Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin invites Jamus Lim and new MPs on a tour of Parliament House

Sengkang GRC MP-elect Jamus Lim revealed that Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin invited him and his fellow newly-elected parliamentarians to lunch and a tour of Parliament House, yesterday (7 Aug).

Sharing a photo of himself beside Mr Tan’s seat, Mr Lim shared on Facebook: “The new MPs-elect were invited by House Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin to lunch at Parliament House, after which we went on a tour of the place.”

Revealing an interesting tidbit about the Speaker’s seat, the Workers’ Party (WP) politician added: “I learned that the Speaker actually has a mini soundspeaker embedded in the seat (behind the bulbous metal grate with a rook logo; the Speaker’s speaker?)—all the better to hear our passionate arguments when parliament is in session, I guess!”

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 a stunning upset, the WP team at Sengkang GRC won and unseated three political office-holders. The four-member ward was newly carved out ahead of the election and was contested by three fresh faces – Mr Lim, Raeesah Khan and Louis Chua – and one candidate who had run in one previous election, He Ting Ru, from the WP ticket.

The WP team faced off with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) team that included three political office-holders and one new candidate. The PAP team for Sengkang included Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and labour chief Ng Chee Meng, Senior Minister of State Lam Pin Min and beloved grassroots MP Amrin Amin.

The opposition pulled off what seemed like an impossible feat when the WP team emerged the victor at the polls, ousting Mr Ng, Mr Lam and Mr Amrin from Parliament. The defeat reportedly put the PAP’s succession plans in disarray since Mr Ng was a prominent fourth-generation minister.

Sengkang GRC MPs-elect visit veteran Workers’ Party politician Low Thia Khiang