The usual massive crowd, numbering at about 30,000.

The daily struggle captured in English, Mandarin, Malay, Hokkien, interspersed with attacks on the PAP, from start to finish.

The biggest stars of the WP — Png Eng Huat, Sylvia Lim and Low Thia Khiang, saved for last. A crescendo builds up in the crowd, climaxing in their chanting of “Worker’s Party!” at the end of the rally.

With such a structure to the rally, we agreed: Workers' Party rallies, particularly Sunday's at East Coast GRC, was a rock concert.

The Warm-Up Song:

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No rock band (the good/successful ones anyway) starts with their hit songs right off the bat. WP, clearly taking a leaf from of this playbook, began their performance with Jalan Besar’s Frieda Chan.

Chan’s speech was essentially the warm-up song, albeit a melancholic one, as she launched into Mandarin about the difficulty of life for Singaporeans, young and old alike. The crowd swayed to her tune quietly, clapping and honking in approval only at the end of her speech. Thus the mood was set.

And so the chords of attacks on the PAP begun.

2. The New Releases:

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“The PAP’s black-and-white vision has turned our home grey!” thundered Ron Tan.

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“It’s not ok to have old people picking cardboard!” riffs Foo Seck Guan.

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“It is sad to know that some of our senior PAP politicians are scratching their heads, not knowing why Singaporeans are so angry with them. Maybe, just maybe they should shave their heads just so they can scratch it better.” crooned Gurmit Singh, displaying metaphorically and literally the party’s experimentation with Ironic Mockery.

(Ahem, please refer to what he looks like in the video above.)

All three began on the theme of the Daily Struggle as caused by the PAP and ended with an invocation of the party’s slogan.

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However, it was Dennis Tan who decided to amp up the concert with his song “The PAP Needs to Gerrymander Every Election” which contained the chorus “The PAP want total domination so they can do whatever they want!"

Uncle and Aunties roared as though they were in the 1960s.

3. The Main Attraction:

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At last the East Coast WP team took the stage to the raucous cheers of the crowd, by now pretty charged on anti-PAP fury. This time, the Main Stars decided to ride the high by introducing the WP’s policies to the crowd. Fairoz Shariff delved into solving the exhaustion of juggling work, family and school for adult learners, then switched into a fiery Malay riff.

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Daniel Goh took a metal edge with a step-by-step demolishment of the PAP’s population and education policies and their reduction of Singapore society to a “machine” and Singaporeans to “screws and nuts”.

Interspersed throughout his performance were calls for dignity such as “Our cleaners and gardeners, security guards and construction workers, they are all vital to society” and “treat[ing] all workers with dignity and respect simply because they are our fellow Singaporeans.”

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Leon Perera’s solo got off well with his Malay but hit a bit of a shaky note with his Mandarin speech which lasted a grand total of ten seconds. Still, that did not stop Perera from clinching his performance as he went full heavy metal on the PAP’s sense of superiority with the golden lines:

“Friends, the PAP likes to accuse the Workers’ Party of claiming credit. But honestly my friends, they are number one, they are the Olympic gold medallists when it comes to claiming credit!”

Then he proceeded to chew up the PAP’s manifesto, before ending his solo performance with the WP’s future plans in Parliament and a trilingual finish of “Vote Worker’s Party to empower your future!”

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As for the lead singer Gerald Giam, he decided to fuel the crowd rage, tapping deeper with “Then came the Big Sorry [from the PAP]”. The crowd began to cheer continuously.

At the end, Giam proceeded to turn the field in front of the stage into a mosh pit for a brief moment when he decided to reintroduce his fellow band members once more, boasting boldly declaring their credentials, and in ascending order no less. The crowd of all ages rose, pumping their fists in the air.

4. The All-time Favourites

If you thought things would be winding down, think again. Like all true rockers, the A-listers were fashionably late — all the better to cause a stir —WP knows how to get a crowd all riled up alright.

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Lee Li Lian started slow, singing a ditty on home ownership, divorcees, and families. She picked up pace towards the end, rapping about what the WP would accomplish with voters’ support, her words punctuated by hollers of “Yes!” and whistles from the crowd.

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Png Eng Huat took the stage and endeared himself to the older audience immediately when he launched into Hokkien. Little wonder he had fan-uncles that chanted “Huat ah!” Ever so skillfully, he soon has the crowd pulsing with “Vote them out!” directed towards the PAP. What a master this one is.

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The best came last however, with Sylvia Lim’s rendition of hit songs “PAP cannot rule Singapore forever” and “Stability certainly does not come from suing those who criticise you”, which the crowd lapped right up...

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...before Low Thia Khiang ended off the night with the perennial favourite “PAP has been wrong so vote opposition”.

What a night. Even after the concert was over, fans could be heard chanting “Workers’ Party” all the way to Simei MRT Station.

5. The Fans’ Reaction

Don’t just take what we say for granted, here are some insights we gleaned from WP’s fan base. Who better to enlighten us, won’t you say?

Even as others gathered around to take photos of his structure, Jason Wong shrugged it off as a “simple hobby, since (elections) come around only once in five years”.

Four, someone else in the crowd says. “Four,” Mr Wong agreed cheerfully. This is how fans react when their favourite rock band goes on tour a year ahead of schedule — out come all the props and fan merchandise.

Much like how rock fans don’t hesitate to trail their idols across the country, where the rallies are, Bukit Merah resident Mr Lai Zhu Xing follows, scooter and all.

A famous fan of sorts, he’s grown accustomed to being photographed. He tells us proudly that “when my friends and I lined up as a troop in our scooters at Yishun, we drew lots of photographers.”

That, friends, is the price of popularity.

Every worthy rock group has fans from outside their dominant age base. By far the youngest faces we approached, 14 year olds Wilburd and Roy were a little shy but nevertheless willing to share. Wilburd’s advice to other rally-goers? Go early.

“Yesterday at Punggol was so crowded, so today we came early.” When asked about other rallies they’ve attended so far, and to comment on their experiences, Roy — who declined to comment on which party has his allegiance — volunteers, “Wow, (today’s rally has) so many people. It’s just starting and there’s already more people than PAP.”

Denise thinks this election has a “spiced-up mix” of parties, and both she and her ex-colleague Ili are fans of the WP.

They came down to “hear them live, since the news only features what they want to feature.”

Spoken like true fans with disdain for censored songs.

Who has the best rallies? Rally-hoppers Anni and Aly shot me do-you-even-have-to-ask looks, before Aly cocked his head towards the stage. “WP, lah.”

Top photo by Edwin Koo for Mothership.sg.

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