S’poreans on Yaw’s vanishing act: Leaving the country is not right
Singaporeans are disappointed with Yaw Shin Leong's failure to address allegations of affairs and his subsequent disappearance from Singapore.
The disgraced ex-Workers' Party (WP) MP allegedly left Singapore on Wednesday before he was ousted from the party, and is reportedly planning to move overseas to a country not in Southeast Asia, according to The Straits Times.
Most Singaporeans Yahoo! Singapore interviewed felt that Yaw's actions did not set a good example for the public.
Said Nora Osman, an administrative staff, "It doesn't matter if you're from Workers' Party or PAP, you have to show a good example to the public. He [Yaw] shouldn't just go away like that. Things have been done, he can't run away from the problem, so he should just face the music and apologise."
The 54-year-old added that although the women who allegedly had affairs with Yaw should not have gotten involved with married men, it "takes both hands to clap".
Senior manager Kelvin Tan echoed her view. Said the 33-year-old, "As a politician, as a public figure, he should have come out to say something. This [leaving the country] is not right and not doing any favour to the WP."
He added that with Yaw's disappearance, no one would know if the allegations are justified, and "everyone would make their own conclusion that the affairs are real".
Similarly, salesman C.L. Ong said, "It's not responsible to not answer to his people in Hougang. It's very wrong to disappear overseas. He [Yaw] let down Singaporeans."
"Private life should be separate. But he's not showing that he's responsible and answerable to Singaporeans," the 37-year-old continued.
Sales assistant Vivan agreed. "If he didn't do anything wrong, what's the point of running away? Just face up to the truth, it's no different. He can't run away forever," said the 23-year-old.
She added that both parties involved are at fault, as they are married. "They should have focused on their family," she said.
According to Chinese evening paper Lianhe Wanbao, the three women involved with Yaw are fellow WP candidate Angela Oon, a married Chinese national tuition teacher and social worker Zeng Xiao Ping, who also belongs to the WP.
Yaw was last spotted at Changi Airport's Terminal One, reported the paper.
According to AsiaOne, both his companies, EduHearts Consultancy and Easto Global, are still registered, although the rental of the Kaki Bukit office for the former has been terminated.
