Steve Chia withdraws MacPherson bid
The electoral battle for MacPherson has taken a new twist.
National Solidarity Party (NSP) candidate Steve Chia announced his withdrawal from the upcoming election on Facebook.
In the post, made at 12.54am on Aug 23, Mr Chia said his decision stemmed from the online abuse that he received at the hands of online "trolls" after the opposition party agreed to his request to contest the single member constituency (SMC) on Wednesday.
The post's first line read: "The Trolls have won".
Along with the hashtags #MyReputationIsGone and #NotWorthIt, the former Non-Constituency MP included a link to a website containing a profile of him that dredged up his past, including a 2003 nude photo scandal involving his maid.
"With this notice, I am announcing that I will not be standing for this coming GE2015 and will not be contesting in MacPherson SMC anymore.
"It is with anguish and deep sadness that my lifelong ambition to be the people's spokesman in Parliament ends today."
Mr Chia aimed a swipe at incumbent People's Action Party (PAP) MP Tin Pei Ling by calling on the Workers' Party (WP) to "take #Kate Spade out of Parliament", referencing a photo of Ms Tin that went viral in the lead up to the 2011 General Election.
On Aug 10, NSP said it would not contest Macpherson in order to avoid a three-way tussle.
On Wednesday (Aug 18), the decision was reversed and acting secretary-general Hazel Poa quit the party in protest.
Source: Facebook
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