NSP president condemns online attack against him

SINGAPORE — National Solidarity Party (NSP) president Sebastian Teo today (Aug 26) hit back at the “mud-slinging” against him over his past convictions for corruption, and also dismissed suggestions that the party was in trouble, declaring that it was a “solid party with sound and strong solutions”.

Last week, anonymous posts had appeared on the Internet last weekend disparaging him and NSP member Steve Chia, detailing media reports of Mr Teo’s conviction in the 1970s for corruption,

among others.

In a post on the NSP’s Facebook page this evening, Mr Teo, stressing that he has since become a respectable businessman, pointed out that he has stood in previous parliamentary elections without issue and called the web page detailing the convictions an example of the “gutter politics” that the authorities have warned against for the coming polls.

But he stopped short of saying whether he would still be among the NSP members standing for elections.

On his corruption offences, which took place when he was employed by the Ministry of Defence, Mr Teo said he had denied wrongdoing then, but had plead guilty and paid the fines on the advice of his lawyers. “In hindsight, I wish I had not done so,” he said.

“My life experience is no different from that of many Singaporeans who have overcome setbacks to achieve much in life. I am proud of what I have achieved in life and I ask you for your understanding in this matter.”

Condemning the anonymous attacks, Mr Teo called their timing “highly suspicious”.

“I have stood in the past three elections without anyone suggesting that I was ineligible to stand as a candidate,” said Mr Teo, who stood in Chua Chua Kang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in 2011.

Mr Teo’s statement comes after a week of trouble for the NSP, which saw two members of its Central Executive Committee resign, including former acting secretary-general Hazel Poa. As a result of the online attack against him, Mr Chia also dropped his plans to contest in MacPherson.

The party has maintained that it plans to contest all 12 seats it has declared interest in so far, including Tampines GRC, Sembawang GRC, Pioneer and MacPherson.