Referring to his famous phrase, Sengkang GRC MP-elect Jamus Lim said that he has been banned from using the word “cockles”, in a video that is going viral online.
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 that fiery debate, Mr Lim used the phrase “warms the cockles of my heart” – an idiom that is used to convey a feeling of affectionate happiness that arises from deep inside one’s heart. The phrase quickly went viral in Singapore after Mr Lim used it.
In a stunning upset, the WP team at Sengkang GRC won and unseated three political office-holders on election night. Thanking supporters after the results were announced, Mr Lim used the ‘cockles of my heart’ phrase once again.
Calling back to his comments in the election debate, he said it “warms the cockles of our hearts to be able to work for the people of Singapore, and for all Singaporeans.” The phrase began trending once again and even spawned merchandise after the election.
Mr Lim, however, has since been banned from using the phrase and the word ‘cockles,’ even if he just wishes to describe the ingredients in a beloved dish. He made this revelation in a viral video published by the Singapore Tatler.
The video features Mr Lim giving viewers a tour of his Anchorvale division of Sengkang GRC. At one point in the video, he visits a hawker center and orders Char Kway Teow. Describing the dish, which includes cockles, he said:
“Here is the famous Armenian Street Char Kway Teow. Well, obviously char kway teow is characterised a lot by the presence of certain kinds of shellfish. I’ve been banned from using a particular phrase in my expressions.”
He did not mention who banned him from using that particular phrase.
The Singapore Tatler video is going viral online. It has accumulated nearly 60,000 views on YouTube in a matter of days, after it was published on 9 August.