Identity politics seems to be alive and well in the Workers' Party even after the General Election, as it announced its pick for the NCMP seat in Tampines GRC (the other went to the best loser of the election, Andre Low from Jalan Kayu SMC).
I have to say I didn't think that the party would so quickly discard its own vice-chairman and three-time MP Faisal Manap, who led the losing team in Tampines.
Known for being an outspoken voice for Islam he was the party's man for Muslim affairs.
Now it turns out that after failing to deliver a new GRC, his career in parliamentary politics is over at just 49 years of age.
What's more, the party's only two Malay MPs are first time newbies, showing a clear downgrade of the importance of Muslim issues in the next five years. It's as if minority voters have been quite cynically treated as an investment that didn't pay off, so the party leaders decided to move their assets elsewhere.
Instead of Faisal and even the Harvard grad Michael Thng, who received good post-GE reviews, WP has chosen Eileen Chong to take the NCMP seat.
Eileen has some credentials, having served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with three years as First Secretary (Political) in Singapore's Embassy in Beijing. But since June last year she's been working in social services in Asia Philanthropy Circle, which doesn't seem like a step up in the civil service career for the 33-year old.
What's more, she only joined the Workers' Party, believe it or not, in December 2024. Six months ago.
Meanwhile, Harvard educated Michael Thng, with a few years in Boston Consulting Group under his belt and 15 years as WP volunteer, was stepped over.
Why?
Well, a recent article by Terry Xu from The Online Citizen promoting Eileen's candidacy might answer the question:
Quote: "Chong, 33, represented WP in the Mandarin-language political debate — a platform WP could not participate in during the 2020 election due to the lack of Mandarin-proficient representatives.
Her inclusion this year not only filled that gap but also underscored her strength in engaging Mandarin-speaking audiences.
This matters deeply for WP, which already has a number of capable English-speaking MPs, including Jamus Lim, Gerald Giam, and its Secretary-General himself, Pritam Singh.
What the party currently lacks is a parliamentary figure who is articulate in Mandarin — an increasingly vital skill in reaching both older Chinese voters and new citizens from China, who often consume Mandarin media.
[...]
In the next general election, the ability to speak to Chinese-speaking voters in their preferred language — and with sincerity — could prove decisive in a tight race."
So, not credentials, not capabilities (save for language) but identity. Again.
After having invested the past few years in courting Malay voters, WP has now chosen to abandon them by giving the NCMP seat to one of the less experienced candidates in its slate, who joined the party barely a few months ago, in the hope that she would eventually turn Mandarin-natives into WP voters.
But wait a second, wasn't Pritam Singh the one who said that new citizens and PRs should first pass English proficiency tests?
What a turnaround! From "all Singaporeans should speak decent English" to "let's connect with Mandarin speakers" (many of them new citizens whom Pritam wanted to test in the first place).
No offence to Eileen, but it's quite unheard of for a political party to sacrifice a senior leader and multiple term MP to make space for someone with little experience, who was only recruited a few months ago.
There's nothing in her CV that would objectively make her a better, more competent parliamentarian not only than the party's vice-chairman but even her co-candidates.
Other than her language skills and her gender, of course. Her identity.
She's a good-looking, female Mandarin speaker and that's all that matters. Not walking the ground, not volunteering, not education or even professional experience (though luckily she has some that doesn't make her a completely freak candidate).
Meanwhile, after failing to deliver victories, Malay voters are being relegated to the second row now. Betting on antisemitism didn't work, so it's China time for WP now, as the party once again tries to convince one group of voters that it really, truly, honestly represents their particular interests.
But since all of this is done in public view, can it really work?
