Workers' Party Members of Parliament Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh have received S$477,653 in public donations in slightly more than 24 hours.

The donations made to the trio in the first six hours was initially about S$100,000.

This means that the donations in the subsequent 18 hours escalated, as the total amount became close to five times the initial sum given.

Sought public help

Donations from the public started pouring in after a public call for funds was made on the evening of Oct. 24 to help the trio with their mounting legal fees and potential bankruptcy.

This unprecedented public giving and show of support occurred once the WP MPs revealed they had spent close to S$600,000 of their own personal money on their legal fees, with no funds coming from WP itself.

Pritam Singh: "Singapore and Singaporeans are worth it"

In a Facebook post shared on Oct. 25 at about 6.14pm, shortly after Singh stepped down from the stand on the 15th day of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council trial, he repeated the public call for donations and elaborated further about his objectives:

"My family and friends have been asking me why I do what I do and why my colleagues and I have continued to press on in spite of the allegations that seek to bury us. The answer is simple. Singapore and Singaporeans are worth it."

All three MPs have since stepped down from the witness stand in the AHTC trial.

Oct. 25 tally: $377,653

The figure of S$477,653 was revealed by NCMP Daniel Goh in response to media queries.

This figure will be updated on the In Good Faith blog that belongs to the three WP MPs, but is not linked to WP itself -- a move aimed at transparency and to show the public how much has been received to aid in accountability.

AHTC trial

According to Goh, the nearly half a million dollars have been pledged by some 2,832 donors.

This means that each donor contributed an average of S$168 so far.

Oct 24 tally: S$100,000

Goh, who is WP Media Chair, revealed to Mothership.sg that the public contributions reached S$100,000 as of midnight on Oct. 25, which was the tally for the first six hours of the donation drive.

The blog post's first update of the amount of donations was at 10pm on Oct. 24.

The daily updates for the donation tally is expected to be done after 10pm each night.

To put things in context, Low, Lim and Singh have raised more money in six hours than CPF blogger Roy Ngerng previously did in six days.

In 2014, Ngerng raised some S$85,970 in six days when news broke that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was going to sue him.

Public appeal for donations

On Oct. 24 evening, the trio made a public call for donations to help them with their mounting legal fees and potential bankruptcy, as a result of the Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) trial.

The MPs said in their In Good Faith blog that if they lose the suits and are adjudged to pay large sums of money, but are unable to pay, they would face bankruptcy.

It is understood that being declared bankrupts would have a bearing on their chances of running in the next election.

The MPs and two other town councillors are facing two suits over S$33.7 million in alleged improper payments -- one brought by Aljunied-Hougang Town Council as directed by an independent panel, and the other by Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council.

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