The chairman went on to highlight that a hardworking and, till of late, law-abiding shopkeeper in Little India was recently charged by the police for an infraction of the alcohol sales ban. This was the same shopkeeper who had been interviewed soon after the riot and who pledged his support for the Jalan Besar MP Sharon Shi. The chairman wanted the public to see this infraction as what it was—an outcry against the unfair treatment by the authorities. The riot had occurred in Little India; there was no denying it. But why should a Chinese shopkeeper operating in Chinatown not be subjected to the same alcohol sales ban? Did not shopkeepers in Chinatown sell alcohol to migrant workers from China? What about shopkeepers in Peninsula Plaza who sold alcohol to migrant workers from Myanmar, or those in Golden Mile Complex who transacted with migrant workers from Thailand? It was surely not in the national interest to design a regulation that targeted a group of merchants based on their skin colour? Keeping in mind that Singapore was a multiracial, multireligious and multicultural society, the chairman of the Little India Shopkeepers Association asked that law enforcement efforts be made colour-blind. Either lift the alcohol sales ban from Little India or apply it nationwide to all constituencies.

“Why did you not pre-empt me?” Sharon shouted into the phone. She had never lost her temper with any grassroots leaders before but a useless one like Sasukumar deserved no mercy.

“That Anshuman Tiwari is a prick! He and his kakis completely blindsided me!” Sasukumar whined with hurt and indignation. He could almost feel the Public Service Medal unhooking itself and slipping off his breast pocket.

Sharon removed the mobile phone from her ear and tapped the screen to end the call. She wished she were using one of those land line phones from her parents’ generation, so that she could physically slam the receiver down onto the phone. A tap on the screen was simply too gentle to express the rage she felt boiling inside. The role of a grassroots leader was to be the politician’s eyes and ears on the ground. If Sasukumar Sathiyaseelan could not perform the role, she had no use for him.

Sharon next enlisted Masri’s help to conduct an online background check on Anshuman Tiwari. The efficient youth leader came back with a comprehensive report within thirty minutes. Anshuman was a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, ran an import-export business and sat on the committees of five Indian organisations in Singapore that spanned religious, social and professional concerns. Sharon realised that she had to tread with care; Anshuman Tiwari appeared to have a wide network of connections within the Indian community. That probably explained why he had been bold enough to play the race card.