GE2025: PAP politicians creating content with influencers – win-win or no-no?
SINGAPORE: From dishing out tips on how to be a Member of Parliament ( MP ) to playing tour guide in their constituencies, the ruling People’s Action Party’s ( PAP ) political office holders have been getting creative with online outreach efforts ahead of Singapore’s May 3 General Election.
What has even grabbed consideration is the presence of celebrities and media characters in some of these movies, which are often positioned as light-hearted and peppered with some humor.
In one, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong is seen showing regional professional Maxi Lim the cords of conducting a Meet-the-People program. In another, the artist takes on the role of a native complaining about problems such as noisy birds, leaving the secretary obviously amused.
Older Minister of State for National Development, as well as Digital Development and Information, Tan Kiat How has even appeared alongside content creator Queenie Lim from new advertising company SGAG, who made a film documenting her day as an apprentice of a political business owner.
Another picture sees Mr Tan taking a run around the Central Business District and attempting a TikTok issue with Mr Kao Rong Sheng, more popularly known online as Runner Kao.
Then there is Top Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Desmond Tan appearing alongside Mr Fauzi Azzhar, a previous SGAG information father, in videos showcasing numerous areas in Pasir Ris.
Mr Tan has been MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC since 2020 and is part of the People’s Action Party’s ( PAP ) slate for the new Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.
Mr Fauzi and Mr Lim told CNA they were never paid for their work and that the video were never part of any sponsored cooperation.
CNA even reached out to Ms Queenie Lim and Mr Kao Rong Sheng, but did not receive a reply.
According to battle instructions announced by the Elections Department, just political parties, candidates and vote agents can distribute paid online vote advertisements.
These refer to any substance published online that may fairly be regarded as intended to promote or prejudice the political victory or position of a political party or prospect.
Others can publish these advertisements only if they have written authorisation from a candidate or election agent.
All online advertisements, whether paid or unpaid, have to display the names of all the people who played an active role in publishing them.
Paid advertisements will also have to include a message or statement to indicate that they have been sponsored or paid for, as well as the names of people who paid for them.
Influencers contacted by CNA declined to reveal their rates for collaborations.
CNA understands that influencers tend to set their rate cards based on reach. This can be determined by the number of followers, as well as the potential for content to go viral. They also negotiate with clients, which means rates are not standardised or well-defined across the industry.
Responding to CNA’s queries, the PAP said its branch chairpersons work with content creators to reach out to different groups of residents and communities.
“Some collaborations are commissioned. During the elections, paid commissions will have to comply with the rules, ” it told CNA via email.
The party did not respond to follow-up questions about examples of these commissioned collaborations.
The ruling party has had a” Friends of the PAP” network since 2002, which according to media reports last year has since expanded to include influencers.
The main opposition Workers ’ Party, in response to a question from CNA at a press conference on Apr 20, said it does not work with social media influencers.
Accused Thai nominees in collapsed-tower builder held in custody
Bail allowed for Chinese executor of Chinese firm
Three Thai people suspected of being nominations for a Chinese state-owned development organization, a key partner in the collapsed state inspection tower, were arraigned in court on Tuesday.
They denied the claims and were bound over in prison for 12 weeks to help further research. They did not apply for release on parole.
Department of Special Investigation ( DSI) officials took Manas Sri-anan, Prachuap Sirikhet and Sophon Meechai to the Criminal Court on Tuesday after completing their initiial interrogation of the three men following their surrender on Monday.
On Monday, the judge approved conditional parole for Zhang Chuanling, who holds 49 % of the securities in China Railway No. 10 ( Thailand ) Co, with a 500,000 baht cash surety.
The three Thais control 51 % of the shares in the company.
The judge banned Mr Zhang him from leaving Thailand without prior consent and set a strict investigating plan.
Mr Zhang is accused of breaching the Foreign Business Act by arranging for the three Thais to own the stock on his behalf, so he is in command.
He denied the charge and claimed he represented a state-owned sector in China that was investing in Thailand, DSI assistant captain Pol Capt Surawut Rangsai said.
Researchers learned that Mr Manas, Mr Prachuap and Mr Sophon worked as washers and individuals. Their background did not convince authorities they could keep down executive positions in a business.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong said on Tuesday the claim by Mr Zhang that he represented a state-owned Chinese firm may not alter the larger investigation into the decline of the empty State Audit Office building in Bangkok’s Chatuchak area during the March 28 quake, with great loss of life.
