TL;DR – Fake news is fake.
Recently, this photo has been going around:
As expected, there are some people who took to social media to question why PRs don’t need to queue.
“WOW PRs HAVE VIP TREATMENT ?”
And this other headline:
“Beware of Indian MP : Priority Queue For Indian SPR @ Bukit Batok SMC”
Is it true? Can it be? That permanent residents (PRs) get priority to see the MP at Bukit Batok? They don’t have to queue while Singaporeans do?
In a Facebook post, Mr Murali Pillai, MP for Bukit Batok SMC, has issued this clarification:
It turns out it’s the opposite.
Basically, MPs won’t write petitions on behalf of PRs unless they have a Singaporean sponsor with them. And the notice was to tell PRs “upfront to go to the counter so that they can be told upfront by the registration counter volunteers that for petitions to be written on their behalf, they would need to provide more details such as their Singaporean sponsors. Otherwise, they may have waited in vain”.
But of course, the notice itself is quite terribly worded. Most people reading that notice without knowing the exact context could possibly conclude, and quite logically so, that Mr Murali has a priority queue for PRs.
If it were up to me, it could probably be rewritten like this:
“Singaporean Permanent Residents residing in Bukit Batok SMC who wish to see the MP would need to provide details of their Singaporean sponsors as well as other additional information, such as [insert whatever information that is needed]. If you need further clarifications, please feel free to approach our volunteers at the registration counter (you do not need to queue to do that).”
Perhaps not the most elegantly worded message. But at least it’s clear what PRs need to do, and the one reason why they don’t need to queue.
