After filing papers on Nomination Day, Ngerng will have to rush to court
SINGAPORE — Election hopeful Roy Ngerng, who is facing two criminal charges for his involvement in a protest at Speakers’ Corner last year, will have to rush to court after filing his papers on Nomination Day next Tuesday.
His case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference at 4pm that day, just hours after the allocated period for candidates to file their nomination papers closes at noon.
Ngerng and five others — including blogger Han Hui Hui, who has indicated her interest to contest for the Radin Mas single seat — were first charged in October last year after their Return Our CPF protest on Sept 27 disrupted a YMCA charity carnival.
Demonstrators had marched three times around the general vicinity of the YMCA event while shouting loudly, waving Singapore flags and blowing whistles. The incident caused a furore among the public then.
Ngerng and Han each face one count of causing a public nuisance, and one count of organising a demonstration without approval. The maximum penalties for the offences are a S$1,000 fine and S$5,000 fine, respectively.
According to the Handbook for Parliamentary Election Candidates issued by the Elections Department on Aug 25, a person who has been convicted of an offence by a Singapore or Malaysian court and fined at least S$2,000 or jailed for no less than one year will be disqualified from being a parliamentary election candidate.
Asked about his pending court case yesterday, Ngerng said he will attend his court hearing on Sept 1, but is still focused on gearing up for the elections and will “not be distracted by other issues”.
“I believe the election campaign will matter a lot more (to voters) ... We need to focus on the issues and areas we want to help residents advocate (for) at the national level ... and I believe that the informed voters in Ang Mo Kio will also be looking at these issues,” he added.
“My focus is really on ensuring that we are going to present a credible voice for Singaporeans. All of us are eligible to be credible candidates for the election. We will look at how the voters will assess us based on our track record.” KELLY NG
