New book by EX-NCMP Yee Jenn Jong explores the Workers’ Party’s past, present, and future

SINGAPORE: On June 3 (Wednesday), former Non-constituency Member of Parliament Yee Jenn Jong launched StepUp: The Workers’ Party of Singapore 2.0, a book about the journey that Singapore’s most significant opposition party took that led to last year’s General Election.

Mr Yee’s new book was co-written with the political historian Loke Hoe Yeong, who also collaborated with him on his book on the NCMP scheme that was published in 2024.

The launch at Book Bar was hosted by Assoc Prof Walid J. Abdullah from Nanyang Technological University and was streamed live on his Teh Tarik with Walid Instagram channel.

“The book looks at the rise of the WP to its current position as Singapore’s leading opposition party, the struggles it has gone through over the past nearly seven decades, and insights into GE2025 where the Party fielded its ‘best-ever slate of candidates,’” Mr Yee wrote in a social media post.

His first book about the WP, Journey in Blue, was published in December 2020.

StepUp: The Workers’ Party of Singapore 2.0

According to the new book’s chapters, it delves into the history of the WP going back to 1957, the year it was founded by David Marshall, and goes into the Jeyaretnam years, the leadership of Low Thia Khiang, and its present situation under current secretary-general Pritam Singh.

Mr Yee also shares a personal account of GE2025, the fourth time he was fielded as a candidate. The WP slate at East Coast GRC, which he helmed, lost to the PAP team headed by Edwin Tong, which won almost 60% of the votes.

After the election, he announced that he would be retiring from politics, but added that he would stay in the WP. 

The book offers a postmortem of the elections, as well as looks at what’s next for the party.

One interesting feature in the book is a section on the party’s volunteers, with chapters titled “Powered by Volunteers,” “From Volunteer to Candidate,” and “Inside the GE War Room.”

In a recent social media post, Mr Yee posted a photo of himself with two-time WP candidate and CEC member Nathaniel Koh. He shared that Mr Koh had met his wife, with whom she shares two sons, while she was volunteering with the party.

In a review of the book, the veteran journalist and editor PN Balji wrote that it is “a good read for those who want to know a bit more of the heartbeat of a political party that has impressed with its staying power in elections and its impressive record of recruiting younger and promising fighters to do battle in elections. 

I am glad the authors have made the book topical with last-minute additions on the government’s effort to pull Pritam Singh through the mud with accusations of lying and taking away his Leader of Opposition post. This book will definitely add to the growing public desire to know more of a party that holds its cards close to its chest.” /TISG

Read also: GE2025: Yee Jenn Jong—From edutech pioneer to Parliament champion, WP’s voice for youth and community