Sengkang GRC MP-elect Jamus Lim indicated that Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is “competition” in a video that is going viral online.
The video, by the Singapore Tatler, features Mr Lim giving viewers a tour of his Anchorvale division of Sengkang GRC. At one point in the video, he visits a vending machine cafe and points out that it was opened in 2016.
Adding that the cafe was opened by Mr Shanmugaratnam, Mr Lim called the heavyweight ruling party politician “one of the competition.” He said: “So this has been around since 2016. Opened by Minister Tharman, one of the competition.”
Although Mr Tharman is a prominent member of the People’s Action Party (PAP), he is perhaps the most beloved PAP politician. He is the ruling party’s best polls performer and is the people’s pick to become Singapore’s next Prime Minister.
Although Mr Tharman is well-regarded on both sides of the political spectrum, Mr Lim’s comment seems to suggest that despite how likeable and kind Mr Tharman is, he is still an opponent because he represents the ruling party.
Mr Lim, an economist who serves as an associate professor at Essec Business School, shot to fame and won hearts on the 2020 General Election campaign trail especially after taking part in a televised debate in which he clashed with ruling party minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
In a stunning upset, the WP team at Sengkang GRC won and unseated three political office-holders. The four-member ward was newly carved out ahead of the election and was contested by three fresh faces – Mr 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 opposition pulled off what seemed like an impossible feat when the WP team 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.