SINGAPORE: A co-driver with one hand on the steering wheel and one foot on the pedal makes for a dangerous ride, but if the car crashes, it is the main driver who will be made to bear the responsibility, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Wednesday (Apr 30).
Speaking at a rally for Sembawang SMC, Mr Ong brought up an analogy from the 2011 General Election, when the opposition was seeking to make inroads into parliament.
Back then, the presence of the opposition was labelled as a co-driver sitting next to the main driver - the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) - whose job was to “slap his head” when the main driver falls asleep, explained Mr Ong.
“I must say, by and large, I do not disagree with that analogy and that there is a role for the opposition. That GE, the opposition won Aljunied GRC. But then when the opposition presence grows and expands to another GRC, that co-driver becomes more than a co-driver. He becomes also a backseat driver,” he said.
That person would start instructing the main driver on what to do and what route to take, but ultimately the driver can still make the call. “You are still in charge, but you just take in the ideas and process it,” said Mr Ong.
“But if after this GE, the PAP loses another three, four GRCs, then I think likely the co-driver will have one hand on the steering wheel and say ‘I also want to drive’. If he’s bold enough, he says, ‘My one leg also go over. You step the accelerator, I step the brake. We drive together’,” he said.
“It will then become very dangerous. We may be at risk of crashing.”
And if the car crashes, “the PAP driver” will have to bear the responsibility as the co-driver will claim to be just that – a co-driver.
“I fear and I worry this is the direction that we are heading towards,” said Mr Ong, who is anchoring the ruling party's Sembawang GRC slate.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ge2025-ong-ye-kung-sembawang-grc-pap-opposition-5099891
