State media TodayOnline confirmed rumours that Halimah Yacob’s poor grasp of English grammar in an article yesterday (Aug 19), describing her grammar as “lapse”. Below is a paragraph written by the state media:
““She was very hard working, never gives up, very resilient, seldom falls sick and whenever she’s sick, she’ll make use of the Axe Brand oil. My mom was famous for her Axe Brand Oil, she carries it everywhere she goes,” said Mdm Halimah, who would lapse into present tense when talking about her mother — a person whom she described as having had a “tremendous” influence on her. “Because of the hardship she had to go through … her motto in life was ‘never say die, never give up’. So that, I think, rubs off (on me) quite a lot.””
State media TodayOnline have to revert to narration instead of making formal quotations of Halimah Yacob because of her bad English. You may view the article here.
Interviews of Halimah Yacob also revealed that the Indian Singaporean can only manage broken English, and is usually incoherent without a script. Many Singaporeans have expressed concerns over Halimah Yacob may sully the Singapore President’s position and bring disrepute to Singaporeans world wide.
In her interview with state media TodayOnline, Halimah Yacob brought up her deceased mother to gain public sympathy. Halimah Yacob called her mother’s death her “saddest moment” and recounted her “terrible struggle” during childhood:
“My mom was stoic … She never complains, never breaks down,” she said. “She does not wallow in self pity, she does not, frankly, exhibit much weakness. She was a very strong woman. I strive to live by my mother’s values, and applies it to my work in public service. My mom’s approach is that if somebody asks for help, you cannot turn them away … when I serve, I think about the people first. In public service, (if) you don’t like people, you can’t get into it, no way.”
The political move to milk deceased parents is however nothing new in Singapore. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong played an innocent boy who just lost his father, and plagiarised his father’s speech during the 2015’s General Election. However, as Lee Kuan Yew is a respected figure in Singapore, it is unknown how effective Halimah Yacob playing the dead card would be.
Halimah Yacob is an Indian Singaporean contesting in the coming Presidential Election reserved for Malays. Dictator Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong re-wrote the Constitution and bent the definition of the Malay race to ensure he gets Halimah Yacob as puppet president.