Marine Parade GRC Member of Parliament (MP) Seah Kian Peng went for a walk on Sunday morning, Apr. 26.
He made his way through various coffee shops, as well as a wet market, and uploaded a picture of himself with a market vendor on his Facebook page later that day.
Claimed to be playing the role of a SDA
Explaining that he was "playing the role of a safe distancing ambassador (SDA)" in his post, Seah reported positive observations from his tour of duty, saying that compliance with safe-distancing measures was high, and that merchants and residents understood the need for these measures.
The measures initially put in place for Singapore's circuit breaker period have been strictly enforced, with thousands of stern warnings, and hundreds of fines meted out for non-compliance since the CB measures kicked in on May 4.
Last week, the CB period was extended until June 1.
What would have otherwise been a run-of-the-mill action by Seah to ensure compliance has been widely panned by online commenters.
Was he appointed as a SDA?
Many questioned whether he had indeed been appointed as a SDA in the first place, and pointed out that he seemed to have simply appointed himself:
Seah's choice of attire
Some commenters raised questions about Seah's attire as well:
Seah was not wearing a lanyard with an identification card, which Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) has asked members of the public to look out for, in order to verify whether someone is a legitimate SDA or Enforcement Officer:
Photo via MEWR
Seah did not appear to have been hindered by this, however, saying: "Even with a mask on, most people seem to be able to recognize me".
Another commenter questioned why Seah was wearing a "PAP party shirt".
Whether it was a PAP party shirt or not is unconfirmed, though its red and blue trimmings match the colours used by both PAP and NTUC.
Seah is the Group CEO of NTUC Enterprise and FairPrice.
The shirt Seah wore for his morning walk reads "We Care @ Braddell Heights".
It has been Seah's choice of attire on other occasions as well.
Was he doing a "walkabout"?
Seah's political party, the PAP, has said that it would suspend all on-the-ground initiatives, including market visits and home visits.
This came one day after another MP Chia Shi-Lu, was heavily criticised for distributing face masks to hawkers at Alexandra Village Food Centre.
The suspension on PAP's part could be one reason why Seah was quick to point out that the purpose of his trip to the kopitiams and the wet market was to help out with safe distancing.
However, as one commenter pointed out, Seah had himself added the hashtag "#walkabout" in his post.
Another commenter called attention to the fact that if he had been walking about in his own constituency, it could well be mistaken for political campaigning.
While Seah did not mention which market he visited, his post included the hashtag "#braddellheights".
The official OneMap website shows that Braddell Heights estate sits within Marine Parade GRC.
Screenshot via OneMap
Possible unintended consequences
One commenter pointed out that MPs need to "feel and know the ground" in order to be effective lawmakers.
Indeed, Seah may have wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of safe distancing on the ground, though there may be unintended consequences arising from the way he communicated it.
Saying that he was "playing the role" of a SDA without clarifying whether he had been formally appointed, together with his lack of identification, could lead members of the public to have an impression that anyone could similarly "play the role", or even make use of the position of an SDA as an excuse to leave their homes without proper justification.
Another PAP MP was a SDA too
Seah was not the only PAP MP who was a SDA last weekend.
Liang Eng Hwa, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, accompanied a couple of SDAs to visit HDB blocks and a supermarket.
They took a group photo near a train station.
Like the rest of the SDAs, Liang was wearing a yellow vest that identifies himself as a SDA.
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Top image via Seah Kian Peng on Facebook and Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR)