Workers' Party has a glossy video introducing its batch of new candidates

The Workers' Party has released a glossy video to showcase its batch of latest candidates set to run this coming General Election 2015.

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The video starts with party chief Low Thia Khiang's address and is followed by candidates talking about their experience that led them to become WP members and potential representatives of the people.

"This election will be a landmark election," Low said. "It marks a new phase in Singapore after 50 years of independence and your vote will set the direction for the future of Singapore."

The GE2015 slogan for the WP, "Empower your Future", is also talked about and weaved into the personal narratives of the candidates.

And here are four other aspects of the video we noticed:

1. There is a severe lack of female candidates in the Workers' Party judging by this line-up. The lopsidedness is glaring, as only one new lady candidate, Cheryl Loh Xiu Wen, is featured.

2. Curiously missing, though, is He Ting Ru. But who knows, there might be another video?

3. The video presents the new candidates as volunteers who happened to step up to the plate to bat for the WP. They have all been tested on the ground with residents over a period of time. This further reinforces the view that the WP has a system of allowing only the most passionate and dedicated amongst them to be fielded, with little opportunity for candidates to be parachuted in.

4. Lastly, the WP's "Empower your Future" slogan is pregnant with meaning, judging by how the candidates are talking about it.

In a sleight-of-hand followed by a flourish, the clarion call during the hustings period can easily be shifted from beckoning Singaporeans to vote for the Workers' Party to reminding Singaporeans that they are actually voting for themselves.

Chairwoman Sylvia Lim, the last to speak in the video, essentially said in closing that the WP is possible only because it is made up of able and willing Singaporeans:

"The last few years have been a roller coaster ride, we've had our ups and downs and also had many opportunities to test our limits.

But what I've always been grateful for is that there have always been people who come forward to offer their time and talents to help us to grow.

We call on Singaporeans to share our vision of a Singapore that will endure for generations to come. And we see Singapore as a place where people can take charge of the causes that they care about, be it in arts, sports, business professions, whatever, that they should not be subjected to any top down approaches, but we can let their passions carry us through due to excellence.

And this is what we mean by 'empowering the future'."

And here is the list of candidates who spoke so you know which portion to fast forward to:

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Low Thia Khiang

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