Sylvia Lim on fellow WP leader Faisal Manap: ‘I will miss him in Parliament.’

SINGAPORE: Workers’ Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim posted a photo of herself on Friday (Aug 15) together with party chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and WP vice chair Faisal Manap, writing that she will miss Mr Faisal in Parliament.

As the WP won again in Aljunied in the May 3 polls, Mr Singh and Ms Lim will be serving their fourth consecutive terms as MPs.

However, Mr Faisal left the party’s Aljunied team to contest at Tampines this year.

Ms Lim, who has been with the WP the longest among the three leaders, posted a little bit about Mr Faisal’s history with the party, saying that he joined in 2006 and had been an election agent that year.

“He later stepped up and became part of WP’s central executive committee and a public face of WP.  It was not easy for Faisal, a father of three, who faced various job challenges thereafter,” she wrote.

She then went on to recount what happened during the General Election in 2011, when the three of them, together with former WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang and Chen Show Mao, were victorious at Aljunied.

“When it was announced that we had won, I instinctively turned to hug (Mr Manap), which startled him. To me, that moment was the culmination of many things – perseverance despite the odds, staying the course, and a belief in Singaporeans and in the future.

In GE2025, he left Aljunied GRC to lead WP’s team in Tampines, who did not win but performed very creditably.

While I will miss him in Parliament, I am proud to call Faisal my comrade,” she added.

Mr Faisal is well respected by many in Singapore, particularly in the Malay Muslim community.

“There is much to admire about him. His genuine humility, sincerity, and compassion make him a model of servant leadership,” the WP’s newly minted Aljunied MP Fadli Fawzi wrote in May.

When it was announced that he would leave the Aljunied team to lead the slate at Tampines, a Facebook user observed: “Faisal Manap, the WP’s sole Malay-Muslim MP since 2011, has been a vocal advocate for issues pertinent to the Malay-Muslim community. His parliamentary interventions have often highlighted concerns such as the right of Muslim women to wear the tudung in uniformed services, the need for halal kitchens in naval ships, and perceived discrimination against Malays in the armed forces. Faisal argues that Parliament is the appropriate platform to raise these community concerns, emphasising transparency and open dialogue.”

“We have faith in you, Faisal Manap. You’ve earned our respect through your integrity and service. As minority Malays and indigenous people of Singapore, we stand with you. Keep speaking with courage — you are not alone. #Respect #Leadership #FaisalManap,” wrote another. /TISG

Read also: ‘My dear brother has always wanted to stand in Tampines,’ says Pritam Singh of Faisal Manap