A photo of prominent Workers’ Party (WP) members Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim, Low Thia Khiang and Png Eng Huat sharing a meal together is going viral on social media. The gathering took place on Friday (16 Oct).
Mr Pritam and Ms Lim, who are the opposition party’s secretary-general and chairman respectively, both published a selfie taken during the lunch meeting on their Instagram pages and drew thousands of likes each.
Although Mr Low and Mr Png have retired from electoral politics, Mr Pritam indicated that he continues to learn from his mentors in the caption to his photo. He wrote: “Lunch with the Seniors! 16.10.20. #wpsg #mentorship #lifelonglearning”
Ms Lim also made reference to the vast experience her colleagues have had in Parliament, in her own post. She said, “60 years of Parliamentary experience at this table. That’s the arithmetic of averages, with Mr Low accounting for 29 years. #comrades #friends”
Pritam Singh’s photo, which appeared to have a filter on it, drew close to 5,000 likes on Instagram while Ms Lim’s post garnered over 2,300 likes on the social media platform.
Mr Low and Mr Png, who were the MPs for Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC in the 13th Parliament of Singapore, announced that they would not be standing for re-election prior to the 2020 polls.
Mr Low, who served as the MP for Hougang SMC for two decades, left the ward in 2011 and led the team contesting Aljunied GRC in that year’s general election. In a stunning upset, the WP won Aljunied, becoming the very first opposition party to win a multi-member ward in Singapore’s history. Mr Low and his team were re-elected in the 2015 general election.
The 2020 polls marked the first time Mr Low did not contest in elections in 32 years. The opposition legend said that he was retiring from electoral politics with no regrets since he felt his work was done.
Similarly, Mr Png – who served as Hougang SMC MP for about eight years since 2012 – said that he was stepping down to make way for early leadership renewal.
The WP was elected to an unprecedented 10 seats in Parliament in its maiden election campaign under Mr Pritam Singh’s leadership, despite the absence of Mr Low, Mr Png and fellow former incumbent WP MP Chen Show Mao who had served at Aljunied GRC alongside Mr Low for close to a decade.
Although they have retired from electoral politics, both Mr Low and Mr Png have been actively supporting their party members.
Aside from campaigning for the WP during the July election and being present at Parliament House when the 10 WP MPs were sworn in, both men have been spotted accompanying new Hougang SMC MP Dennis Tan in walkabouts at their old town.
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