Singapore ―Prime minister’s estranged brother, Mr Lee Hsien Yang has weighed in on the issue of vaccination and has shared a post of Leong Mun Wai on his Facebook. Since Covid-19 vaccines were made available in Singapore, the debate of whether one should get vaccinated or not ensued. Following this, the issue of whether to segregate the unvaccinated – as they pose a higher risk – also came about.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 13), Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai shared that while he was not against vaccinations, he was “strongly against “segregation” based on one’s vaccination status”. He added that the “progressive discrimination meted out by the Singapore authorities is getting more and more out of hand, in spite of the groundswell of opposition”.
Lee Hsien Yang weighs in on the issue
Younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Hsien Yang, shared Mr Leong’s post and agreed. The younger Mr Lee, also in the PSP said: “I share Mun Wai’s view on this. I have chosen to vaccinate myself, but I believe it is a decision each person should make for themselves”.
Mr Leong wrote that “every citizen has the constitutional right to make his/her own decision to get vaccinated or not. The option to vaccinate has to be a personal choice, and must not be coerced nor should it deprive the individual of privileges and cause duress to daily life should one refuse it”.
Mr Leong’s post came as, under stricter rules announced by the Government, unvaccinated people will not be allowed to enter malls and large standalone stores from Oct 20, with exceptions made for those who show proof that they need medical or childcare services.
Children aged 12 and below, unvaccinated people who have recovered from Covid-19, and those with a negative pre-event test (PET) result will also be permitted entry for the duration of the activity or service.
The measures were due to take effect on Wednesday, but a week’s grace period from Oct 13 to Oct 19 was given to enable malls and large stores to adjust to the new restrictions.
“Second, the Government may have again fallen prey to the “constraint of resource trap” when the focus should primarily be the welfare of her citizens. The message conveyed is that they want to protect the vulnerable unvaccinated senior citizen from serious illness and hospitalization, but the other not so obvious implicit reason is they fear the hospital capacity will be overwhelmed”, Mr Leong added. He suggested that unvaccinated seniors should be educated and persuaded.
Additionally, Mr Leong pointed out that there is uncertainty whether “this discrimination will be extended to those who do not wish to take the third jab, fourth jab and so on in future. The effectiveness of the vaccine has been shown to decline over time, and more booster jabs may be required. We cannot fault the people if they start to doubt and reject the booster jabs”.
He called for Singapore’s overall Covid strategy to be reviewed such that the country was not totally dependent on vaccination. /TISG