When Elvis first came up with the idea of a total ban on alcohol sales two days ago, Sharon wondered aloud if it might not be perceived by the public as an ill-considered knee-jerk response. Surely the merchants of Little India would put up a fight. Even the keyboard warriors might ride on the bandwagon to ridicule her. But Elvis convinced her that she could not possibly please everyone, so she needed to strategise. When the merchants of Little India protested vehemently, they would come across as greedy businessmen who were unconcerned with the safety of the residents. When the keyboard warriors ridiculed the ban via distasteful memes, they would come across as cyberbullies. Sharon could just as easily leverage on these as rallying points to gain support from the conservative majority. There were different ways to play the game. A talented politician could turn any permutation of cards dealt into a winning hand.

After Elvis was satisfied with Sharon’s draft of her press release, he turned to ask Yu Chin for an update. The latter had met the police commissioner earlier in the day for a briefing.

“I have good news,” Yu Chin beamed as he tapped on his phone to extract a photo from the album. “This is the STAR team member who rescued Jessica Tan Jia Lin. Look at him. He could easily pass off as a Korean pop star!”

“What’s the good news again?” Sharon frowned, not quite following.

“Sorry dear, I shouldn’t be jumping ahead,” Yu Chin grinned. “Elvis has decided that we are going to make this STAR team member our poster boy in Jalan Besar. We will come up with a few hundred copies of a life-size cardboard standee of this handsome bugger and display them all over the constituency. He will strike a pose to reassure residents that the law enforcement officers are omnipresent and dedicated to their duty.”

“The frequency of police patrols at Jalan Besar constituency has been stepped up since the riot,” Elvis explained. “But we need to put a face to our law enforcement team and this is an excellent one to front our efforts. He is going to set many hearts aflutter!”

Elvis and Yu Chin exchanged gleeful glances, as though they were sharing a fraternity joke. Sharon took over the mobile phone and studied the photo. They were right. This STAR team member was an Adonis indeed.

“Anything else from the police commissioner?” Elvis asked as he finished off the mango pudding that Yu Chin had ordered for him.