Workers' Party (WP) candidate Raeesah Khan apologised yesterday for making "insensitive" and "improper" remarks in two Facebook posts, in which she suggested the Singapore police discriminate against minorities.

At a press conference called last night after it emerged that two police reports have been made against her, Ms Raeesah, 26, said she did not mean to cause social division with her remarks, but had wanted to raise awareness about the concerns of minorities.

In the posts, which were made in February 2018 and May this year, she suggested that police officers discriminated against citizens, and that rich Chinese and white people were treated differently under the law. She also said minorities and mosque leaders were given different treatment compared with church leaders.

Last night, flanked by WP leaders Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim and her teammates contesting in Sengkang GRC, Ms Raeesah said: "I apologise to any racial group or community who have been hurt by my comments.

"My remarks were insensitive, and I regret making them. I feel really passionate about minority issues regardless of race, and in my passion I made improper remarks, and I have to be accountable for them. I will fully cooperate in any police investigations."

As she spoke at a multi-purpose hall in Compassvale Link in the new Sengkang GRC, the rest of the party's candidates for the four-member constituency - equity analyst Louis Chua, economist Jamus Lim and lawyer He Tingru - looked on solemnly.

They did not speak, with Mr Singh being the only one who fielded questions.

Asked if this matter would affect Ms Raeesah's candidacy, Mr Singh said she would continue with her campaign. He added that it was too early to talk about it, and police investigations would have to be allowed to take their course.

He also said the party would stand behind its Sengkang team, adding that he and Ms Lim had turned up to support them.

Mr Singh said he had not known about the Facebook posts beforehand, but noted that the social activist is the WP's youngest candidate in this election and comes from a generation that has "completely grown up on social media".

"And for me, I would be actually a bit disappointed if our candidates try to sanitise their past. And I think they should be upfront and authentic to the public. This is who they are. And in the event there are certain posts or certain comments that they may have made which are untoward, then I would expect them to explain themselves," he said.

Both of the posts in question were made on Ms Raeesah's personal Facebook account.

One post from May 17 was about an incident at Robertson Quay involving seven foreigners who were caught on camera ignoring safe distancing rules during the circuit breaker period.

"Do you see police officers here? Imagine if this was a neighbourhood hawker centre. There would be policemen swarming the area and enforcing the law within minutes," Ms Raeesah had said in her post.

"Why is the law different for these people? Is it because they're rich Chinese or white people? Do you think expats will be treated with the same disdain as migrant workers who broke the law?"

Meanwhile, the other post, from 2018, was made in the context of the City Harvest Church ruling. Ms Raeesah had posted: "Singapore jails minorities mercilessly, harasses mosque leaders but lets corrupt church leaders who stole $50 million walk free. Who did they pay?"

Her social media accounts have since been made private.

After news broke of the police reports, some netizens criticised Ms Raeesah, while others started using the hashtag #istandwithraeesah in support of her.

Mr Singh said he has no regrets fielding Ms Raeesah, and noted that she has helped out with the WP for a year now, including at Meet-the-People sessions.

"I know that she takes each case very seriously, regardless of race, regardless of religion. She's very vested in what issue the resident is facing," he said.

"I think those are very important criteria for me, personally, to consider someone for candidature - whether you are able to put yourself and walk a mile in the shoes of someone who needs help and assistance, so I've got no regrets for fielding a candidate who is like that, who is prepared to walk with residents and solve their problems and issues."

The party would review the matter after the election, he added.

The police said in their statement that they have consulted the Attorney-General's Chambers, "which advised that an offence of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race under Section 298A of the Penal Code is disclosed".

Police investigations are ongoing.

For promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion or race under the Penal Code, a person can be jailed for up to three years, or fined, or face both punishments.

WP candidate apologises for remarks in Facebook posts

Workers' Party candidate for Sengkang GRC Raeesah Khan, flanked by party chief Pritam Singh and party chairman Sylvia Lim, speaking to reporters last night, after it emerged that two police reports have been made against her. Ms Raeesah apologised for making "insensitive" and "improper" remarks in two Facebook posts in which she suggested that the police discriminate against minorities.