Jamus Lim Advocates for Hybrid MP Activities as Future Work Model

Singapore — Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) posted about his return to work on Facebook on Monday (Jan 3).

“Like many Singaporeans who started the new year with a return to in-person office work, the #workersparty likewise resumed our face-to-face ground activities this week,” he wrote.

However, as the Covid pandemic is still ongoing, the MP’s activities are not quoted as business-as-usual, and he described the activities as “very much hybrid in how we work,” meaning a combination of in-person and online work.

The WP MP, who is an associate professor of economics at ESSEC Business School, wrote in his post that he has “come to believe that such hybrid models will be the future of work.”

“Our #Anchorvale meet-the-people session last night was nevertheless scaled down, with our letter-writer group continuing to work remotely, a split team of core volunteers, and crowd control adhering to separate waiting areas for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents.”

Residents living in his ward have also gotten used to using online means to communicate with him and his team. And even though he still favours face to face interactions, Prof Lim noted the advantages of online communication.

Additionally, he wrote that he and his team have gotten good holding meetings over Zoom.

“Many residents now reach out to us electronically, providing sufficiently extensive details that we are able to assist them that way.

While we still prefer live interactions—the back-and-forth minimizes the risk of misunderstanding and misrepresentation—and we have also become rather adept at running Zoom sessions.”

Prof Lim ended his pos with a special shoutout to the WP volunteers in his ward.

“As always, we are ever-grateful to our volunteers. Some travel great distances to contribute, and all sacrifice precious hours from their evenings to help.

Ultimately, that’s the spirit of what meet-the-people sessions are about: society coming together, to help others in need. #TeamSengkang #SengkangGRC“

Many netizens thanked Prof Lim and encouraged him to keep up the good work.

When one netizen asked why he was “practic(ing) such discrimination” as his Meet-the-People sessions differentiate between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, Prof Lim answered back.