China Railway No. 10 ( Thailand ) Co and Italian-Thai Development Plc formed the joint venture that won the construction contract for the 30-storey project.
There were 103 persons working inside when the building collapsed without any notice. Firefighters have found 51 systems, and nine injured individuals. The research of the great pile of steel and concrete continues.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration confirmed on Tuesday that 43 staff were still unaccounted for.
Pol Maj Gen Watee Assawutmangkul, captain of the Northern Police Forensic Science Division, said firefighters had likewise retrieved more than 100 human tissues and other remnants from among the dust. All would be carefully examined and identified.
HRW: Vietnam social media users hit by ‘expanding crackdown’ on dissent
BANGKOK: Vietnam is targeting ordinary social media users for posts criticising the state in an expanding crackdown on dissent, Human Rights Watch ( HRW) said on April 22.
Vietnam, a one-party status, has long sentenced bloggers and human rights activists to big prison terms, but then even those with no appreciable people profiles risk arrest if they speech a grievance against socialist party officials, HRW said in a report.
Members of the public are being targeted through an enlargement of the scope of article 331 of the penal code, which centres on the “infringement of state pursuits”, the statement says.
Between 2018 and February 2025, Taiwanese authorities convicted and sentenced at least 124 citizens to severe jail terms under content 331, according to HRW.
In the six times to 2017, just 28 were sentenced under similar rules, the statement said.
Taiwanese government “abuse the… legislation not only to silence important activists and whistleblowers, but to fight against common people who complain about inadequate services or authorities misuse,” said Patricia Gossman, interact Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
” Article 331 is the president’s handy tool to intrude upon the fundamental rights of Taiwanese residents. “
Harassment, harassment
Among those imprisoned under the article is Vu Thi Kim Hoang, a tailor who allowed her companion to use her computer at her house, where he discussed social issues on social media. For hosting him, she was jailed for two and half years.
Another is Dao Ba Cuong, who livestreamed a protest he staged inside his house after his son died in police custody in 2022. He was handed a two-year jail term a year later.
Others thrown in jail include Nay Y Blang, who reportedly hosted prayer gatherings at his home for members of the Evangelical Church of Christ, a religious group that the Vietnamese government does not recognise.
He is serving a prison term of four and a half years for organising meetings to “gather forces… incite secession, self-rule, and establish a separate state for ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands”, state media said after his trial in January last year.
Prior to his jailing, Nay Y Blang, from the ethnic minority Ede group, advocated for religious freedom and met foreign diplomats to discuss the issue, HRW said.
The US-based Vietnamese founder of the Evangelical Church of Christ, who goes by the name Pastor Aga, told AFP that Nay Y Blang set up the group “in service of God and his personal religious beliefs”.
” Blang is a very nice person and loyal to God. He is not against the Vietnamese communist administration. He did not want to set up a separate state,” he said.
Unrecognised independent religious groups face constant surveillance, harassment, and intimidation, and their followers are subject to forced renunciation of faith, detention, interrogation, torture and prosecution, HRW said.
” The Vietnamese government should immediately revoke article 331, release all those detained and imprisoned for exercising their basic human rights,” the HRW report concluded.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment from AFP. – AFP
GE2025: Nomination Day surprises await? PAP withholds line-ups for 5 constituencies including East Coast, Punggol GRCs
The ruling party ’s implementation of its officials on the political map has always been an purposeful and deliberate training.
In 2015, with the development of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Prime Minister Wong– next the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth representing West Coast GRC – became the first secretary who entered politics in 2011 to abandon his initial seat and direct a team in another.
In 1997, Mr Teo moved from Marine Parade GRC to buoy the newly created Pasir Ris GRC, in what was his second General Election since becoming complete minister the year before.
But, spectators noted that a team’s anchor does not always be a whole Cabinet minister, and could be one at a senior minister of state amount – something which the Punggol crew already has.
Dr Mustafa cited the occasion of Eunos GRC in 1991, when the four-member district was led by Senior Minister of State Tay Eng Immediately.
Finally, who the outlet minister is or whether there is one in the first place, is likely not a determining factor in voters ’ choice, he said.
“ In 2015, the PAP grassroots team in Aljunied did very well and came very close to winning it back for the PAP, and they did not have an anchor minister, ” he said.
