Steve Chia withdraws from MacPherson SMC

On Sunday morning Steve Chia wrote on his Facebook, ‘The trolls have won’ and announced his withdrawal from contesting in the MacPherson ward. He also said he would not contest in this GE. In the same message he commented that Tin Pei Ling was not a strong candidate and wished the WP well in the election.

This is a big contrast to his earlier angry remarks, attacking WP for not responding to the overtures by NSP during the husting to prevent a 3 corner fight. And the NSP CEC’s decision to send in a team was somewhat a reaction to WP’s stance, a kind of defiance. If WP was aloof, they would put in a team to challenge them.

The events following NSP’s decision to engage in a 3 corner fight was not well received and social media went on overdrive to dig out every scrap of juicy news of Steve Chia’s past and the nude episode with his maid. This might prove too much for Steve Chia. The heat was too hot to take and would not go away at least till the GE if Steve Chia were to contest MacPherson. Steve Chia also admitted that he had to take care of his family and their feelings and thus this withdrawal.

Steve Chia is not the only victim of this saga. NSP’s President Sebastian Teo also had his dirty linen brought out for airing. According to an article in the TRE, Sebastian Teo was charged in court for corruption and was bankrupted. The information was not volunteered or disclosed to the NSP. Netizens wondered aloud why such sensitive information was not raised by the PAP, suggesting something fishy in the matter. They openly concluded that NSP is a mole party of the PAP or at least many members of the CEC were. Of course these were just allegations and difficult to prove.

The biggest loser is of course NSP. NSP has lost all credibility after this incident. It appears to be a wishy washy party and acting rashly, even negated on its commitment, on its words not to engage in 3 corner fights. The comments in the social media have put NSP as a party with no standing in the eyes of the electorate, a questionable party with a hazy background. It would not be easy for NSP to redeem itself from this mess and to regain its credibility as a trustworthy  opposition party.

Whether NSP is really a mole party is now immaterial. The immediate impact is that it has a lot to answer and given the imminent GE, it does not have time on its side to do damage control. The fate of NSP in this GE is as good as gone with the wind. Many netizens have been calling the NSP to withdraw from the GE and allow other opposition parties to replace them in the constituencies they have choped for the GE.

Maybe NSP may just have to do it to show some sincerity, take a break to explain what actually happened, to rebuild the trust of the people. Failure to win back the people’s trust could see it being thrashed in the GE and losing their deposits as well.

Who are the trolls? This is a question in everyone’s mind.