Workers’ Party (WP) member Kenneth Foo Seck Guan praised the determination and resolve of Singaporeans facing adversity, after meeting East Coast residents during house visits on Saturday (16 Oct).
Mr Foo, the deputy director of the Singapore Cancer Society, began volunteering with the WP in 2006. Besides being active in grassroots work at Hougang SMC, he also served as Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim’s legislative assistant. Mr Foo presently serves as one of the town councillors for Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.
Mr Foo first stood as a WP candidate in the 2015 General Election. He was a part of the WP team for Nee Soon GRC that received just over 33 per cent of the vote.
In the most recent General Election, Mr Foo was in the WP team for East Coast GRC. This high-stakes contest was closely watched because the People’s Action Party fielded a surprise candidate, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, there instead of in his Tampines GRC stronghold.
The PAP’s team did less well than it did in the 2011 elections and barely made it into Parliament, with 53.41 per cent of the vote. This was the worst PAP performance in the ward since East Coast GRC was formed in 1991.
The PAP’s weak performance was especially pronounced since Mr Heng and his four team members, who included a senior political office-holder and a seasoned MP, faced off against a slate of WP candidates, including Mr Foo, that had never contested there.
Mr Foo has been walking the ground, conducting regular house visits and other community outreach, at East Coast since the July election. After another round of house visits over the weekend, Mr Foo said that he has learned more about the challenges Singaporeans face and, also, how the remain so resilient in spite of the tough circumstances they may face.
Revealing that the residents he spoke to were glad that Mr Foo and his team were back to visit them, he wrote on Facebook, on Sunday (18 Oct): “Listening to their life stories helps us in understanding the vulnerabilities of life and different challenges faced by Singaporeans.
“From issues faced by single parents, family members suffering from terminal disease which place a huge burden on their finances or even families that need more support for their kids.
“However, what I learned from them is also the resolve and determination to stand strong and support their loved ones in diversity, which is so even more evident in testing times of their lives.”
The opposition party member added: “Let us continue to walk and work closely with you so we can have the voices of the people be represented by the Workers’ Party through our parliamentarians.”
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