SINGAPORE: In a short video clip on social media on Wednesday (June 9), the Workers’ Party’s Alexis Dang said that the WP team at Punggol visited its 10,000th household last month.

Ms Dang, who contested at Punggol in last year’s General Election together with Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh, Jackson Au, and Alia Mattar, characterised the first scene in the video, which showed the team taking a group photo, as “especially memorable.”

“It was the eve of Hari Raya Haji, and despite it being a public holiday eve, close to 40 volunteers turned up for our regular house visit outreach,” she wrote in the caption to her post.

She also called the house visits her “best therapy,” and went on to express deep appreciation for the Punggol volunteers’ dedication, hard work, and commitment, adding, “This milestone would not have been possible without them.”

Ms Dang also wrote that she couldn’t really think of a more meaningful way to spend the evening before a public holiday.

“Beyond contributing to a more diverse political landscape and engaging residents on issues that matter to them, it is also the friendships, shared purpose, and camaraderie built along the way that have made this journey so rewarding and memorable.”

And though the team has hit the milestone figure, she acknowledged that they still have a way to go, promising to press on, work hard, and walk the talk.

“Most importantly, we look forward to meeting many more Punggol residents and hearing their perspectives, experiences, aspirations, and stories,” she wrote, adding that anyone interested in volunteering may do so here.

Who is Alexis Dang?

Ms Dang made a splash last year after the WP introduced her as part of the all-newbie Punggol team at a media conference on April 18. 

She has a background in finance but currently works in the tech sector, where she leads a team of Business Development professionals. She has been with the WP for the past six years; has been part of house visits, planning and hosting party events; and has supported the party with translation work for newsletters and parliamentary speeches for the WP MPs.

After she spoke in Mandarin during her candidate introduction, netizens were impressed by her command of the language, with some even saying it would be interesting to hear a debate in Mandarin in Parliament.

While the People’s Action Party bested the WP slate in Punggol in GE2025, the opposition team received a sizable 44.83% of the vote, and many in Singapore praised Mr Singh, Ms Dang, Mr Au, and Ms Mattar for a well-run campaign. /TISG

Read also: Alexis Dang delves deeper into the health scare that changed her life in new interview

This article (Alexis Dang says WP volunteers have visited 10,000 households in Punggol) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: On June 3 (Wednesday), former Non-constituency Member of Parliament Yee Jenn Jong launched StepUp: The Workers’ Party of Singapore 2.0, a book about the journey that Singapore’s most significant opposition party took that led to last year’s General Election.

Mr Yee’s new book was co-written with the political historian Loke Hoe Yeong, who also collaborated with him on his book on the NCMP scheme that was published in 2024.

The launch at Book Bar was hosted by Assoc Prof Walid J. Abdullah from Nanyang Technological University and was streamed live on his Teh Tarik with Walid Instagram channel.

“The book looks at the rise of the WP to its current position as Singapore’s leading opposition party, the struggles it has gone through over the past nearly seven decades, and insights into GE2025 where the Party fielded its ‘best-ever slate of candidates,’” Mr Yee wrote in a social media post.

His first book about the WP, Journey in Blue, was published in December 2020.

StepUp: The Workers’ Party of Singapore 2.0

According to the new book’s chapters, it delves into the history of the WP going back to 1957, the year it was founded by David Marshall, and goes into the Jeyaretnam years, the leadership of Low Thia Khiang, and its present situation under current secretary-general Pritam Singh.

Mr Yee also shares a personal account of GE2025, the fourth time he was fielded as a candidate. The WP slate at East Coast GRC, which he helmed, lost to the PAP team headed by Edwin Tong, which won almost 60% of the votes.

After the election, he announced that he would be retiring from politics, but added that he would stay in the WP. 

The book offers a postmortem of the elections, as well as looks at what’s next for the party.

One interesting feature in the book is a section on the party’s volunteers, with chapters titled “Powered by Volunteers,” “From Volunteer to Candidate,” and “Inside the GE War Room.”

In a recent social media post, Mr Yee posted a photo of himself with two-time WP candidate and CEC member Nathaniel Koh. He shared that Mr Koh had met his wife, with whom she shares two sons, while she was volunteering with the party.

In a review of the book, the veteran journalist and editor PN Balji wrote that it is “a good read for those who want to know a bit more of the heartbeat of a political party that has impressed with its staying power in elections and its impressive record of recruiting younger and promising fighters to do battle in elections. 

I am glad the authors have made the book topical with last-minute additions on the government’s effort to pull Pritam Singh through the mud with accusations of lying and taking away his Leader of Opposition post. This book will definitely add to the growing public desire to know more of a party that holds its cards close to its chest.” /TISG

Read also: GE2025: Yee Jenn Jong—From edutech pioneer to Parliament champion, WP’s voice for youth and community

This article (New book by EX-NCMP Yee Jenn Jong explores the Workers’ Party’s past, present, and future) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.