Singapore—The internet has made calling each other out easier than it has ever been and netizens are not holding back with calling out the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) for “breaking the rules” during the campaign.
First was the issue of estate workers seen distributing bags with the PAP logo. On Friday (July 3) netizen Amir Abu Adam posted a series of photos on the Facebook page SG Opposition showing at least one town council worker giving out bags of election materials emblazoned with the PAP logo wearing t-shirts that had “East Coast-Fengshan Town Council” written on the back.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3627198983963227&set=pcb.624725288144144&type=3&theater&ifg=1
One photo had a worker with a trolley full of bags.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3627199083963217&set=pcb.624725288144144&type=3&theater&ifg=1
Mr Amir wrote on his post, “Town Council exploiting foreign workers to distribute PROPAGANDA materials??? Is this the ‘East Coast Plan’ ?”
Mothership reported that the East Coast-Fengshan Town Council was unaware of the issue, adding that the cleaners are disallowed from giving out election materials and that it would look into the incident.
And then there’s the matter of PAP Ang Mo Kio GRC posters, which includes the photo of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, posted at Jalan Kayu without bearing the official stamp.
A member of the public told Mothership that a poster that did not have the official stamp was put up along Jalan Tari Lilin, the third time a ruling party poster was put up without having an official stamp, which is required to set the maximum number of posters a party can put up per constituency.
On July 1, the first full day of the campaign, several PAP posters for its Bishan-Toa Payoh team had been put up without the stamp. The second incident occurred on the same day in East Coast GRC, which the Elections Department said they would look into.
Netizens, naturally, are unhappy with PAP “breaking the rules.”
In a Reddit thread entitled “Estate workers in East Coast-Fengshan Town Council Town Council shirts spotted distributing PAP GE2020 material,” netizens aired their views.
On the SG Opposition page, netizens also called PAP out.
Some joked about the “East Coast” plan that the PAP slate anchor, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat spoke about on Nomination Day.
-/TISG
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Lee Hsien Yang’s son Li Shengwu donates to both the Workers’ Party and the Progress Singapore Party