Netizens tease Yee Jenn Jong: How did you get Tharman to become a “man in blue”?

Singapore — Workers’ Party politician Yee Jenn Jong has made netizens smile with photo of himself with Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in matching blue shirts.

Blue is the colour of the WP.

Mr Yee, a former Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), wrote a book that was published last month, entitled A Journey In Blue: A Peek Into The Workers’ Party Of Singapore.

He wrote in a Facebook post on Monday (Jan 18) that he had taken a copy of his book to Mr Tharman’s office earlier that day.

Mr Yee said the Senior Minister had been kind to him when he had sent him parts of the book when it was still in manuscript form. He usually sent copies of his draft to individuals “especially if I had written something about what they had said to me”.

The former NCMP thanked Mr Tharman for responding with comments on the section he had written regarding a short conversation they had when Mr Tharman was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

Mr Yee added that Parliament will be discussing the Budget for 2021 soon. “In today’s situation, preserving jobs remain very important as the world is not out of the challenges of Covid-19 and many companies continue to struggle.”

He included in his Facebook post an excerpt he had written about Mr Tharman, calling the Senior Minister “a gracious person”.

Mr Yee, who was NCMP from 2011 to 2015, wrote about the Budget debate one year: “At the end of all the speeches of that Budget, in the tea room, Tharman saw me, came over, and said that my speech was very interesting and stood out for having focused on the need for consolidation. It was good to note that he was listening.”

The Senior Minister is respected by many Singaporeans and there has often been talk that he should be in the running for the post of Prime Minister.

His popularity was reflected in some of the comments on Mr Yee’s post.

Others paid special attention to the photo, pointing out the colour of the Senior Minister’s shirt.

One person said: “How did you manage to get Tharman to become ‘man in blue’. Brilliant.”

News site Wake Up, Singapore wrote:

Mr Yee’s book is available at all major bookstores, with autographed copies at shopee.com/faithyee.

It will also be available on Amazon by the end of the month. /TISG

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WP’s Yee Jenn Jong’s book reprinted after just one week as bookstores replenish stock