SINGAPORE: While the Workers’ Party’s (WP) Jamus Lim released a new video on Friday (Apr 18) about his life as an Economics professor and an opposition Member of Parliament (MP), a video from 2020 has also re-emerged on Reddit, where he first caught the attention of many Singaporeans in a televised debate.
On Jul 1, 2020, Mediacorp hosted a political debate with the four parties fielding the most candidates for the election: the People’s Action Party (PAP), the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), the WP, and the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). Their respective representatives were Vivian Balakrishnan, Francis Yuen, Jamus Lim, and Chee Soon Juan.
Assoc Prof Lim, although younger than the others and a newbie to the political arena, more than held his own. He gave the quote of the night and pretty much set the winning tone for the Workers’ Party when he said, “What we are trying to deny the PAP isn’t a mandate. What we’re trying to deny them is a blank cheque.”
In the wrap-up at the end of the debate, he said he had enjoyed himself and called it “exactly why debates about ideas for how Singapore should progress should occur, and I think it’s also clear from this debate that the PAP does not have a monopoly on the best ideas on how we should bring the society forward.
“Now, the PAP has argued this election is really about giving them a mandate to bring the country out of this (Covid-19) crisis, and they need this mandate in order to do so. Now, the truth is, the PAP in all likelihood will have this mandate by the end of this election, and I think what we are trying to deny the PAP isn’t a mandate, what we’re trying to deny them is a blank check.”
Addressing voters, Assoc Prof Lim ended by saying, “If you believe in having all voices heard, if you believe that we succeed only when we have a sound and rational debate about what matters, if you believe in the essence of a democratic modern society for the 21st-century, then we ask that you make your vote count and that you will vote for the Workers Party.”
Dr Balakrishnan told Assoc Prof Lim that the WP’s and the PAP’s ideas do not differ all that much, and repeated the assertion that the opposition party is “PAP lite” or “PAP-like.”
The next day, PAP stalwarts Chan Chun Sing and Indranee Rajah refuted the issue of the PAP having a blank cheque, but by then, Assoc Prof Lim had already caught everyone’s attention.
A few days later, he, along with the WP’s Sengkang slate, made history by winning a second GRC for the opposition. With 10 elected WP MPs, came the official designation of the party’s Secretary-General, Aljunied GRC MP Pritam Singh, as Singapore’s first Leader of the Opposition.
Five years on, commenters are still bringing up the points discussed in the debate.
“PAP-lite is exactly what I want as opposition. I don’t want nutcases or radicals. We want the PAP to keep their feet on the ground, so they don’t get complacent,” remarked one.
“This is still true. I still want PAP to govern SG, but they cannot do things and shove policies down our throats as and when they wish. We still need a credible opposition to keep them on their toes,” observed another.
As for Assoc Prof Lim’s performance, a Reddit user wrote, “This clip is for posterity, I’m not exaggerating, this was when we first knew his team could actually win.” /TISG
Read also: First GE2020 Debate: Overwhelming support for WP’s Jamus Lim
