Going into GE2020, one would be forgiven for not expecting this result.

Few people expected former Workers' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang to announce that he would not take part in the hustings.

Low, who led a WP team to victory in Aljunied GRC for the first time in 2011, was seen as a key member of the five-person team.

And yet, the WP team led by Secretary-General Pritam Singh managed to triumph with the party's best ever performance in a GRC.

The team of Pritam, Chair Sylvia Lim, Vice-Chair Faisal Abdul Manap, Gerald Giam and Leon Perera secured 85,603 votes with 59.93 per cent of the vote share, handily defeating a challenge from the People's Action Party (PAP).

Called up Perera and Giam

Along with Low, the WP team also had to contend with the loss of Chen Show Mao.

To replace them, Pritam Singh called up former Non-Constituency Members of Parliament Leon Perera and Gerald Giam.

Perera and Giam had performed well in previous elections in East Coast GRC, but not well enough to win seats outright.

And the WP's campaign was not without its challenges and controversy.

The WP did not send a representative to a Chinese-language debate hosted by Channel 8, a decision which Pritam later apologised for.

He explained that while they had party members who could speak and communicate well in Mandarin, the proficiency required to participate in a live debate is of a "higher order".

Pritam added that he was grateful for the support of Mandarin-only speakers, and that they have been very encouraging to individuals like him who only have a basic proficiency with the language.

WP did send a representative, Kenneth Foo, to a debate hosted by Lianhe Zaobao.

Handling the Raeesah Khan situation

The WP was later rocked with the news that one of its candidates for Sengkang GRC, Raeesah Khan, was the subject of two police reports over alleged racial comments she had made on social media.

However, Pritam won kudos for his handling of the situation, standing beside Khan as she made her apology. He said the party would support her, and that he had no regrets about fielding her as a candidate.

He also added that would be disappointed if candidates attempted to "sanitise" their past comments, and that he expected them to be upfront and authentic with the public.

A Facebook post praising his leadership went viral, garnering 5,000 reacts and 3,800 shares.

Sylvia Lim: Dream of something different

While Pritam made the opening party political broadcast, Sylvia Lim was chosen to give the last party political broadcast before the polls.

Unlike the other speakers, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who mostly focused on bread-and-butter issues and the economic impact of Covid-19, Lim took a slightly different tack.

Lim said that while Singaporeans could be proud of the country's "tangible achievements", she also urged them to imagine, envision and yearn for other values such as transparency, kindness, culture and creativity.

She referred to countries such as New Zealand, Denmark and Finland who also enjoyed low corruption, economic success, but are more open societies, and said, "These countries enjoy tangible success and yet still embrace intangible ideals. Can’t we visualise a Singapore that has both, too?"

Perhaps Lim's speech struck a chord with the youth voter, who are increasingly looking towards issues other than their daily bread and butter.

PAP adopted a low-key campaigning approach to Aljunied GRC

In 2020, the PAP did not send a minister or an MP from the class of 2015 to lead its fight to take back Aljunied GRC.

The PAP Aljunied GRC team consisted of three seasoned candidates from GE 2015, but lacked a prominent politician like Yeo Guat Kwang.

There was also no talk by any Ministers about the Aljunied GRC MP's management of Aljunied-Hougang Town Council during the whole campaign.

Hat-trick

Whatever the reasons, by the time the counting was over, Pritam had the satisfaction of knowing that he had not only held on to Aljunied after nearly losing his seat in 2015, but increasing the vote share by about 10 per cent.

It was also perhaps notable that Pritam is an ethnic minority candidate, with two other ethnic minorities in Faisal Manap and Leon Perera in the team.

These are details that will no doubt be pored over by experts and analysts in the months and years to come, but for now, Pritam has been officially recognised as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament by PM Lee.

The Workers' Party candidates, volunteers and activists in Aljunied will rightly be proud of their hat-trick of triumphs.

Top image from WP/Facebook page.