Pro-PAP page criticises PSP’s Brad Bowyer for not wearing a mask while walking the grounds

On Thursday (6 August), pro-PAP Facebook page Singapore Matters singled out Progress Singapore Party (PSP) politician Brad Bowyer for not wearing a face mask.

The post said, “The narrative about COVID-19 is fear mongering, said Brad Bowyer. Is that why he was spotted not wearing a mask while everyone else in his group was wearing one?”

The “fear mongering narrative” is in reference to an earlier Facebook post by Singapore Matters on the same day in which it rebutted Mr Bowyer’s comment about how the rush for a COVID-19 vaccine for the sake of reopening the economy is a form of “fear mongering”.

In the latter post about Mr Bowyer’s lack of face mask, the page said, “Obviously his sec-gen Tan Cheng Bock disagrees with him where the science of COVID-19 is concerned.”

The post included an image of Mr Bowyer standing with several other PSP members and residents. The photo shows everyone else wearing a mask while Mr Bowyer isn’t. The photo also claims that Mr Bowyer isn’t wearing a face shield either.

In the comment section of the post, Mr Bowyer himself responded to say that he is in fact wearing a face shield in the photo. He also clarified, “I have a condition that makes it difficult to breathe with a mask which was made worse by wearing a mask during the elections.”

He went on to address the page’s scepticism of his “fearmongering” comment.

“As for my commentary I ask you read my series of posts (another tomorrow) where I lay out further facts behind my statements which are intended to stimulate a much needed conversation on do we now have the correct response policies given the known data and is the idea of a vaccine appropriate or necessary or are there better methods for handling this virus,” Mr Bowyer wrote.

TOC would like to note, however, that while the page did make an edit to the post to assert that Mr Bowyer isn’t wearing a face shield, it did not make any edits to highlight Mr Bowyer’s clarification and response to its post in the comment section.

According to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) COVID-19 guidelines on mask usage:

“Face shields could be used in situations where individuals have health conditions which may result in breathing or other medical difficulties when a mask is worn for a prolonged period of time.”