I call on the Singapore authorities to give Malaysians who have violated the Singapore laws for activities in the island republic in connection with the Malaysian 13GE a second chance like they have given to former Johor Mentri Besar, Datuk Ghani Othman.
It has been reported that the Singapore authorities have initiated the revocation of the work pass of one of the 21 Malaysians involved in the May 8 and 11 illegal gatherings at Merlion Park in Singapore and that the authorities had also cancelle3d the visit passes of another two of them.
As for the remaining 18 persons, a Singapore Police Force (SPF) statement said their work passes would be reviewed upon completion of further investigations.
The Singapore authorities have also said that Datuk Seri Ghani Othman had not campaigned and had therefore committed no offence when visiting Singapore in the final days of the 13GE campaign period.
I commend the Singapore authorities for bending backwards to accommodate Ghani, saying that the former Johor Mentri Besar was not campaigning in Singapore although it was obvious to all that the very objective of Ghani’s visit to Singapore was to canvass for votes from Malaysians either working or staying in Singapore – believed to number some 400,000.
Ghani’s last-minute expedition to Singapore to canvass for votes of Johor folk residing and working in the island state is one of the scattered-brain ideas thought out by starry-eyed “war room” strategists of UMNO leaders and which invariably failed disastrously, like inviting the South Korea global K-Pop Star Psy to the Penang Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year Open House or the even more disastrous “Money Money Money” attack on DAP in Penang, plying Penangites with free food, free drinks, free entertainment, free cash as well as expensive lucky draws for a whole week!
I neither begrudge Ghani’s once-in-18-years bus trip to Singapore nor Singapore authorities bending backwards to excuse Ghani from campaigning among Malaysian workers in Singapore.
However, I would appeal to the Singapore authorities to give a second chance to Malaysian workers who have run afoul of Singapore laws as a result of their Malaysian 13GE enthusiasms, not exactly getting another Ghani Othman treatment but at least in the spirit of maximum forgiveness so that everyone can move on after learning the hard facts of life.