Singapore — In a Facebook post on Thursday (March 5), opposition People’s Voice party leader Lim Tean called for a temporary halt to reservist training during the current Covid-19 outbreak.
Mr Lim’s call follows an announcement by the Ministry of Health of five new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, with four of them being part of a cluster involving a private dinner function at SAFRA Jurong (333 Boon Lay Way) on Feb 15.
This makes a total of eight confirmed cases from the same dinner.
https://www.facebook.com/PeoplesVoiceSingapore/photos/a.2078282232439972/2502452100022981/?type=3&theater
Mr Lim wrote that his party “protested loudly” when Senior Minister of State (Defence) Heng Chee How announced in February that there were no plans to cancel in-camp training despite concerns about the Covid-19 outbreak.
According to Mr Lim: “That was an absurd statement, as today’s cases have clearly demonstrated.”
He added in his post: “At this time, our enemy is an invisible virus and not some visible enemy poised at our borders, ready to strike at us. This enemy is capable of striking down a healthy person whether he is armed or not. One of the best defences to this enemy is social distancing, which being in the armed forces distinctly does not promote!”
The People’s Voice leader ended his post by saying that it does not take a rocket scientist to realise that it is foolish for reservist training to continue. “Just some good old common sense, which should come readily if you put people first, as People’s Voice always does!”
In contrast to the Government’s position, Mr Lim has also been calling for the closure of schools, citing that this is now being done as a preventive measure in other countries.
There were those online who agreed with Mr Lim. 
However, others on the Singapore Matters Facebook page questioned Mr Lim’s logic. One person pointed out that those confirmed positive for Covid-19 were mostly middle-aged and older females, plus a 12-year-old boy and a 62-year-old man.
“The ‘new’ cluster at SAFRA Jurong had its first case reported on 26 February.
The cluster now has 8 confirmed cases.
These are their ages and gender:
Case 94 : 64/F
Case 96: 12/M (Linked to case 94)
Case 107 : 68/F
Case 112 : 62/F
Case 114 : 62/M
Case 115 : 62/F
Case 116 : 50/F
Case 117 : 52/F
What does this group of people have to do with reservist training?”
This person added: “What does a private dinner function attended by aunties and uncles got to do with reservist training?” Mr Lim was accused of being irresponsible for misleading people and for spreading fear.
Another person urged leaders to step back and assess situations carefully.
/TISG
Lim Tean criticises Gan Kim Yong and the Ministry of Health’s policy on virus management