Netizens react to WP candidate Andre Low’s apology on leaked Telegram messages
On Tuesday (29 April), a series of screenshots surfaced on social media allegedly showing The Workers’ Party (WP) candidate Andre Low’s usage of profanities on the Telegram messaging platform.
Shortly after, Mr Low issued a statement apologising for his “inappropriate remarks”.
While acknowledging that the comments were made “in a different stage of his (my) life”, Mr Low said his time with the WP has allowed him to mature and gain exposure to the “lived realities of Singaporeans and Singapore firms.
More than 30 screenshots of profanity-filled Telegram messages leaked
The screenshots, which surfaced on a Facebook page on Tuesday (29 April) night, showed profanity-filled Telegram messages — allegedly by Mr Low — on wide-ranging subjects.
In one of the messages, which appears to be about his Meet-The-People work, Mr Low described how he was only about to contact a resident after disabling his caller ID blocking feature.
The message read: “They proceeded to call me every day on my personal number. IMO, these people can f**k off.”
Source: Neutral Party on Facebook
Another series of messages appeared to be complaining about the noise made by fighter jets flying over Sengkang. Mr Low allegedly described the fighter jets as “stupid”.
The trail of messages ended with: “I can’t believe some champion military a**hole thought that noise pollution for four months is a brilliant way to celebrate NDP.”
Local celebrities like Ben Yeo, Mark Lee, Pornsak, and Jamie Teo were allegedly targets of his rants, too. The screenshots also supposedly captured his disdain for brands like StarHub, SingTel, SecretLab, and Razer.
Andre Low apologises for leaked Telegram messages containing ‘inappropriate’ language
About two hours after the leaked messages were posted, Mr Low penned a statement addressing the issue: “I am not proud of the way I expressed my views, and I am deeply sorry for the language I used.”
Mr Low clarified that the leaked messages were from a private chat among his business school classmates. He also explained that they exchanged many of these messages during the Covid-19 period, when they were cooped up at home and ranting to one another.
Additionally, the WP’s Jalan Kayu candidate stated that he has always been opinionated and holds strong convictions about Singapore:
These same convictions are also what pushed me to step up to contest as a Workers’ Party candidate.
Mr Low said that because he had addressed themes like transparency, accountability, and the importance of apologies during a previous WP rally, he felt obligated to uphold the same principles himself.
He expressed remorse to the voters of Jalan Kayu SMC and said he would take full responsibility for his past actions.
Mr Low also acknowledged that as a public figure, his words hold influence and have the potential to cause genuine harm.
Ending the post, Mr Low said that while this has been a “humbling experience”, he hopes that he can earn supporters’ trust and will be given the chance to “demonstrate his (my) sincerity in wanting to serve them (you).”
Mr Low is facing off against PAP’s labour chief Ng Chee Meng in Jalan Besar SMC.
Netizens sympathise with Andre Low for having such ‘friends’
A thread discussing Andre Low’s apology has since gone viral on the Singapore subreddit.
One netizen pointed out that “friends like these are the worst,” suggesting it’s likely one of Mr Low’s friends who had leaked the private messages.
Source: Reddit
This Redditor felt that he could understand why some people may dislike him if he was constantly angry and using expletives.
Source: Reddit
Another netizen noticed that the expletives were all highlighted in the screenshots, suggesting that whoever leaked the screenshots had a specific agenda against Mr Low.
Source: Reddit
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Featured image adapted from Andre Low on Facebook & Neutral Party on Facebook.
