No further police action against ex-NMP Calvin Cheng over remarks on killing of terrorists’ children

SINGAPORE — The police will not be taking any further action against former Nominated Member of Parliament Calvin Cheng for his controversial remarks in November last year that had seemingly advocated the killing of terrorists’ children “in case they grow up to take revenge”.

Mr Cheng provided the update in an email sent to the media on Monday (Oct 10), days after he received the police letter.

“After careful considerations of the facts and circumstances of the case and in consultation with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police have decided not to take further action against you,” said the police letter addressed to Mr Cheng. “All investigations and enquiries into the matter would cease and the case will be closed.”

At least two police reports were filed last year against Mr Cheng over his comments. One was by Mr Augustin Lee Tze Shih, Organising secretary of the People’s Power Party (PPP), in December and another by a 34-year-old man who only wanted to be known as Nuh, on Nov 30. Both cases have been closed, TODAY understands.

On Monday (Oct 10), Mr Cheng also hit out at Mr Lee, saying that the Opposition activists’ and politicians’ act of “using police reports as political tools” was a waste of police resources. “Lodging ‘revenge’ police reports against MPs, Ministers and other pro-establishment people… is extremely childish. It is of course a win-win for them, but it must be stopped,” he said.

Elaborating, Mr Cheng told TODAY: “If (people who are pro-establishment) get into trouble, then they are happy. If no action taken against me, then they will say one country two systems, and cast aspersions.”

He cited past police reports lodged against People’s Action Party (PAP) politicians: Dr Lam Pin Min for his Facebook post on a Thaipusam incident last February, Madam Rahayu Mahzam for her speech in a General Election rally, and Minister K Shanmugam on alleged violation of election advertising regulations, adding that people who made the reports are all politically active. “This is a disturbing trend,” he said.

In response, PPP secretary-general Goh Meng Seng said lodging a report “is of course political because he is considered as a political figure who had made irresponsible speech, and it is the Opposition’s role to test the rule of law and fairness of the whole system”.

As for the outcome of this case, Mr Goh said the result is “disappointing” and asked for more transparency on why the police had decided to drop the case.

Mr Cheng’s controversial comments were posted on Nov 17 in response to a Facebook thread discussing liberalism and security, and drew much criticism. He later clarified on his blog that his comments were not “hate speech”. He also apologised to the Media Development Authority Singapore and the Media Literacy Council, which he was a member of then, after the council found his comments insensitive and inappropriate.

On Monday, when asked why he had made those remarks last year, he said his comments were taken out of context but declined to elaborate further. “They took a snap shot of something that belongs to a long Facebook discussion. They tried to read meaning into it,” he said.