Workers’ Party to continue with face-to-face MPS, but suspends house visits

Singapore—The Workers’ Party (WP) announced on Tuesday (May 4) that its Members of Parliament will be continuing face-to-face meet-the-people sessions (MPS).

This is to accommodate elderly citizens and residents who are unable to connect online, the party said in a statement in English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil on its Facebook account.

But house visits have been suspended for the time being.

The MPS will continue “unless otherwise instructed”, the WP said.

But the party also said that it will “take added precautions at our MPS locations”, with fewer volunteers present.

The WP wrote of the changes to on-ground activities to constituents at Aljunied and Sengkang GRCs, as well as at Hougang SMC, in the light of growing Covid-19 cases in Singapore.

“The WP MPs request all residents to connect with us online at our respective email addresses should you have any pressing concern/matter,” it added in its statement.

The party also told residents to “Please take care and adhere to the new measures announced by the Multi-Ministry Task Force today”, regarding the number of people allowed in social gatherings, at public spaces such as museums, and the extended Stay-Home Notices for travellers from high-risk countries, among other new guidelines.

Lawyer He Ting Ru, who heads the WP MPS at Sengkang, also wrote in a Facebook post that the MPS at Buangkok will continue on Wednesdays at 272D Sengkang Central from 7.30-9.30 pm. 

She posted about “the last house visits we carried out at Block 114, just before the Workers’ Party suspended most of our ground activities because of the tightened restrictions that were just announced”.

The People’s Action Party, on the other hand, said on Monday (May 3) that it had “advised branches to adjust their Meet-the-People Session (MPS) format with phone and virtual consultations as the primary mode” in order to “minimise exposure of residents and volunteers”.

Residents were encouraged to email the PAP’s branches for assistance.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam, one of the PAP MPs for Jurong GRC for Bukit Batok East, posted photos of her online MPS on Tuesday, writing, “We transited to a virtual MPS tonight to attend to residents’ appeals. Thank you to the volunteers who assisted this evening!”

 /TISG

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