Workers' Party (WP)'s candidate Jamus Lim, 44, who was introduced as a candidate on June 26, shared that one of the greatest lessons in life he learnt was at his father's funeral.

Father taught him importance of treating people equally

Lim, a 44-year-old economics professor, got emotional as he spoke about his late father in a video filmed by WP.

In it, Lim shared about the lessons that he learnt from Lim père.

The video has since over 3,600 reactions and more than 1,700 shares on Facebook.

"He always taught me the importance of treating everyone the same," Lim said. "So, during his funeral, it wasn't just his friends and family that were there."

"But among the group was the janitor for the building. My dad did not make a distinction between the fact that he was the janitor or he was just one of his other friends."

Lim shared that it was one of the most important lessons that he learnt in life, along with other values that his father had passed down to him.

He also said that his father had told him to pursue his passion, which motivated him to study economics.

Importance of having a compassionate society

Lim also described Singapore's success as something that came about from the sacrifices of people in the past who "busted their backs" to build the country.

Lim recalled the times he saw elderly people in the food court clearing plates, and shared that it bothered him.

He said: "I see GDP per capita rising inexorably, but I don't see that translated into the very people that helped to bring about that GDP per capita, and that's what bothers me."

"For the elderly - those in their 60s - I don't think a rich nation should leave these people to be clearing dishes. If they want to be working because it's a way to pass the time, that's entirely their prerogative," Lim said.

"But if they feel they need to do this to make ends meet, then I feel we have failed as a compassionate society to take care of these people."

Top image via Jamus Lim/FB