Did we just get spied on?

He typed away on his phone, constantly stealing glances at our table. I didn’t know at first, until I noticed my classmate Alvina repeatedly turning to look behind her back. “I think he’s spying on us,” she whispered in my ear.

We were in a Starbucks, speaking to the leader of an opposition party as a pre-interview of sorts to find out his plans for the upcoming General Election.

“I do not agree that I was transcribing,” the man initially said when we approached him. It was only after further questioning that he revealed that he was, in fact, a member of another opposition party. He said he meant no harm and was just asking his “sources” whether we were students or reporters, claiming he just happened to be there while we were chatting.

Apparently that Starbucks was where he hung out to play video games every day. “The baristas can confirm that,” and that would prove he was no spy, he said.

Lauren Ong