A check on past “milestones” that triggered the outbreak in Singapore found that if the country had a different government, there should be less than 200 cases today in April – if the PAP government had adopted similar responses other governments did.
Under the PAP government, Singaporeans are wrecked. The Ministry of Health today reported 897 new cases, with a total of 12,075 – the highest in South East Asia.
Using projections from two weeks between the late January and early February, the daily increment averaged at 10 cases. A more competent government would have maintained the figures steady and today, a 100 days later, we should have only a little more than 180 cases.
How did the Singapore government screw up so badly, is however no news to everyone.
Back in January 23, when the first case of coronavirus was found in Singapore, Singapore should have started screening China visitors. A ban should have been effected by Feb 4 like Taiwan did, but not Singapore. The PAP government also created chaos by telling people not to wear a mask, and stopped residents who is not a close contact from getting a coronavirus test – unlike South Korea and China who aggressively test all everyone even with mild symptoms.
Back in March, employers who sent their symptomatic workers for a test were threatened with revoke of work passes.
Early detection also failed as the government set a 5-day MC regime, sending symptomatic patients home instead of the hospital.
The PAP ministers to date have only lied and lied. They first lied about learning a lesson from SARS, and claimed to be well-prepared. They then lied about face mask shortage, food shortage and even the reporting standards of infected cases.
At this juncture with 12,075 cases, Singapore will first need transparency and honesty from the government to reveal the actual state of infection. Without an accurate assessment, any new policy could be irrelevant and outdated.
Second, Singapore will need accountability from its leaders. When the Health Minister is unable to perform, he must be removed. The Manpower Minister is responsible for today’s massive infections at the dormitories, she must be removed. The Trade Minister did not ensure a steady supply of face masks, he must be removed. The Home Affairs Minister did not close the borders, he must be removed. This goes the same to “medical experts” like Dale Fisher who gave the wrong public advice, he must be removed. Without a change to capable leadership, the outbreak will only get worse.
Politically, there is a need for new capable leadership whom the people can trust. The current leaders have zero credibility, foresight or reliability as proven from today’s report card. This is also why many are still not abiding by stay-home orders, observing social distancing or listening to what the government says.
Alex Tan
STR Editor