He noted even that in 2020, the PAP’s Sengkang GRC stone featured Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Ng Chee Meng among three social office buyers in the squad, but they still lost to the WP.
“To some degree, the outlet minister part has become useless, because voters want to know not so much what their agent can do for the country, but what they can do for them at the local provincial level, ” said Assoc Prof Singh.
“You’re also more busy as a minister, so there will be some people who may think you won’t be able to help them at the local level. ”
For Cabinet ministers, their reputations — sometimes negative — also precede them if they move constituencies, because they’re always in the national spotlight, said Assoc Prof Singh.
He believed that the “flight to safety ” principle no longer exists, whether it ’s a familiar anchor minister or the ruling party brand, as shown in the 2020 General Election held during the COVID-19 pandemic.
GAINING POLITICAL LEVERAGE
Observers told CNA that the ruling party might be withholding its slates in those three wards for strategic purposes, as they want to keep their cards close to their chests until the last moment.
This also indicates that those areas are where close fights are expected in the coming hustings.
“It’s more of a political chess game and not revealing it until the very end gains maximum political leverage, ” said Dr Mustafa.
He said that not revealing a proposed final line-up leaves the party room to shuffle personnel around on Nomination Day itself.
“As we saw in 2020, they could do a switcheroo on the day itself, and they want to be able to have that opportunity to do it. If they unveil the line-up earlier, then it will be somewhat strange to change it subsequently, ” he explained.
WP chief Pritam Singh had said over the weekend that his party was “very mindful” about the signals it sends, when asked about the caution from the PAP in revealing their line-ups in wards such as East Coast GRC ahead of Nomination Day.
” It is very well-known that we are a very small party, and so we have to be mindful how we employ our strategy,” he had said.
However, there are cons to this secretive strategy too, noted observers.
The longer voters are kept in suspense, the more uncertainty they will feel as they do not know who is going to represent them, said Dr Mustafa.
New candidates or those who have moved from another constituency may also have a shorter runway to become familiarised with the voters, he added.
“So it is in the interest of all political parties who plan to contest in a particular constituency, to unveil their candidates early enough so that the voters know who they are, and they can create that social bond with the voters, ” he said.
SLATES ANNOUNCED
Since Apr 12, the ruling party has been gradually unveiling the likely candidates it will field for the May 3 polls.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had kicked things off in his own ward by naming an unchanged team in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.
Fires pollute Mae Hong Son, 61 hotspots detected
PUBLISHED: 22 Apr 2025 at 14:03
Lee MAI- Mae Hong Son was blanketed by bad ultra-fine dirt on Tuesday as wildfires continued to spread across the northern state, with 61 life hotspots detected.
The Region 3 Forest Fire and Dust Control Centre said 101 hotpots were detected across 17 northeastern counties on Tuesday. Mae Hong Son had the highest range, 61, followed by Chang Mai, 19, and Tak, 5, deputy chairman Chaidaen Kritsuwan said.
The position in Mae Hong Son had deteriorated to the point it was beginning to affect people’s wellbeing, Maj Chaidaen said.
The most spots were in woodland resources, 45, followed by conservation trees, 44, and therefore farming areas, 8.
Illegal levels of fine dust were detected in three counties- Mae Hong Son, Sukhothai and Chiang Mai- he said.
Mae Sariang city of Mae Hong Son was the worst polluted at 64. 30 microgrammes per square inch, followed by Muang city of Sukhothai, 43. 30, and Mae Chaem city of Chiang Mai, 41. 70.
Over the past year, a full of 504 fire areas had been detected in the North, Maj Chaidaen said. The Place 3 Forest Fire and Dust Control Centre continued to police forest areas prone to forest fires.
The heart has sought assistance from local residents, asking them to prevent burning this quarter.
GE2025: PAP’s Poh Li San to contest newly carved out Sembawang West SMC
SINGAPORE: Former Sembawang GRC MP Poh Li San may have in Sembawang West SMC for the future General Election.
Ms Poh, 50, a previous RSAF helicopter pilot, joined elections in 2020 as part of the Sembawang GRC group.
She represented the Sembawang West department, which was carved out as a Single Member Constituency following a review of the political restrictions earlier this year.
“This challenge will likely be a difficult one-on-one struggle against the president of the SDP ( Singapore Democratic Party ), Dr Chee Quickly Juan,” said Ms Poh.
