After a netizen pointed out what to him, is a significant correlation between the timing of the General Elections and the initiatives brought about by the People’s Action Party (PAP), other online users followed suit and expressed similar sentiments. Some posted memes as a reply in the comments section, with one even calling PAP initiatives “wayang.”
Facebook user Alan Donaldson, whose online profile says he lives in Singapore, on Wednesday (June 17) shared a collage of past outreaches conducted by the PAP. Despite his caption being short, his words conveyed a message that seemed to resonate with other users who rallied behind Mr Donaldson’s sentiments in the comments section of his post. “You’ll only see them come out during the right timing,” he wrote, comparing it to the Chinese Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, which some believe is a day when ghosts and spirits make an appearance from their hidden realm.
https://web.facebook.com/groups/153492722129/permalink/10156998947037130/
In previous news, there have been specific instances where netizens have expressed similar thoughts regarding the PAP. For example, in the beginning of June, after Member for Parliament Sun Xueling conducted an outreach for frontliners in the Ang Mo Kio Division, Facebook users called it a “political stunt.”
Similarly, in response to news of lift upgrades that were underway in multiple Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates, a few netizens questioned the timing of such initiatives, with one pointing out that such projects “seem to coincide with election year all the time…”
It is the same sentiments with which Facebook users responded to Mr Donaldson’s post, with some even sharing memes on the issue. While one voiced out the opinion that the PAP “only cares about (money),” another shared a meme which called PAP activities “wayang,” and pointed out that such efforts “begin when (the) election is near.”
Wayang means performance or show but is also used to describe something that is done merely for theatrics.
Furthermore, another netizen rode on the Ghost Festival joke, and said, “Just like (the) seven(th) month (ghost) festival…(they) come out and say hello to everyone…other than that, you do not see them around.”
/TISG