Dressed in the bright yellow of the Reform Party (RP), Roy Ngerng greeted residents of Ang Mo Kio, handing out flyers and highlighting basic policies in Mandarin.
The blogger – whose defamation case brought by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is still ongoing – has submitted an application to join RP. He also recently put up a poll on his blog asking his readers if he should stand as a candidate in the upcoming elections.
“For me I’m really concerned that the government has to be responsible to create policies to protect Singaporeans,” he told The Online Citizen. “So it got to a point where I feel that as a Singaporean if you want to be able to make a difference you might actually need a different platform to be able to do so.”
Although people on his blog voted for him to stand, similar polls on Mothership.sg and TOC have garnered different results. On Mothership.sg, 80% said that Ngerng should not stand for elections, while on TOC the results have been more split down the middle, with 55.3% saying he should stand.
“To know that the people who read my blog actually support what I do, it gave me the belief that there is a pool of people who feel that I’m in a position to be able to represent them… knowing that they believe I am someone who can represent them makes me feel that… it’s not just about me,” he said, adding that the differing results on all three websites were perhaps more indicative of the readership’s political leanings.
He also said that he chose to join RP as he had already worked with Secretary-General Kenneth Jeyaretnam on and off for some time, and that the party’s policies on social issues such as the minimum wage and healthcare were very much in line with his own beliefs.
When asked about where he would like to stand for elections, Ngerng chose to defer to the party, saying that although he had indicated his interest in joining the party a few months ago, his application was still being considered. If accepted, he would stand for elections wherever the party decides to field him.
Jeyaretnam remained tightlipped about Ngerng’s application and potential as a candidate, saying that the matter would be covered in a press conference the party intends to hold after the National Day weekend. Yet while the party moved through the food centre and towards the HDB flats, Ngerng was often especially introduced to voters, and his work with the CPF highlighted.
Fellow #ReturnOurCPF protester Han Hui Hui turned up a little later in the evening. Although not a member of RP or a resident of Ang Mo Kio GRC, Han said that she had been volunteering with various opposition parties since 2011, and since October last year had specifically focused her energies on Ang Mo Kio as a constituency anchored by the prime minister.
When asked if she would be joining Ngerng’s campaign team should he be fielded as a candidate, Han remained vague, saying, “At the end of the day I just want to help Singaporeans.”