Singapore Democratic Party’s chairman Professor Paul Tambyah is still trying to get the hang of using social media platform TikTok to push out political messages to the masses, but he is fortunate that he is able to harness the energy of the passionate members of the youth wings.
Since launching his own TikTok account toward the end of September, Prof Tambyah has posted six videos, with over 5,000 likes in total for all his videos and has about 800 followers. Prior to this, he was prominently featured on another TikTok account managed by their youth, SgYoungDemocrats.
One of his most popular videos to date is one where Prof Tambyah answered a question in which he was asked what he would do to improve if he were to become the health minister. It attracted more than 80k views and 269 comments.
But the ever-increasing popular opposition figure on TikTok was initially reluctant to try his hands on this new social media platform, which might need him to sway and groove to music, and might not be suitable for political content.
“I am still learning about it as I don’t fully understand the whole thing. But the young ones are teaching me about it. Initially I did not want to, as I thought it was all about dancing,” said Prof Tambyah.
“The Young Democrats have been very helpful in managing our TikTok and helping me with the questions and answers video. So hopefully it would be another way of communicating with people.”
In Prof Tambyah’s latest video, he answered a question about whether those earning a higher income would pay the same price compared to those from a lower socio-economic background.
@paultambyah Replying to @laksjdg123456 yes, everyone pays the same! #tiktoksg #DidYouKnow #fyp #sgpolitics #xyzbca #teamSDP #singapore #politics #fypシ #sgtiktok #foryou #makeitviral #viral #healthcare #singaporetok #viralvideo
While Prof Tambyah is pleased to see the young ones stepping forward to contribute to the political advancement of Singapore, especially with an opposition party, he warns of the need to steer them in the right direction.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm with youth, and sometimes it is not easy to sustain. But you still want to give them the opportunity and see whether they are willing to continue for the long term,” explained the infectious disease expert.
“We also need to provide them with mentorship because if they are thrust into leadership positions too early without the proper guidance, then sometimes there might be issues.”
Prof Paul is not the only Singapore politician on TikTok. Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Ong Ye Kung, and Indranee Rajah are also on the social media platform. Minister Wong has over 61k followers and a total of 422k likes on his videos, while Health Minister Ong has 67k followers and Leader of the House Indranee has just over three thousand likes. /TISG