Oct 7, 2021
The police invite Ms Khan for an interview to give more details on the rape victim anecdote.
Ms Loh suggests for Ms Khan to say she is not in touch with the rape victim, and suggests that Ms Khan gather accounts from other sexual assault survivors.
Mr Nathan says that Ms Khan should maybe not come clean to the WP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) as it is “too risky” and they may not be of help.
Oct 11, 2021
Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal Manap meet former WP chief Low Thia Khiang at his home.
At this meeting, Mr Low says Ms Lim told him about the lie and a plan to get Ms Khan to apologise.
Mr Low responds that the correct forum to apologise and clarify in is parliament, since the lie was made in parliament.
He asks if the government knew about the lie, and Ms Lim replies that it was not easy to know given the number of police stations.
Mr Low replies that this is not the point, and that if Ms Khan told a lie, she should apologise.
Mr Low says Singh and Ms Lim mentioned that they planned to expel Ms Khan from the party.
However, there are several things he says Singh and Ms Lim did not say: They did not say they had already told Ms Khan to clarify her lie in parliament. They did not say they had asked Ms Khan to speak to her parents about the sexual assault. They did not say Singh had told Ms Khan at her house on Oct 3 to clarify the lie in parliament on Oct 4, and they did not say when they first found out that Ms Khan had lied.
Oct 12, 2021
Ms Khan meets Singh at his home.
Mr Nathan then learns from Ms Khan that Singh and Ms Lim want her to come clean.
At 5.13pm, he sends Ms Khan and Ms Loh this message: “In the first place I think we should just not give too many details. At most apologise for not having the facts (about) (the rape victim’s) age accurate.”
Mr Nathan and Ms Loh later redact this message from their respective versions of messages they tender to the COP. Ms Loh admits in court under cross-examination that Mr Nathan was suggesting in this message that they continue to lie.
Mr Nathan also admits during his cross-examination that at this point, he was in favour of “actively maintaining the lie” as he felt the party lacked a “suitable plan” for Ms Khan to come clean.
Ms Loh and Mr Nathan meet Singh at his home that night.
Ms Loh says they discussed considerations of coming clean or retaining the lie, and the “impossibility” of the latter as Mr Shanmugam would pursue the issue.
Ms Loh says Mr Nathan suggested at this meeting that Ms Khan continue the lie. She later agrees that Singh had responded by saying: “Don’t even suggest covering this up with another lie.”
Mr Nathan says he cannot recall if he suggested that Ms Khan continue lying.
Mr Nathan says Singh said he told Ms Khan on Oct 3 that whether she continued the narrative or told the truth, “I would not judge you”.
Ms Loh says Singh said he met Ms Khan on Oct 3 and gave her a choice of whether or not to come clean in parliament, and that he would not judge her.
Ms Loh says Singh said Mr Low thought the best action was to clarify in parliament, and the WP would survive the fallout, assuaging her and Mr Nathan’s feelings.
According to Ms Loh and Mr Nathan, they walked out of the meeting agreeing that Ms Khan should tell the truth about her lie.
Oct 18, 2021
Mr Low says Ms Lim requested to meet him at his house, where she said Ms Khan had agreed to apologise. Mr Low replies that they should look at a draft of her apology first so it does not end up with another lie.
Oct 20, 2021
The police say that Ms Khan has not responded to repeated requests for an interview.
Ms Khan tells the media that she will make a statement in parliament on Nov 1, 2021.
Nov 1, 2021
Ms Khan delivers a statement in parliament confessing that her rape victim anecdote was false.
Mr Low texts Singh either this day or the next day to suggest forming a disciplinary panel for action against Ms Khan, suggesting that WP leaders Ms Lim, Mr Faisal and Singh be on the panel.
At this point, he did not know that the WP leaders had known since Aug 8, 2021 that the anecdote was false.
Nov 2, 2021
The WP issues a statement saying a disciplinary panel has been formed to look into Ms Khan’s conduct.
Nov 8, 2021
Ms Khan has her first meeting with the WP disciplinary panel comprising Singh, Ms Lim and Mr Faisal.
She does not remember them asking her much about her lie, and says that they focused on her personality and conduct as MP for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency.
Nov 10, 2021
Ms Loh and Ms Nathan say WP members are invited to make submissions to the disciplinary panel.
Ms Loh says she was “extremely angry” and felt members “had no business” commenting on the matter when they did not know the “true timeline of events” and that WP leaders had known about the lie a week after it was made.
Ms Loh sends a message to Singh saying “this is a little backwards pedalling”. She feels the disciplinary panel was “for show”, to quell party and public anger.
Nov 22, 2021
Ms Khan sends Singh a message asking for another meeting with the WP disciplinary panel.
She says Singh responded that her character and behaviour were under review in view of her decision to stick to her lie. She is shocked by this reply.
When Ms Khan shares Singh’s message with Mr Nathan and Ms Loh, Mr Nathan replies “What happened to ‘I won’t judge you’?”
Nov 25, 2021
Mr Nathan says he and Ms Loh met the disciplinary panel to tell them it should be made public that WP leaders had known about the lie since August, among other points.
Ms Loh says that she described Ms Khan as “lao hong” to the panel, meaning that she was susceptible to criticism.
“Lao hong” is a Hokkien term that literally translates as “leak air” but can refer to something stale or gone soft.
Nov 29, 2021
Ms Khan has her second meeting with the WP disciplinary panel. She says she realised at this meeting that the leaders wanted her to resign, and that she felt defeated and betrayed.
At this meeting, the following exchange is noted down by Ms Lim:
Singh: Before Oct session, I met you + I told you it was your call. Did need to tell the truth in Parl occur to you?
Ms Khan: Yes but consumed with guilt + own experience. Thought it wouldn’t come up.
Singh: Can’t lie right?
Ms Khan: Yes.
Meanwhile, the COP meets for the first time over Ms Khan’s lie.
Nov 30, 2021
Ms Khan resigns as MP and WP member.
Dec 1, 2021
Mr Nathan says he has dinner with Ms Khan, Ms Loh and Ms Khan’s legislative assistant Mike Lim.
Mr Nathan says that Mr Lim helped Ms Loh convey a message to Singh on a phone call: “Please tell Pritam that I’ve been called to the COP and I’m not going to lie to save the party.” Singh replies, telling Ms Loh to “tell the truth” to the COP.
Dec 2, 2021
The WP holds a press conference where Singh says publicly that the party leadership knew about Ms Khan’s lie a week after she told it on Aug 3.
Dec 10 and Dec 15, 2021
The COP hears oral testimony from Singh. What Singh tells them about what he wanted Ms Khan to do about her lie eventually becomes the subject of his two charges under the Parliament (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act.
