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Police to take no further action over video by PAP’s Ong Ye Kung that infringed electoral rules

SINGAPORE — The police will not be taking any further action on a report filed against Mr Ong Ye Kung, Member of Parliament-elect for the People’s Action Party (PAP), over a video of himself chatting with a schoolboy that was put up during the recent election campaign.

Mr Ong Ye Kung (pictured) has been reminded “to comply with the law in relation to all campaigning activities”.

Mr Ong Ye Kung (pictured) has been reminded “to comply with the law in relation to all campaigning activities”.

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SINGAPORE — The police will not be taking any further action on a report filed against Mr Ong Ye Kung, Member of Parliament-elect for the People’s Action Party (PAP), over a video of himself chatting with a schoolboy that was put up during the recent election campaign.

In a joint response to TODAY, the Elections Department Singapore (ELD) and the police said that the Assistant Returning Officer had issued an advisory to Mr Ong to “remind him to comply with the law in relation to all campaigning activities”. The Assistant Returning Officer from ELD assists in overseeing the smooth running of the General Election, which took place this year on July 10.

Confirming that a police report was received, the joint statement read: “As the Assistant Returning Officer had looked into the matter, the police will not be taking any further action.” 

Under section 83(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, no person attending a primary or secondary school as a student is allowed to take part in any election activity. 

Mr Ong, who was Education Minister before Parliament was dissolved ahead of the elections, had led PAP’s team in the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency. His team received 67.29 per cent of the vote, winning against a team from the National Solidarity Party.  

The video was uploaded on Facebook on July 2 — eight days before voters went to the ballot box — but was promptly taken down by Mr Ong himself after he was told by the authorities that it was “not in line with electoral rules”.

In the video titled “The ‘MOE guy’ vs The Sembawang TripAdvisor”, Mr Ong spoke to the boy about the amenities that his party had introduced to the town. 

In a Facebook post put up after the video was removed, Mr Ong said of the boy named Jony, who lives in Sembawang: “Jony is a great sport, we had a good chat, and we put up a short (video). However, we have been informed by the authorities that this is not in line with electoral rules.

“We have therefore taken down the video. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

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