Singapore — You know it is election season when Singaporeans get creative with showing love for the party they choose. A much-shared video of hammers fixed to door gates is an indication, it seems, of their support for the Workers’ Party (WP).
Posted on the Facebook page Complaint Singapore, the 20-second video pans down a common corridor where not one but two door gates are decorated with the symbol of the WP — the hammer.
https://www.facebook.com/raven.qiu/videos/4334109813295842/
The person who posted it, Raven Qui, wrote: “Hmm wondering what does it represent ? I find that it very creative think out of the box Remind me of “thor” ?.”
The online community, it seems, had no trouble understanding the “message” of the hammer.
Others played along, saying they would hang up a lightning bolt in support of the People’s Action Party (PAP).
Others felt that the hammer on the door gates was a sign that PAP candidates should not even go knocking there.
The person who put up the post agreed and wrote: “Go away when You See this.”
Others joked about it as well.
One person even posted a photo of a gate with the Norse god Thor’s hammer on it.
Jokes aside, the WP is mounting a serious bid in this year’s GE, vying for seats in four GRCs and two SMCs.
The party is defending its bailiwick, Aljunied GRC, which was its historic win in the 2011 GE. It was the first GRC won by an opposition party since GRCs were introduced in 1988. In 2015, the WP won again by the smallest of margins, just a shade over 50 per cent of the vote. The party has, naturally, brought out its A-team in Aljunied. For the five seats at stake, its slate includes Secretary-General Pritam Singh, Chairman Sylvia Lim, incumbent Muhamad Faisal bin Abdul Manap, and two Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMP), Mr Leon Perera (2015-2020) and Mr Gerald Giam (2011-2015).
Over at the new Sengkang GRC, another race that everyone is looking at closely, the WP team will be lead by lawyer He Ting Ru. The team includes economist Jamus Lim, equity research analyst Louis Chua and social activist Raeesah Khan.
At East Coast GRC, the WP is fielding Ms Nicole Seah, who contested in 2011 in Marine Parade GRC under the National Solidarity Party; Mr Kenneth Foo, who contested in 2015 in Nee Soon GRC; Mr Dylan Ng and Mr Terence Tan, who both contested in 2015 in Marine Parade GRC; and Mr Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim.
For seats in Marine Parade GRC, the WP team is headed by former NCMP Yee Jenn Jong. He is joined by Mr Ron Tan, and newcomers lawyer Muhammad Fadli Mohammed Fawzi, IT professional Nathaniel Koh and business owner Muhammad Azhar Abdul Latip.
The Hougang Single-Member Constituency is also a WP stronghold. Hougang has been held by the WP since 1991, with former WP chief Low Thia Khiang holding the seat for many years, followed by Mr Yaw Shin Leong and Mr Png Eng Huat. This year, the WP is fielding former NCMP Dennis Tan, who contested in the 2015 GE in Fengshan SMC.
The WP is fielding a new candidate in Punggol West SMC, Ms Tan Chen Chen, who is an associate contract administrator for energy and chemical projects. /TISG
Read also: WP at Aljunied GRC: “This GE, please give your sacred vote to the WP,” Sylvia Lim
Lee Hsien Yang’s son Li Shengwu donates to both the Workers’ Party and the Progress Singapore Party