Chee Soon Juan and candidate Gigene Wong apologise for her racial slur at rally

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan apologised to Singaporeans on April 27, after the party's Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC candidate Gigene Wong used a racial slur on her teammate Ariffin Sha.

- Shabana Begum

At the start of the party's rally at the field next to Sun Plaza in Sembawang, Dr Chee said: "There are no ifs, no ands, no buts. The term that Gigene used was offensive and hurtful. And we are deeply sorry that she used it."

He added that Dr Wong had expressed deep remorse, and the party had also given her a "stern warning and expressed in no uncertain terms that the SDP does not tolerate such behaviour".

At the party's rally on April 26, Dr Wong, speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien and English, had referred to Mr Ariffin as "keling kia", a derogatory term historically used to demean people of Indian descent.

She also mispronounced his name several times, calling him "elephant" instead of "Ariffin".

Her remarks and faux pas at the rally at Evergreen Primary School caused an uproar on social media over the weekend, leading her to issue two public apologies on Facebook.

In his first remarks since the episode, Mr Ariffin, a legal executive, said he was shocked and at a loss for words when Dr Wong appallingly used the "k-word".