Calvin Cheng asks people to stop blaming the government and foreigners for recent Covid-19 cluster

Singapore — In light of the recent KTV Covid-19 clusters that have cropped up in Singapore, former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng evaluated the factors leading to the spike in cases in a Facebook post he put up recently.

He says that one of the key factors leading to the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in Singapore was the abuse of pivoting to food and beverage (F&B) services by certain KTVs.

When the pandemic first struck Singapore, many businesses despaired due to a drop in sales and profits. As such, the Singapore government tried to help out businesses in any way it could.

While KTVs, nightclubs, and bars were initially forced to close since Apr 2020, there was a saving grace of sorts for them. They were allowed to pivot to F&B services and build a kitchen in their premises such that they were allowed to continue operating. Some were even encouraged to apply for grants if they qualified under the terms and conditions.

By pivoting, such businesses had a chance at sustaining themselves instead of having to shut down completely.

However, several unlawful businesses simply put up appearances and pretended to serve food to customers while offering other services instead.

While the police did their best to shut down such businesses, it can be difficult to determine which ones were operating in breach of Covid-19 measures.

Mr Cheng expresses that while other businesses in the industry must have been grateful to have been allowed to continue operating, all businesses have been forced to shut once again to tamp down on the spread of the virus.

Another factor that catalysed the recent spread would have been foreigners coming in on sponsored social visit passes.

Due to border closures, many couples have been separated since Apr 2020.

“It’s already hard enough for legally married couples,” Mr Cheng says. “It’s even harder for people in long term serious relationships who are not married.”

As such, the government decided to allow Singaporeans to sponsor their unmarried partners into the country.

However, some people took advantage of the system instead. While it would be ideal to thoroughly each foreigner that enters Singapore, it is difficult for people to prove that their relationship is genuine. Therefore, the government had to give the benefit of the doubt to everyone who travelled to Singapore.

Now that the recent cluster has appeared, sparking panic, there is no other choice than to eliminate this option.

The moral of the story then is that when the government tries to help people, people will abuse it, but this cannot be considered a loophole, says Mr Cheng.

“Stop blaming the government. Stop blaming foreigners,” he adds.

The people who should be held accountable are those who abuse their privileges and caused problems for everyone else who acted in accordance with the measures.

Mr Cheng also urges everyone to stop lamenting the situation, as most people are trying their best in spite of the pandemic raging on.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG