Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat has been revealed as the surprise anchor minister for the People's Action Party (PAP) contesting at East Coast Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

In response, Workers' Party (WP) Secretary-General Pritam Singh stated that this is a signal that the People's Action Party (PAP) is taking the WP's challenge in East Coast seriously.

As per Pritam:

"Well I think it's an important signal that the PAP are sending, that they take our challenge in East Coast very seriously. I'd say we take their challenge equally seriously and that's why we've put a strong slate of candidates in East Coast."

The WP's team consists of:

• Nicole Seah,
• Terence Tan,
• Foo Seck Guan,
• Dylan Ng, and
• Abdul Shariff.

"I have full confidence in them"

Pritam stated that he had "full confidence" in the young candidates that had been fielded and highlighted that they were willing to fight for the interests of Singaporeans.

As per Pritam:

"I have full confidence in them. I think they will do well for the Workers Party and I think they will prove to voters that they're not pushovers, and that they will be prepared to fight for the interests of Singapore and Singaporeans not just in Parliament but in their constituency and in their town councils as well."

The election will be more difficult for the opposition

Pritam acknowledged that the election will be more difficult for the opposition however, as a result of the Covid-19 situation.

He added that this is due to the need to devote attention to social media, on top of resources for the ground campaign "which is still the main thrust of our campaign."

Striking a tone of taking things in stride, Pritam stated:

"So that makes this campaign a little bit, a bit more challenging but that's the way of the future. So it's something that the WP have to prepare itself for."

Elections have always been an "uphill battle" for the opposition

Pritam said that elections in Singapore have always been an "uphill battle" for the opposition.

Here, he noted that the WP has always been "always up against an opponent who is much more well resourced, and which always fights hard in every election."

In giving a bit of history on the opposition's presence in Singapore, Pritam highlighted:

"It took us 16 years before one seat fell to the opposition in 1981. 16 years after our independence. And it took 23 years after the enactment of the GRC system for the opposition to breakthrough in one GRC. So it is an uphill battle it's going to be a difficult fight."

Top image collage left photo by Matthias Ang, right photo by Zheng Zhangxin