” The battle forward may seem daunting, but I’m not one to shy away from difficult issues, because I’m committed to be where my people are and will continue to work hard for them. “
In the 2020 General Election, she was part of the PAP team that ran against the National Solidarity Party ( NSP), winning with a vote share of 67. 29 per share.
GE2025: Ong Ye Kung to lead PAP’s Sembawang GRC team, including 2 new faces Gabriel Lam and Ng Shi Xuan
Dr Lim Wee Kiak, a four-term MP, was excluded from the occasion. Mr Ong said he could not affirm if Dr Lim will be retiring.
” He has been a dear friend, a dear friend, both as well as a partner, dear friend, because we are actually private friends.
” He has served four terms in this area, and I think is appropriate for me during the Canberra Day to give him a right gift. And I think it is also best of us to gain him to his home and his personal discipline,” said Mr Ong, referring to an occasion earlier this month where he hailed Dr Lim’s efforts.
Dr Lim, an optician, has been in politics since 2006 disputing in several GRCs. He entered politics as part of the Sembawang group, subsequently moved to Miss Quickly GRC in 2011.
His Canberra clinic returned to Sembawang in 2015 and he has been in the GRC since then.
As for past Sembawang MP Poh Li San, she will get contesting in Sembawang West SMC, a fresh clinic that was carved out following the redrawing of electoral restrictions.
Even spotted in the group on Tuesday’s stone entry for Sembawang GRC was former Nominated Member of Parliament ( NMP ) Raj Joshua Thomas, who had earlier announced that he will not stand in the upcoming General Election. Mr Thomas was dressed in his party’s colors, with a PAP image pinned to his pale clothing.
He was one of two NMPs who resigned before their political term ended on Feb 14. The other person is Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, who has been fully introduced as a potential candidate for Nee Quickly GRC.
In the 2020 General Election, the PAP team won against a National Solidarity Party ( NSP) team with a vote share of 67. 29 per share.
SDP, which had contested in Sembawang in the past but did not do so in the past two basic elections, has unveiled a group led by gathering vice-chairman Bryan Lim to remain in the hospital for the 2025 surveys.
NSP has even declared it may take a group that, setting the landscape for a three-cornered battle in the hospital, which has 133,919 voters.
China sets ‘critical’ rules to corral safe self-driving EVs after Xiaomi’s fatal crash
An organisation representing China ’s biggest carmakers has urged its members to enhance driving safety and avoid exaggerating the capabilities of their self-navigating systems, following a fatal crash involving Xiaomi’s SU7 electric vehicle ( EV ) last month.
Carmakers should improve product safety designs and develop effective warning systems to alert drivers, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers ( CAAM ) said on Monday in a joint statement with the China Society of Automotive Engineers. The organizations outlined various initiatives to link carmakers in standardising the advertising and software of driver-assistance systems.
The country ’s EV industry “has developed rapidly and the combined driver assistance ( level 2 driving automation ) has entered a critical period of large-scale application”, the statement said. The efforts were aimed at “building a good habitat and promoting the healthy application of vehicle help products”, it added.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ( MIIT ) summoned officials from 60 companies to a meeting earlier this month, asking them to fully comply with regulations governing the development of self-driving technologies. The state also warned them not to exaggerate the part of the driver-assistance methods.
The MIIT told the company representatives that the words “smart driving”, “advanced smart driving ” and “autonomous driving ” could not be used in promoting existing self-driving systems.
In mainland China, most available self-driving systems are classified as either level 2 ( L2 ) or L2 , both of which require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times. Beijing has yet to legalise L3 – a “hands-off ” system based on standards set by US-based SAE International. All individuals are required to be fully call, even with the program turned on.
A Xiaomi SU7 crashed in northern Anhui state last quarter, claiming three life. The vehicle was travelling at 116km/h on a highway with the driver-assistance program engaged, adding that the program alerted the driver to take over the vehicle two hours before it hit a practical challenge, the EV manufacturer said.
Some analysts said the accident should not be viewed in isolation, as it pointed to the widespread use of navigation on autopilot ( NOA ) in mainland China and the lack of understanding of the system’s role and the related rules and regulations among drivers.
“Millions of drivers need to be educated to properly use the NOA systems, ” said David Zhang, general secretary of the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association. “They have to be completely call when the system is turned on, and the individuals are also liable for their own and people ’ protection. ”
The automobile association also called on its members to strictly observe MIIT’s Automobile Driving Automation Classification to reject false advertising and inflated marketing, avoid ambiguous or ambiguous wording and avoid the risk of driver misuse and abuse of such technologies.
