Hype beasts, fan cams: does Singapore opposition have an online edge in election 2020?

With mass rallies out due to Covid-19, online campaigning could play a big role in Singapore’s digital-first election

Some analysts believe it will boost the opposition, with even a PAP stalwart saying the ruling party faces a ‘tough election’

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Singapore is going to the polls on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00pm, 4 Jul 2020Updated: 2:38pm, 9 Jul 2020

With mass rallies banned and major restrictions on other forms of physical campaigning, social media has become a vital soapbox for Singaporean politicians hoping to be elected in the July 10 election.

Social media use during elections in the hyper-wired Asian city state is by no means new: since 2011, the long ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) has allowed for online campaigning.

But in this extraordinary pandemic-era vote, politicians from both the PAP and the key opposition parties are keenly aware that online efforts to win the hearts and minds of the 2.65 million voters could play a big role when the ballots are counted next Friday.

While Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s PAP – in power since 1959 – is all but certain to return to power, some observers believe the elections may be far more of a contest than in the past because of a “levelling of the playing field” brought about by restrictions on physical campaigning.

As part of prevailing pandemic control measures, candidates, while allowed to conduct walkabouts and house visits, are only allowed to do so in groups of five or fewer.

With the restrictions in mind, the PAP stalwart K. Shanmugam described the contest to local media this week as a “tough election” for the ruling party as its strengths were in campaigning on the ground.

Unlike the small opposition players, the PAP behemoth has traditionally not attracted large crowds to election rallies.