GE2020: PAP Aljunied candidate Shamsul Kamar refutes allegations of ‘luring’ voters with Texas Chicken meals

SINGAPORE — Mr Shamsul Kamar, an election candidate with the People’s Action Party (PAP), took to Facebook to clarify that a food distribution event he was supposed to host this Saturday (July 4) has been postponed until after the General Election (GE).

The candidate for Aljunied Group Representation Constituency (GRC) issued the clarification on Wednesday, saying it has come to his attention that there is a photo circulating on social media regarding the event.

He also said allegations that he is helping only the Malay community and that he is “luring people to vote by providing them with free food” are untrue.

The photo being circulated is of a letter that Mr Shamsul signed, which invites Kaki Bukit residents to a food distribution event in Bedok. The letter, written in Malay and dated June 27 — four days after the GE was called, said that residents would receive a two-piece meal sponsored by fast-food eatery Texas Chicken.

The letter stated that Mr Shamsul, who is also the executive director of the Centre of Domestic Employees, would be present at the event.

In his Facebook post, Mr Shamsul said that in the last five years, his team has worked with various stakeholders, private companies and non-profit organisations to assist Kaki Bukit residents “regardless of race, language or religion”.

“On certain occasions, these organisations have specific groups of people they would like to help,” he said. “For example, some may want to focus on helping the elderly, low-income families or single mothers.”

In this instance, the organisation that initiated the food distribution wanted to focus on lower-income Malay-Muslim families.

“Our community leaders from the Malay Activity Executive Committee believed that this is a good initiative to help those in need,” he said.

Planning for this event started before the GE was announced, he said. But as the election was called on June 23, “many events that were supposed to take place during this period” had to be postponed.

Since Tuesday, committee members have started calling residents to inform them about the postponement, he added. 

“I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to the residents affected by this decision.” 

Mr Shamsul is part of a five-person PAP team that is contesting against the incumbent Workers’ Party (WP) for Aljunied GRC. The rest of the team are Mr Victor Lye, Mr Chua Eng Leong, Ms Chan Hui Yuh and Mr Alex Yeo.

The WP team comprises Mr Pritam Singh, Ms Sylvia Lim, Mr Faisal Manap, Mr Leon Perera and Mr Gerald Giam.

In GE2015, the contest for Aljunied saw WP narrowly beating the PAP team that included Mr Shamsul, taking 50.96 per cent of the vote.