GE2020: Independent candidate Cheang Peng Wah insists he's not a PAP mole sabotaging the Opposition

When you have established political parties contesting an election, it's always interesting to hear why independent candidates have tossed their hat in the ring.

Cheang Peng Wah, the only independent of GE2020, took to Facebook earlier on July 4 for an online rally where he explained his motive for contesting Pioneer SMC opposite People's Action Party's Patrick Tay and Progress Singapore Party's Lim Cher Hong.

"I appeal to all the people who think I'm out to sabotage the opposition or I'm out to be a mole, there's no mole."

Cheang then pointed to his face and repeated: "There's no mole here. You see? There's no mole here. No mole. I'm not a mole."

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/wahla/videos/10158530965196182/[/embed]

The former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) engineer also felt that he had an "equal chance" at winning the seat in Pioneer as neither Tay nor Lim has served in the constituency.

"I'll say he (Tay) is no different from me because he hasn't served a single day in this Pioneer district. Similarly, for Mr Lim from PSP, he's also new. So each of us, the three of us has got an equal chance of winning and serving Pioneer's voters," he affirmed.

A common topic raised by viewers was that of his election deposit and they were concerned that he would lose it by winning less than 12.5 per cent of votes. Cheang himself referenced it in passing while initially talking about his decision to contest, noting that commenters on Facebook thought he "must have a lot of money".

Cheang emphasised: "I'm quite certain I won't lose the deposit... When Saturday 7-11 (July 11) comes, you'll see the result."

When the topic was brought up again later in the rally, Cheang insisted: "I already said I won't be losing. It's a hypothetical thing, I should not answer you... It's not a question. It's just a hypothetical question."

Cheang also encouraged Pioneer voters to consider each candidate individually and said that even if he is elected, he'll only occupy one of the 93 seats in Parliament, which means that the ruling party will still have a majority.

He urged voters to consider voting for him if they find him to be "a reasonable person" and if they think "I make sense".

bryanlim@asiaone.com