapore and our Poh ancestral place in Fujian, Anxi (more info on the project – http://www.facebook.com/PohAncestorFujianAnxi).
