S'poreans miss Yam Ah Mee as the GE's Returning Officer
Anyone who kept tabs on the 2011 General Election will remember Returning Officer (RO) Yam Ah Mee.
The then-civil servant became a cult figure among Singaporeans as he announced the results with his impartial expression and monotonous voice.
Especially on Planet Internet.
So when news broke on Tuesday (Aug 25) that Parliament had been dissolved and that Polling Day had been set for Sept 11, many Singaporeans rejoiced at the prospect of seeing Mr Yam on their TV screens once more.
Unfortunately for these fans of Mr Yam, the former People's Association chief executive officer left the civil service for the private sector to join Sembcorp as managing director in 2013.
He was replaced as RO by Mr Ng Wai Choong.
Mr Ng, then deputy secretary (policy) at the the Ministry of Finance, is now the CEO of the Energy Market Authority.
Returning Officer Ng Wai Choong. AKA Mr Not Yam Ah Mee. PHOTO: MR NG WAI CHOONG
Once the (not-so new) news about Mr Ng's appointment made its rounds making people realise that it wouldn't be Mr Yam's signature voice announcing the results, the disappointment on Twitter was immediately palpable.
It didn't take long for Singaporeans to start clamouring for the return of their favourite RO.
Some netizens decided to remind Mr Ng that he had some very big shoes to fill on Sept 11.
No pressure, Mr Ng. No pressure.
There were tributes led by blogger Mr Brown, who dusted off his old music video dedicated to Mr Yam:
At least one person, however, saw the humour of it all.
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