The automakers may also better inform consumers about standard system info, appropriate use methods and emergency response procedures regarding their self-driving technologies. This would ensure that users plainly understand the difference between driver assistance and intelligent moving, it added. – South China Morning Post
GE2025: People’s Power Party to contest Ang Mo Kio and Tampines GRCs
SINGAPORE: The People’s Power Party ( PPP ) plans to contest in Tampines and Ang Mo Kio GRCs at Singapore’s upcoming General Election on May 3, party secretary-general Goh Meng Seng announced on Tuesday ( Apr 22 ).
The opposition group will get dropping out of the Jalan Kayu and Tampines Changkat SMCs which it previously said it intended to field individuals in.
With its present plans, PPP may seem to field 10 candidates.
The party formerly said group manager William Lim did lead its staff in Ang Mo Kio GRC.
The various nine candidates are: group key Goh Meng Seng, 55; gathering president Derrick Sim, 44; vegetation professional Vere Nathan, 26; building expert Thaddeus Thomas, 43; gardener Heng Zheng Dao, 24; green software company chairman Peter Soh, 65; businessman Arbaah Haroun, 50; as well as northern executive committee members Martinn Ho, 64, and Samuel Lee, 33.
‘Who after Anwar?’: Malaysia premier’s PKR gripped with election fever as hopefuls jostle to be his successor
CRITICAL JUNCTURE
The future party surveys come at a critical juncture for PKR, an cultural Malay-dominated multi-racial celebration.
While the group enjoys a key location in national politics and its leaders occupy important Cabinet positions, such as the fund and house portfolios, PKR’s perch is seen to be unsteady, mainly due to Malaysia’s seriously damaged social landscape.
The general election in November 2022 failed to produce an outright winner and Anwar assumed the premiership only after his PH coalition led by PKR formed a unity government with the Barisan Nasional pact led by the United Malays National Organisation ( UMNO ).
PKR, which has 31 elected representatives in Parliament, relies heavily on its chief ally in PH, the Democratic Action Party ( DAP ), which has 40 Members of Parliament in the 222-member lower house.
Public support for PKR is even considered by social experts to be dull.
PKR authorities claim that it has just over one million registered users, but political researchers noted that the party lacks a national footprints and struggles to get help from the land ’s politically divided Malays, who make up more than 60 per cent of the people.
Its primary supporters are generally from multi-racial industrial and semi-urban communities.
“PKR’s big problem is that it has not used its reigns as the direct person in government to build a power foundation that will make it a lasting political organisation, ” said Ibrahim Suffian of independent voting dress Merdeka Centre, adding that the upcoming celebration polls “provides for a chance to create a new leadership that can focus on making the party a serious player”.
LACKING CLEAR IDEOLOGY?
The chief weakness afflicting the party is that it is bereft of a clear ideology, apart from being against corruption, abuse of power in government and cronyism.
This is unlike other established parties such as UMNO, which champions the rights of the ethnic Malay community, and the DAP, which has long fought for equal rights for all Malaysians.
Established in 1998 as Parti Keadilan Nasional, PKR was a product of the political fallout between former premier Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar, who at the time served as deputy premier.
Both men clashed over how to manage the country ’s economic crisis during Asia’s financial turmoil that began in the summer of 1997 and that in turn led to Anwar’s sacking from government and subsequent conviction and jailing over corruption and sexual misconduct.
Public anger over Mahathir’s treatment of his erstwhile successor, particularly Anwar’s violent beating while in custody by the then-police chief, triggered some of the country ’s worst public demonstrations and street protests. It also brought together politicians aligned to Anwar, non-governmental organisations and social activists to form PKR.
While PKR may not have the deep roots of established parties, such as UMNO and DAP, political analysts noted that there are features and traits the party could leverage to broaden its appeal with ordinary Malaysians, particularly the ethnic Malay community.
PKR leads the Malay-dominated state governments of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, two of the country ’s most powerful economic growth engines after Penang, which is led by its ally DAP.
“If PH, particularly PKR and Anwar’s administration, can deliver ( the ) goods on the economy and alleviate the cost of living, the Malays will find the party more appealing compared to its rivals, ” said Merdeka Centre’s Ibrahim, referring to UMNO and the opposition right-wing Parti Islam SeMalaysia ( PAS ), which together are in competition for the Malay ground.