Ho Ching defends WP’s Eileen Chong after Parliament speech, urges netizens not to mock people’s mistakes

Ho Ching defends Workers’ Party NCMP Eileen Chong after latter was criticised for Parliament speech

Former Temasek Holdings CEO and Executive Director Ho Ching has spoken up in defence of Workers’ Party (WP) Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Eileen Chong, after the latter was criticised online for a supposed verbal mix-up during a recent Parliament debate.

Eileen Chong criticised online for saying ‘cannot be guilty until proven innocent’

On Saturday (8 Nov), Facebook user Richard Weng, who runs the page Future of Singapore, took to social media to criticise Ms Chong for saying “cannot be guilty until proven innocent” during a parliamentary debate.

He labelled her comment “nonsense” and “illogical”, pointing out that the correct phrasing is “innocent until proven guilty”.

“She repeated it three times and it definitely wasn’t any Freudian slip,” he wrote, suggesting that Ms Chong genuinely believed her phrasing was correct.

In another post, he also questioned the Workers’ Party’s candidate selection standards, calling the mix-up “staggering” given Ms Chong’s strong academic background and past career as a diplomat.

Ho Ching urges Singaporeans not to ridicule others

However, Ho Ching took a different stance altogether. In a Facebook post later that day, she urged everyone not to ridicule people who make mistakes while speaking in public.

“I don’t think we should make fun of people because they made a mistake in their speech,” she wrote.

“People could be nervous, and stumble over their speech. Or they could mix up syllables or letters of words, like in spoonerism or with malaprops.”

She added that such slip-ups are natural and shouldn’t be grounds for ridicule, emphasising the importance of encouraging participation rather than mockery.

In a follow-up post on Sunday (9 Nov), she also shared that there are different legal frameworks in the world, further supporting Ms Chong’s earlier statement in Parliament.

Netizens agree with Ho Ching’s stance

Ho Ching’s post quickly drew supportive responses from netizens, with many agreeing that anyone can make verbal errors, especially under pressure in Parliament.

One netizen appreciated Ho Ching’s “compassion” for the young speaker in Parliament.

Another Facebook user felt that the public should give Ms Chong a break and encouraged her to “contribute to more topics of substance in Parliament in the future”.

One commenter urged everyone to focus on the “real issues” instead of the minor slip-up.

Another netizen pointed out that language is merely a tool for communication, not a measure of one’s competence.

Also read: 5 lesser-known facts about Eileen Chong, the former MFA diplomat who was posted to China during the pandemic

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Featured image adapted from Temasek Holdings & Eileen Chong on Facebook.