Workers’ Party (WP) secretary-general and newly-minted Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh joined his colleagues at an outreach event in Sengkang GRC, which was won by the opposition party in a stunning upset last month.
The 2020 general election, which took place on 10 July, was the very first election the WP stood in under the leadership of Mr Pritam. Even though Mr Pritam’s predecessor, opposition legend Low Thia Khiang stepped down from electoral politics along with fellow WP MPs Chen Show Mao and Png Eng Huat ahead of the election, the WP made significant inroads in politics.
The party held on to its Hougang stronghold and scored better than it did in the 2015 general election. Mr Pritam and his team at Aljunied GRC were re-elected with a resounding mandate of nearly 60 per cent – their best result since they first won the ward in 2011.
Making history, the WP also won a second multi-member ward – Sengkang GRC. The four-member ward was newly carved out ahead of the election and was contested by three fresh faces – Jamus Lim, Raeesah Khan and Louis Chua – and one candidate who had run in one previous election, He Ting Ru, from the WP ticket.
The WP team faced off with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) team that included three political office-holders and one new candidate. The PAP team for Sengkang included Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and labour chief Ng Chee Meng, Senior Minister of State Lam Pin Min and beloved grassroots MP Amrin Amin.
The WP pulled off what seemed like an impossible feat at Sengkang when it emerged the victor at the polls, ousting Mr Ng, Mr Lam and Mr Amrin from Parliament. The defeat reportedly put the PAP’s succession plans in disarray since Mr Ng was a prominent fourth-generation minister.
While He Ting Ru, Jamus Lim, Raeesah Khan and Louis Chua will be sworn in as new Members of Parliament when the 14th Parliament of Singapore sits for the first time next Monday, 24 Aug, the MPs-elect have been active on the ground since they won the ward and have even started their Meet-the-People sessions on top of their outreach activities.
Two of the MPs were joined by their party leader at an outreach event on Wednesday (19 Aug). Mr Pritam joined He Ting Ru and Raeesah Khan during a visit to a senior activity centre at Sengkang GRC. Sharing photos from the outreach on Facebook, Mr Pritam wrote:
“Joined He Ting Ru and Raeesah Khan of Team Sengkang GRC and their volunteers on a visit to Bethesda Care’s BCare Senior Activity Centre at Blk 287A Compassvale Crescent this afternoon. Thank you to the BCare team for hosting us and for your hospitality. The centre has put together a wonderful community garden that is home to some unique flora and fauna!”
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