Recently unseated ex-MP Amrin Amin vows to never lose his “love for learning, relearning and reinventing”

Recently unseated former Member of Parliament (MP) Amrin Amin has vowed to never lose his “love for learning, relearning and reinventing” in a reflective social media post, published this week.

A lawyer by trade, Mr Amrin became a prominent grassroots activist in Sembawang GRC soon after the 2011 General Election. He was fielded as a new ruling party candidate in the ward in the 2015 election and was elected into Parliament.

Mr Amrin was appointed as a political office-holder and served as Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health during his five-year tenure as an elected politician. He was also tipped to be the establishment’s pick to take over the Malay Affairs portfolio among the fourth-generation (4G) cohort of People’s Action Party (PAP) leaders.

During the latest election, Mr Amrin was moved from Sembawang GRC to the four-member Sengkang GRC – which was newly carved out ahead of the election. In a stunning upset, the PAP team was defeated by the Worker’s Party team which won the election with over 52 per cent of votes.

The result was momentous – it was only the second instance in Singapore’s history in which the PAP behemoth lost a multi-member ward to the opposition. The outcome was also significant since it unseated three political office-holders. Mr Amrin, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Ng Chee Meng and Senior Minister of State Lam Pin Min were all denied the chance to return to Parliament.

While the WP’s victory at Sengkang GRC was welcomed by many and was even seen as a new dawn for opposition politics, Singaporeans on both sides of the political divide have said that they were sad to see ruling party politician Amrin Amin ousted from Parliament.

In a Facebook post published on Tuesday, Mr Amrin reflected that a lot of times people think they have all the answers and that it takes effort to listen, learn and relearn. Perhaps indicating that he is taking time to enjoy himself, he said that he is reminding himself to never lose his “curiosity, sense of wonder, and love for learning, relearning and reinventing.”

Sharing a photo of a cup of coffee, he wrote, “You can’t fill a cup that’s already full. A Zen proverb goes: empty your cup. Sometimes we think we’ve the answers. We know. We’re confident. We’re convinced.

“It takes effort to be open, to listen, to learn and relearn. I’m enjoying my coffee. And making a mental note to myself to never lose my curiosity, sense of wonder, and love for learning, relearning and reinventing. I wish the same for you.”

Formerly incarcerated mothers thank ex-MP Amrin Amin for personally helping them