Singapore—One of the most unfortunate, if memorable, gaffes during the campaign period for this year’s General Election was Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat stumbling over his “East Coast Plan” speech on Nomination Day, making Singaporeans wince collectively, and spawning numerous viral memes.
However, two enterprising young souls have found a way to make this year’s election memorable indeed, as well as raise funds for a good cause.
The “East Coast Plan” sticker is now a 140mm x 80mm vinyl sticker that’s “water proof, weather proof and not bullet proof,” according to its creators. It also has “a satin matte finish that feels smooth and ooh la la la,” according to the creators.
What it is is simply a drawing of a much crossed-over cue card in the same shade of light green of the card Mr Heng was seen holding. The drawing was one of the memes that went viral after Nomination Day.
Indeed, “The Plan we all need.”
But not only do buyers get a lasting memory of the GE but they also end up donating to Krsna’s Free Meals, at least until Saturday, July 18. The creator of the “East Coast Plan” meme, who goes by u/melonmilkfordays, is also a regular volunteer at Krsna’s Free Meals at Little India, a small kitchen that makes vegetarian food and caters to migrant workers in the vicinity. So buying a sticker or three is a win-win situation.
The sticker’s creators, u/melonmilkfordays and u/ayam wrote, “We’re all aware how the dormitory situation played out in the recent months and I hope that this is one small thing we can do to help them as well as anyone who’s in real need of an honest good meal. For full transparency, the kitchen is running a fundraiser right now for their van & to help with costs of the kitchen and ingredients. Whatever proceeds we make will most likely be going to that.”
They also said that they have had “fun” seeing the evolution of the meme into actual stickers, writing, “Hopefully we can use this meme to do something nice for the community.”
The sticker took on a life of its own on Redddit, where u/ayam wrote, “And just one more thing to cover, this is an amusing piece of sticker, totally not printed for the benefit nor detriment of any person, organisation, or lightning whatsoever. For the public speaking challenged, we are appreciative of the difficulties of giving speeches in front of an empty square, especially when the ding ding ding is threatening to mute your mic. Everyone stumbles, but the most important thing is that there is a plan for East Coast and the Singapore plan is East Coast for the plan and East Coast is the plan.”
Earlier in the campaign period, u/ayam had given away around 280 stickers to different Redditors via mail, after which they decided to raise funds for Krsna’s Free Meals, and sold the stickers for $2 each.
And it’s all in good fun, since, after all, DPM Heng led his team to victory in the East Coast! —/TISG
Read also: Heng Swee Keat’s speech fumble makes him the subject of Internet memes
http://theindependent.sg/heng-swee-keats-speech-fumble-makes-him-the-subject-of-internet-memes/