Jinx Ong Ye Kung is back again. Yesterday, he confidently told Singaporeans there is no evidence of a new wave even though Covid-19 cases are increasing. He also said the rise is “expected”.
“The community cases are rising, but not doubling every few days. So there is no evidence of a new wave. The rise is also expected, given that we opened up social activities almost fully since 26 April.”
Ong Ye Kung has a track record of being a jinx.
He jinxed the SG-HK air travel bubble
Remember the failed travel bubble? Ong Ye Kung was so optimistic about launching it in Nov 2020 when cases spiked in Hong Kong. He tried to restart it in 6 months later but this time, cases shot up in Singapore. The bubble burst twice. He eventually renamed it a “travel corridor” because he thought the word “bubble” was a jinx.
He jinxed our public transport
When he was Transport Minister, Ong Ye Kung bragged about the MRT’s achievement for traveling more than an average of 1 million train km without failure. Following his self-praise, Singaporeans suffered a series of train disruptions. It was very memorable.
Now, as Health Minister, he is saying that there is no new wave despite a steady rise in cases. What makes him so sure it is not imminent? Why is he so confident there is no new variant? Given his track record, will he jinx it again?
“With strong resilience to the virus due to vaccinations and recovery from past infections, we should be able to see through this uptick of cases, without any adjustments to current SMMs.”
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung
