“If Gov’t removes lockdown because it wants to hold an election, priorities are all wrong”: Roy Ngerng

Singaporean activist and blogger Roy Ngerng has recently warned that if the reason behind the Government’s decision to remove the circuit breaker measures is merely to be able to hold a General Election, then its “priorities are all wrong.”

Towards the end of the circuit breaker, in an interview with Channel News Asia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat said that the sooner Singapore’s General Elections are held, the sooner critical issues can be tackled collectively. Citing the case of South Korea, which successfully held an election during the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Heng assured that with regards to Singapore’s elections, “public health considerations and public safety will be a foremost consideration”.

However, as Singapore exited its circuit breaker, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong warned Singaporeans to keep in mind that the easing of the circuit breaker measures will have to be gradual as caution will be exercised due to the looming Covid-19 threat. Given this, Singapore will ease restrictions in phases.

However, with election talk already in the air and the Elections Department (ELD) already disclosing safety measures that will be implemented in the upcoming General Elections, preparations are already underway for Singapore to take to the polls.

In a recent Facebook post, Mr Ngerng singled out an issue regarding talk of the elections following closely behind  the nation’s shift out of the circuit breaker. Mr Ngerng argued that the circumstances point to a priority problem, saying, “Priorities are all wrong if a government wants to deal effectively with Covid-19 and remove a lockdown simply because it wants to be able to hold an election to entrench its rule.”

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He went further on to say, “It is horribly wrong.”

A few netizens rallied behind Mr Ngerng’s sentiments, and voiced out their opinions on matters such as the elections and the rule of the People’s Action Party (PAP). Some even questioned if the Government’s recent budget payouts were backed by a hidden political agenda linked to the elections.