Facebook post by losing Aljunied GRC candidate draws the ire of netizens

There has been criticism online of a People’s Action Party candidate who lost in the 2015 General Election for saying that “many Singaporeans don’t realise the value of our community grassroots network”.

The statement was made in a Facebook post by Mr Victor Lye on Sunday (Feb 2).

It was posted a day after Mr Lye, together with other volunteers and staff of the  SGSecure Emergency Response Team set up and manned mask collection points in Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Highlighting the intense planning, coordination and re-adjusting in the initiative, Mr Lye praised his team for their hard and good work. “Reminded me of my battle procedure during my military days,” he said, after giving the public a glimpse of the time-frame he and his team had to work with and the speed with which they were able to make the necessary adjustments for their plan of action to work. “Our SAF mobilised and pushed supplies on time, on target,” he said.

However, towards the end of the post, to which he attached pictures of the initiative, his statement on Singaporeans not appreciating the work of the community grassroots network caught the attention of netizens.

Netizens also noted that despite Mr Lye losing to the Workers’ Party in Aljunied GRC in  2015, Mr Lye and not WP Members of Parliament, was selected to be the official adviser to grassroots organisations in the GRC.

On Sunday (Feb 2), hours after Mr Lye’s post went online, The Alternative View shared it  on Facebook, with the caption: “Dear Victor Lye, you are free to quit since we in Aljunied GRC who voted for WP don’t ‘realise the value of grassroots work’.”

Mr Lye was asked why he had established himself “in comfortable air-con offices” and why he was lording over the duly elected MPs of the GRC “even though you have been rejected by us”.

Netizens voiced their opinions on this in the comments section of the post by The Alternative View.