Workers’ Party leaders jump on flashback trend, share what they looked like in the ‘90s

SINGAPORE: On Monday (Apr 6), the Workers’ Party posted a video following a popular social media trend, showing a flashback of what several of its leaders used to look like a few decades ago.

“WP fam, what were you like in the 90s?” showed different politicians, some of whom have become well-respected voices in Parliament, as they are today, in contrast to what they were like back then.

The clip started with Sengkang MP Louis Chua, now 39, as a schoolboy, followed by Hougang MP Dennis Tan, 55, a young adult cooking a meal. Sengkang MP Jamus Lim, then as a teenager, now 50, came next, followed by Dr Ong Lue Ping, 49, an IMH psychologist who ran under the WP banner in last year’s polls.

Next came Aljunied MP Kenneth Tiong, who is 37 today but was still a toddler in the 90s, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Eileen Chong, 33, as a baby in a pram clutching a red ang bao envelope.

Three former GE 2025 candidates came next: Sufyan Mikhail Putra, 33, Jasper Kuan, 47, and Jimmy Tan, 53. Mr Sufyan was also still a toddler in the 90s, Mr Kuan was in secondary school, and Mr Tan shared a photo from his National Service days.

The video then cut to a youthful Pritam Singh, Aljunied MP and the party’s secretary-general. Mr Singh, 49, was also seen in a photo from his NS time.

The next-to-last flashback photo in the video belongs to 2025 GE candidate Paris V Parameswari, who is now 51. The former US Navy security administrator shared a photo of herself in uniform.

The video ended with party chair Sylvia Lim in the final shot. Ms Lim, who just turned 61, is seen in a beach photo from the 90s.

What netizens are saying

The video has turned out to be popular online, with party supporters quick to express pleasure at seeing the WP leaders in their younger years.

The throwback photos of Mr Singh and Ms Lim, in particular, received a lot of attention.

One Facebook user waxed nostalgic and remembered that the 1990s were the decade when they voted for former WP secretary-general Low Thia Khiang for the first time. Mr Low was voted in as MP for Hougang SMC for the first time in 1991, a position he held until 2011, the year that the WP won its first GRC. The former de facto Leader of the Opposition is the longest-serving opposition MP in Singapore and is well-regarded to this day. /TISG

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