Singapore’s influencers rub shoulders with Lawrence Wong, PAP members - is it a ‘sell-out’?

Several Singapore ministers were seen posing with celebrities such as Simon Khung and Dasmond Koh at a People’s Action Party event

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Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and NoonTalk’s co-founder Dasmond Koh posing for a wefie at a People’s Action Party event in Singapore on June 8. Photo: @dasmondkoh/TikTok

Published: 5:44pm, 14 Jun 2024Updated: 7:24pm, 14 Jun 2024

Among the sea of white-on-white People’s Action Party (PAP) volunteers gathering at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore last Saturday was a group of stylishly dressed individuals scoring wefies with politicians.

Some of these attendees, who were not privy to the inner workings of Singapore’s ruling party previously, have thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok.

The event last Saturday was organised by the PAP to thank volunteers, following a party-wide feedback exercise, RefreshPAP, which took place over the past few months.

Local media reported Prime Minister Lawrence Wong gestured to some in the audience as he said: “You may not be prepared to wear white [on] white, and that’s fine. But as long as you’re prepared to make common cause with the party, and work with us to build a better Singapore, we welcome you, and we thank you for your support.”

Wong said the PAP welcomed those who wanted to join the party and that beyond the core group of party activists, there was the wider Friends of PAP network.

Extending the invitation to individuals, corporate and social service organisations, he added: “We want to grow this network of PAP friends and partners.”

Wong became Singapore’s fourth prime minister on May 15, taking over the reins from Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is the son of the city state’s late founding father Lee Kuan Yew.