Singapore — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had his temperature taken when he arrived for the Budget 2020 speech at Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 18) and posted the photograph on Facebook the next day. He added a message encouraging Singaporeans to take the necessary measures, including monitoring one’s temperature, in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak.
A netizen who saw the post, found a photo of the Prime Minister’s father, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, in a similar pose and also checking his temperature. This was in 2003 during the Sars outbreak.
With the measures against COVID-19, we often have to stop for temperature screenings at office buildings and shopping…
Posted by Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday, February 19, 2020
PM Lee used the hashtag #thisismesg and praised the students of the National University of Singapore who came up with it, making for a “fun” way to promote people’s individual responsibility to check their temperatures. “We owe it to those around us to be responsible, and seek treatment if we show symptoms,” he said.
While hundreds filled in the comments section of the Prime Minister’s post, Facebook user Lee Heng shared a photo of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew taking his own temperature. He commented: “This is a poignant scene — Mr Lee Kuan Yew had done likewise back in 2003.”
Many took notice of the photo of Singapore’s Founding Father and left short messages below it.
One netizen by the name of Chris Yau Teng took notice of how similar the photo of the late Mr Lee was to the one of his son — both sitting in the back of a vehicle. “(L)ike father, like son,” he said.
/TISG