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Top image: Low Wu Yang Andre / Facebook
Nobody really warns you about what it’s like when your private chats get leaked.
It’s unthinkable—your private, unfiltered word vomit, meant for a trusted audience, blasted on the internet for all to read.
This is what Workers’ Party new face Andre Low had to contend with when over 30 screenshots of private messages from a Telegram group chat were leaked onto Reddit recently.
In the messages, the 33-year-old ranted about everything from fighter jet noises (relatable) to network outages (also relatable). Most of it is your typical Singaporean keyboard warrior-type complaints, peppered with F-bombs and the sort of snarky tone you use when you’re in the company of fellow haters.
Low, who is standing for election in Jalan Kayu SMC, swiftly took accountability and issued an apology on Facebook on April 30th.
This issue is concerning to me as a voter. But I’m not worried about what this says about Low (I personally don’t think the texts are really all that bad).
What I’m really concerned about is the fact that leaks like this add to the fear that young Singaporeans may feel when they ever consider stepping into politics.
The Fear of Getting Cancelled
Candidates should already know they will be put under a microscope when they enter politics. Every single microscopic blemish will be enlarged and potentially end up as headlines during the hustings.
But, for the candidates RICE has spoken to at least, the desire to step up and make a change means overcoming those fears. They throw their names in the ring, knowing full well that all of Singapore will be scrutinising them—their LinkedIns, their families, their families’ LinkedIn’s, and whatever else they can find.
All that is fair game. But to be clear, leaking these texts from a private chat is going too far. And this isn’t the kind of thing that we should normalise in our political arenas.
For millennials and Gen Zs, so much of our younger years are spent being stupid on social media, in group chats, in game logs, in vlogs, and so much more. Find me someone with a flawless digital footprint, and I’ll show you someone with a burner phone.
It’s a fear that is unique to digital natives. Anything and everything can be dug up and blasted online—screengrabs taken out of context, leaked texts, or even anonymous allegations.
And if it stops well-qualified, well-meaning young people from stepping up to the plate, Singaporeans are worse off in the end.
What Now?
So how should we respond when private communiques like these are leaked?
Since they’re out there, we can’t unsee them. But context is key.
Let’s consider the severity of the leaked texts. Is someone swearing in a private conversation comparable to swearing in Parliament, while on duty? Or a road rage conviction?
And if we’re comparing the scandals of Jalan Kayu SMC candidates, how do Low’s ranty texts stack up against PAP’s Ng Chee Meng’s handling of the Income-Allianz deal—a saga about accountability that has loomed quite large on the GE2025 campaign trail?
The media, too, has a responsibility to report on the matter fairly. Now that the screenshots have been deleted from the r/Singapore thread, most people will rely on the media to report on the contents and context of the texts.
When news reports say Low was “swearing about a resident he had called in Meet-The-People Session work” but neglect to mention that it was because said resident had supposedly called his personal number every day, are they really painting a fair picture? And are they willing to report on a contrasting perspective about his character?
Whether this is right or wrong should be left to the voter to decide—but they should also be getting the full picture instead of half the story.
We should also consider the timing of the leaks. Why did this mystery leaker sit on these texts—which date back to the pandemic era—until a few days before Polling Day?
We can’t stop people from leaking private information. But as voters, it’s our duty to think critically when information like this pops up.
Who is this information coming from? Why are they sharing it? What is the media saying, and what are they not saying about it?
Keeping It Civil
Much has been said about so-called “negative politics” in the past few days. But all things considered, Singaporean political discourse is generally pretty civil. (Just across the Causeway, even Parliament sessions can get much more heated.)
If this is the most scandalous thing that surfaces about a new candidate this GE2025, I’d say we’re actually pretty lucky.
As we head to the voting booth on May 3rd, we need to ask ourselves if we can hold our politicians accountable, but also accept that they are capable of change.
But beyond that, we should also be aware that how we respond to a ‘scandal’ like this is going to shape how young people think about stepping into the political arena.
Can we give young people who’ve stepped forward to contribute to our country some grace? Or are voters going to crucify them over every small fuck up? Because if we do, I don’t think anyone who grew up online is willing to step into politics anymore.
