3 Hougang MPs in 1 Merry Christmas party: Low Thia Khiang & Png Eng Huat join Dennis Tan to celebrate!

SINGAPORE — Two former Members of Parliament for Hougang Single Member Constituency—Messrs Low Thia Khiang and Png Eng Huat—joined current MP Dennis Tan to celebrate Christmas Eve this year.

Mr Dennis Tan, who was elected MP for Hougang SMC in 2020, wrote in a Dec 26 Facebook post, “Together with former Hougang MPs Low Thia Khiang and PNG ENG HUAT, I joined our residents on Christmas eve night as they celebrated the re-opening of the Block 710 Senior Residents’ Corner after its recent renovation, followed by a Christmas party.

I was heartened to hear from the organisers that many residents had enthusiastically contributed towards this celebration in different ways and it was great to see everyone having a good time.”

Mr Low, who led the WP to a first Opposition win of a Group Representation Constituency when it took Aljunied GRC from the PAP in 2011, remains a popular and well-respected figure in Singapore.

After suffering a bad fall in 2020, he was hospitalized for nearly a month but appeared to have fully recovered.

In July, Mr Low and his wife, Ms Han Mui Keow, joined a group from the Bedok Reservoir-Punggol division of Aljunied GRC that went to Johor.

“We were thrilled to have Mr Low Thia Khiang, former MP for Aljunied and Workers’ Party leader, together with Mrs Low, join our trip!” wrote Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament Gerald Giam in a Facebook post on July 25. The group went to Desaru, Pegerang, Jomis Jetty and Aeon mall.

In the same month, Mr Low and Mr Png stepped in for Sengkang GRC MP Jamus Lim, who had gone to the United States for a few weeks for a fellowship at Stanford University in California.

Assoc Prof Lim wrote in a Facebook post on July 18 that the two men “generously offered their (retirement) time.”

They will be aided by “the ever-reliable #TeamSengkang volunteers,” he wrote, adding that “Both gentlemen have helped out at #Anchorvale before, and I am grateful for such able and experienced support.”

Mr Low, 66, who led The Workers’ Party from 2001 to 2018, is the longest-serving opposition Member of Parliament, having served as an MP for 20 years.

He represented Hougang SMC in Parliament from 1991 to 2011 and then Aljunied GRC from 2011 to 2020.

Mr Png, 61, served as MP for the constituency from 2012 until 2020, when it was announced that he, along with Mr Low and former Aljunied GRC MP Chen Show Mao, 61, would not contest in the General Election of that year.

Both Mr Low and Mr Png remain active in politics and the WP’s on-ground activities, however. /TISG

Low Thia Khiang & wife join WP’s one-day Johor getaway with Bedok Reservoir-Punggol residents