No Singaporeans were involved in a training programme - that a pro-BN blog had alleged was a Singapore effort to interfere in Malaysia's upcoming general election - said its organiser Bersih Singapore.

"Bersih Singapore would like to emphasise that the event mentioned was a Malaysian event, organised by Malaysians, for Malaysians only,” said Ong Guan Sin, who coordinates the electoral reform coalition's efforts in the republic.

Bersih Singapore "It was held in Singapore simply because the participants were Malaysians living in Singapore," he said in a statement yesterday in response to the blog’s accusations.

He was responding to a pro-government blog MyMassa that had alleged that Singaporeans were being trained as polling agents for the next Malaysian general election.

“The blog used the specific training event organised by Bersih 3.0 Singapore as the 'proof' of such preparation for intervention,” said Ong.

He said it was “highly regrettable” that Utusan Malaysia ran an article based on the “erroneous blog post” and its “twisted information”, calling the article’s contentions “ridiculous”.

In a series of postings starting Jun 15, MyMassa had posted 31 photographs from the Bersih Singapore’s programme to train Malaysian expats to be polling agents and counting agents (Paca).

“Watch the People’s Action Party (PAP) volunteer coaching the other PAP volunteers to help DAP in the 13th general election!” the anonymous blogger wrote on June 18.

The blogger also alleged that three Singaporean diplomats had interfered in Malaysia’s domestic affairs by participating in the Bersih 3.0 rally, saying one of them supposedly wore a yellow T-shirt.

The posting went as far as to claim that the three were trained by the Israeli secret service, Mossad.

Umno-linked Malay daily Utusan ’s columnist Zaini Hassan on June 20 churned the postings into an article called ‘Shocking if true’.

Protest that wasn't

MyMassa then responded saying that following Zaini's column, a number of NGOs had contacted him expressing interest in organising a protest before the Singapore High Commission after Friday prayers.

However, checks by Malaysiakini at the High Commission's temporary office in Kuala Lumpur did not find signs of any protest.

Instead, some 20 police officers, including from the Light Strike Force, stood guard outside the commission's premises till about 2.30pm.

Meanwhile, Singapore High Commissioner Ong Key Yong yesterday told The Star that its diplomats had been present at the pro-electoral reform rally in their personal capacity, and that none of them had worn yellow Bersih T-shirts while they were there.

“Many diplomats from other countries also went to the site of the rally, so why just pick on our three ladies? I am very suspicious of their (the blog and its supporters) motives,” he was reported saying.

The high commissioner also rejected the blogger’s allegations that the training session had involved Singaporeans.