In a Facebook post sharing his walkabout with the party which took place at the Jalan Besar GRC on Sunday 16 June, Mr Nassir Ismail noted that many of the people they met included senior citizens – some with walking sticks, some in electronic motor scooters, and others just spending the day out with their families.
Mr Ismail, in his post, pointed out how he is the only ‘so-called Malay/Muslim’ in the group of PV members that day. He said his conversations first started off with people expressing their gratitude before quickly pivoting towards the experiences and challenges they’ve had to face when dealing with governmental bureaucracy from the CDC to social assistance.
One person told Mr Ismail they were recently diagnosed with a kidney illness but couldn’t get subsidised treatment due to ‘red tape’ such as ‘income ceiling in family and CPF balance’. Many of them are frustrated from having to work part-time to afford treatment while others are unable to work at all due to their illness, wrote Mr Ismail.
The politician also noted that people even spoke to him about challenges they’ve had in dealing with the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapore (MUIS) and other Muslim associations. One Muslim couple told Mr Ismail that they were better off asking for help from other religious organisation rather than MUIS or Muslim NGOs.
“What does this shows us? Are the Malay/Muslim happier than other community from other parts of the world as our minister of Muslim Affairs mentioned it in his speech during Hari Raya function?”
Mr Ismail then went on to say, “PAP is always trying to give us a good picture and propaganda” and that they when issues arise, the PAP will “camouflage it with their agenda” and described the ruling party’s policies as having a “double standard”.
Mr Ismail has been quite vocal about his discontent with the PAP for some time now. During a People’s Voice rally held in March, Mr Ismail called out the PAP for nepotism and corruption, saying that the racial divide in Singapore was due to the PAP’s policy of selecting their representatives and members on the basis of cronyism and nepotism.
Separately when speaking to TOC about the 2019 Budget earlier this year, Mr Ismail had slammed the Merdeka Generation package that the government launched, noting that it will not be of much help at all to elderly Singaporeans who are retired and still supporting their families while having to take care their own medical expenses and HDB debts.
He also talked about the ineffectively of the CPF system which leaves many retirees unable to dip into their CPF savings to sustain them as well as the governments liberal spending on defence, which he says he is not representing the sensitivities of the average Singaporean.