Advertisement

Controversy hits Nicole Seah over election donations

NIcole Seah brews controversy by asking for election funding to be transferred to her person account. (AFP file photo)
NIcole Seah brews controversy by asking for election funding to be transferred to her person account. (AFP file photo)

The National Solidarity Party (NSP) and its candidate Nicole Seah have been hit by controversy over election funding.

According to Shin Min Daily, Seah had asked for donations to help her team contest in Marine Parade GRC during the General Election. The amount needed was known to have been more than S$35,000.

The expenses included publicity costs, rental costs for lighting, sound systems, lorries and meeting rooms. The costs were to be borne by the five candidates contesting in the ward.

Seah posted a bank account number, under her own name, and NSP's address on her Facebook page, asking for donations from supporters. Donations could be transferred to the stated account or sent by cheque to the NSP.

However, questions have been raised if this was an appropriate action taken by party candidates.

Ah Soon commented on Seah's Facebook page, "POSB personal account... I won't be surprised if Nicole will leave NSP..."

Vincent Goh expressed his concerns with this method of operation, "How do we know our money does not go to your own pocket? Ridiculous! I rather donate to charitable organizations!"

According to The New Paper, in a Facebook post, Seah clarified that the account was "set up solely for the purpose of ensuring that the funds are clearly obtained."

She also said that the account will be shut down after the team hits its $35,000 target and that excess donations will go towards offsetting funds needed for Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss' Mountbatten campaign.

"I will be able to publish the bank statement in full as a show of transparency once this is over," Seah said, as quoted by the paper.

Seah did not answer her phone when contacted by Yahoo! Singapore.

Follow Yahoo! News on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.