Tambyah explains his donation to TOC

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) central committee member Paul Tambyah said yesterday that he donated to sociopolitical website The Online Citizen last year as he wanted to support causes that he cared about.

At his party's rally, Dr Tambyah said: "Last year was my jubilee year, it was my 50th birthday year, and I made a decision to give a biblically significant portion of my income that year to causes which I believe in."

His donation was disclosed on Wednesday by The Opinion Collaborative (TOC Ltd), which made public 12 documents it submitted to the Ministry of Communications and Information to appeal against an order to return foreign funds it received. The company ran The Online Citizen website until last September.

Dr Tambyah said "the odds are stacked against the alternative parties, with the PAP's total control of the media".

"Some of us have tried to correct that, by literally putting our money where our mouths are," he added.

He said he had donated a significant portion of his income last year to his church, charities, educational institutes and groups that work with migrant workers. These included "organisations that promote freedom of speech and democracy", he said.