The activities that Tan Kin Lian have been involved in after his failed bid for Singapore’s presidency are, more or less, colorful. There’s the time when he placed his phone in a fridge to test out his thermometer app; there’s the time when he had to apologize for an insensitive post; there’s the time when he fixed wooden bridges using his old election posters.
With the general election looming and a fellow ex-presidential elect receiving better public reception than he did, Tan is trying hard to keep his political clout alive. The man had been scheduled to speak out against the government at Hong Lim Park tomorrow as part of a rally called “Abuse of Process”. It would be a demonstration against Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s defamation suit involving blogger and activist Leong Sze Hian, who’s being dragged to court for sharing a contentious article on Facebook.
Tan, however, is displeased over the apparent lack of interest in the rally. Disappointed that he saw only 11 people indicating that they’d attend the event, he made a pretty bold ultimatum in a Facebook post. If less than a hundred people registered their names on his own personal event page by today, he won’t get involved in the next general election. Gasp!
“For people who urge me to stand for the next general election, why are you not willing to be counted by registering and attending this event?” he questioned his followers on Facebook.
“Maybe you think that you have other important things to do. What about me? You think that I do not have important things to do, right?” Not exactly the classiest statement made by an aspiring parliamentarian.
“It is important to give the right support for people whom you like to speak out for you,” he wrote, telling folks to come forward immediately to show their support in the future.
Trolling
The patent plea for support appeared to have attracted more registrations (the number now stands at 71), including trolls. Tan had to moderate his attendee list and delete entries that registered themselves as local actress Fann Wong, Prime Minister Lee, as well as Superstar Celebrity Kurtista, which he spelled “Kurstika”.
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