SINGAPORE: In a video posted earlier this week, Workers’ Party chair Sylvia Lim showed the WP MPs paying tribute at the funeral of Lim Ee Ping, who died on May 29. Mr Lim had joined the WP at the age of 20 over six decades ago and was still an active member when he passed away.
In Ms Lim’s Instagram video, former WP Secretary General Low Thia Khiang can be seen leading mourners, including many of the current WP MPs, in bowing thrice before Mr Lim’s coffin, in keeping with Chinese traditions.
“We bid our final farewell yesterday to our beloved and most respected Honorary Member, Mr Lim Ee Ping, aka ‘lao Hokkien’. He has been a driving force keeping WP moving since he joined in 1959,” wrote Ms Lim in the caption to her post.
Mr Low then led attendees who queued in a single file to pay their respects. Seen in the video are WP chief Pritam Singh and his fellow Aljunied GRC MPs Sylvia Lim and Faisal Manap, the party’s vice chair; Sengkang GRC MPs Louis Chua and He Ting Ru, and Hougang SMC MP Dennis Tan.
Gerald Giam and Jamus Lim were seemingly absent at the ceremony. All were dressed in the light blue Workers’ Party shirt and black pants or skirts.
As he walked by Mr Lim’s coffin, Mr Singh can be seen laying his hand briefly on it.
Other WP leaders, including Youth Wing President Nathaniel Koh and Fadli Fawzi, were also present.
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The party issued a statement on the day of Mr Lim’s passing, saying that his greatest legacy and contribution to Singapore was “keeping the flame of democracy alive when times were at their darkest.”
It added, “For the Workers’ Party, Lim Ee Ping showed what commitment to the cause of democracy looked like – A lesson very few in Singapore can say they had the privilege of teaching.”
A number of WP members have since posted tributes to Mr Lim over social media, including Ms He, who is in the younger cohort of the party’s leaders.
In a Facebook post she wrote that she had seen Mr Lim in early May and while he had been tired and in pain, “his mind remained wonderfully sharp.”
She added that he had asked the three Sengkang MPs about the latest happenings on the ground and had been “very keen and happy to see and hear of younger Singaporeans stepping up to volunteer.
“His gentle, constant presence will be sorely missed,” Ms He added. /TISG
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