When we celebrate not wearing mask outdoors, let’s not forget it was WP MP Jamus Lim who first brought up this suggestion.
When Jamus Lim mooted the idea of allowing people to not wear mask in outdoor settings last September, it was met with much resistance. He cited studies which showed significantly lower viral transmission outdoors and raised concerns about discomfort in our hot climate. Hence he raised a parliamentary question to ask if MOH has considered revising the indoor vs outdoor mask guidelines.
About 6 months later, the government announced that it will be making mask wearing outdoors optional given that there is lower risk of spreading the virus outdoors. This is exactly what Jamus Lim said earlier.
To be fair, a lot of Singaporeans were also sceptical of Jamus Lim’s idea. However, his idea came from observing Singaporeans’ behaviour and thinking about whether prevailing rules make sense. The fact that the PAP later implemented this shows that Jamus Lim was ahead in his thinking.
We all know PAP is famous for adopting opposition’s ideas even after criticising them but will never admit to that.
While PAP will never give credit to the opposition, Singaporeans will remember who the ones who fought for them are.
… and whoever says it was his idea will be slapped with POFMA