GE2020: Heng Swee Keat, Nomination Day Speech — “We have a East Coast, Singapore, we have a together, an East Coast plan”

The campaigning spirit runs high as Nomination Day continues into full swing for the rest of today. Since noon, all candidates have filed their paperwork, and have begun their campaigning trail.

As candidates continue to get air time on National Television to deliver their thanks and rallies, some have succinctly summed up their speeches, while others have had… less than ideal moments on air.

DPM Heng Swee Keat fell victim to Nomination Day stress and unfortunately delivered the second half of his English speech in a manner that was probably less eloquent than he’d liked. In a video snippet that has now been circulating, we can clearly hear DPM Heng stumble on some of his words.

Here is the transcript of his full Nomination Day speech in English:

“Dear residents of East Coast GRC, first, I want to thank you very much for your strong support to Mr Lim Swee Say and the PAP team for serving this- all of you, over these years.

Now, I also want to thank my Tampines residents for first electing me into parliament. Tampines is now helmed by Minister Masagos, and I have every confidence in him and the team.

Now, COVID-19 has plunged the world into a period of un- profound uncertainty, into a major crisis on many fronts—healthcare, economy, social, and geopolitical.

The People’s Action party has a plan. Has a plan to allow us, to enable us to overcome this crisis. And has a plan to emerge stronger from this. So I look forward to the support of all Singaporeans for the People’s Action Party.

For our East Coast residents, the- we also have a plan for the East Coast. We have a East Coast- Singapore- we have a together, an East Coast plan.

We care, at East Coast. So we look forward to working closely together with our residents, to enable the East Coast and the whole of Singapore to emerge from this stronger.

So, we humbly ask for your support, for your strong endorsement, so that the team can continue to serve you and to serve fellow Singaporeans in the coming years.”

For our East Coast residents, the- we also have a plan for the East Coast. We have a East Coast, Singapore, we have a together, an East Coast plan.

-DPM Heng, 2020

Apparently, speaking in full sentences is overrated, and that throwing out keywords will do the trick just fine.

Jokes aside, let’s bear in mind that DPM Heng has been and will continue to be under a tremendous amount of stress. First it was COVID-19, and now he will continue to face stressors leading up to Polling Day as well as surrounding his potential appointment as our state’s new Prime Minister.

On top of all that, there is also a strict time limit that speakers have to adhere to, which probably led to the Deputy Prime Minister’s thoughts becoming more jumbled than he had planned.