As Singaporeans voted in this year’s Presidential Election (PE2023) on Friday (1 Sep), many might not have headed to their polling station without much thought to what they brought along with them.
One woman said she made the mistake of bringing her pineapple handbag with her.
Source: XiaoHongShu
Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t a good idea and she said she almost “couldn’t get in”.
In a post on Friday (1 Sep), a netizen on social media platform XiaoHongShu said she took her handbag with her to vote.
It was a bag that she “hadn’t used for a long time”, she said, but for some reason, she grabbed it and went out just like that.
That wouldn’t have been a problem if the bag didn’t have a striking three-dimensional pineapple design right smack in the centre.
The pineapple, of course, is the symbol chosen by presidential candidate Tharman Shanmugaratnam for his PE2023 campaign.
Those who voted would’ve seen that symbol right next to his name on the ballot slip.
Mr Tharman previously told The Straits Times (ST) that he chose the pineapple to represent him as it is “a propitious and welcome symbol” for many Singaporeans.
According to the ‘Do’s and Don’ts of Voting’ page on the Elections Department Singapore (ELD) website, one point states:
Do not bring any document or material, or wear any attire or badge, which shows a political party’s or candidate’s symbol.
This is because “the law prohibits canvassing and all forms of election activity on Polling Day, except voting”.
Therefore, bringing a handbag with a pineapple design could be seen as an act of endorsement for Mr Tharman.
However, the OP claimed it was a genuine mistake, saying she “didn’t think about it at all”.
Due to this error, she “almost couldn’t get in” the polling station, she said.
She didn’t elaborate on how she eventually managed to vote.
Earlier, another woman was seen wearing a pineapple pineapple-print top.
This happened early in the morning on Polling Day, said the Xiaohongshu user who posted the photo.
The caption of the post also states that the auntie was “forced to make a U-turn home to change”.
It’s unclear whether her sartorial choice was intentional or, like the pineapple handbag carrier, she just grabbed a random shirt from her closet.
At least now that voting has closed, Singaporeans are free to wear cute pineapple-themed attire anytime they want.
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Featured image adapted from Xiaohongshu and @tharman.sg on Instagram.
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