PSP Candidate Brad Bowyer Drew Rebuke from Fellow Candidate After He Posted His Views About Masks & Vaccine

It can take months for a politician to win the respect and admiration of citizens, but only a second to lose it.

And this is something the world has witnessed one too many times this year.

As you know, politicians often prove their worth during a crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

A good one would follow the advice of medical experts and take precautionary measures, while an incompetent and even dangerous one would spread misinformation and act as a mouthpiece for conspiracies.

Fortunately, we live in a country where politicians heed the advice of scientists, and put the safety of residents above all else.

One politician, however, has recently drawn criticism from his own party for publicising his alternative views on face masks and Covid-19 vaccines.

Questions Mask-wearing Rule, Claims Vaccines Lead to Birth Defects

Progress Singapore Party member Brad Bowyer has taken to Facebook to vent his frustrations about some of the current Covid-19 rules in place.

He penned a lengthy Facebook post on Thursday (17 Dec), detailing the current Covid-19 situation in Singapore and his grievances over some precautionary measures.

Bowyer starts off his post saying nearly half of all migrant workers here have had a Covid-19 infection before, which is true. 

But he then goes on to suggest that the pandemic, which he placed in quotation marks, isn’t as serious as the authorities think it is, citing Singapore’s low death rate and rate of transmission in the community over the last few months.

“Given we have virtually NO Covid left in the country why are we only going to phase 3 on Dec 28th?” he said.

He then questioned the need for face masks and social distancing, before launching into an attack on vaccines filled with unverified claims.

“Why are we pushing experimental vaccines with known side effects, including anaphylactic episodes, sterility and birth defects amongst others, when the threat level is virtually zero to catch it and even less to need serious treatment.”

While there have been three known cases of anaphylactic reactions to Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine – two in the UK and one in the US – there’s no evidence to support the claim that the vaccines can cause sterility and birth defects.

This is why Bowyer’s own party member felt compelled to rebuke him for his comments.

Party Needs to Distance Itself From “Dangerous Opinions”

Speaking to The Straits Times, fellow PSP member Kala Manickam criticised Bowyer for publicising his unconventional opinons.

Manickam, who stood with Bowyer for election in Nee Soon GRC in this year’s general election, said she was disappointed with her fellow party member for making light of the pandemic.

“Being a Covid-19 survivor, I am extremely disturbed by the misinformation and fear you are spreading,” she said.

Manickam added that while the Government could have improved its communications in the early months of the pandemic, she believed it has “generally done well in the past few months since the election”.

Precautionary measures such as mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, and restrictions on businesses are necessary to protect the community, she said.

“In the midst of a public health pandemic, we should not spread conspiracy theories on vaccines, like what you are doing here.”

“We have to follow the lead of the Government and health professionals to keep our people safe. Surely the economy cannot be more important than human beings”, she added.

Bowyer may be facing more than just a reprimand, however.

As Manickam said: “I believe the Party has to distance itself from your dangerous opinions.”

Bowyer was previously issued a correction order under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) for a post he made about investments by GIC, Temasek, and other government-linked companies.

In the past week, Bowyer has made two other Facebook posts questioning the need for face masks as well as the reliability of the Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Featured Image: Progress Singapore Party