It is not easy being a parent, especially when your child is a toddler or an infant.
And this is a challenge that the team for the Workers' Party (WP) in four-person Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) says they are well-acquainted with.
All the WP Sengkang candidates have very young children
All four candidates, He Tingru, Louis Chua Kheng Wee, Jamus Lim, and Raeesah Khan, have children aged three years and below.
Speaking to Mothership at an interview on July 2, He, a mother of 2, shared that all of them in the team were "still dealing with teething and sleepless nights".
Members of the WP Sengkang GRC team: Jamus Lim, He Tingru and Louis Chua Kheng Wee. The fourth candidate, Raeesah Khan, was unavailable for the interview. Photo by Edwin Koo.
Yet it is also their children and such experiences that motivate them to better represent Singaporeans, she said.
"These are the issues or the problems that young Singaporeans, young families and young parents are facing," added Lim.
"So we feel very strongly about this and we really want to come out here and we'll make our views known and have a better future for our children."
The Sengkang team also hopes that the profile of their families is a good reflection of Sengkang's "relatively younger demographic".
The Straits Times reported that over 60 per cent of Sengkang's residents are below the age of 45, while over 5 per cent are younger than five years old — figures which are above the national average.
Seeking to bring a diversity of experiences into Parliament
Given these demographics, the WP team is seeking to bring a diversity of experience into Parliament "in terms of our private sector experience, [and] in terms of our roles as fathers, as sons, and as women", bringing to the table their experiences as members of the sandwich generation, both Chua and He said.
Lim also highlighted that while the team is contesting the newly-formed Sengkang GRC for the first time, Lee Li Lian, former WP MP for Punggol East SMC, and her team, had been serving the estate for many years and the current team has gained a lot from their experience.
In addition, some of the WP volunteers themselves are residents in Sengkang, which means that they "deeply understand the issues".
He added that while they could not necessarily compete with the "resources and strength" of the People's Association (PA) network, she did not think it is "necessarily true" that the team is inexperienced:
"I've been with the WP, volunteering since 2011. I've been doing grassroots engagement, and also policy work since then... and likewise, I think Jamus and Kheng Wee have also been doing a lot of groundwork engagement, a lot of policy work over the last few years. So we are fairly confident that we have the right experience and also the right teams behind us, to help us because we are part of a team."
He Ting Ru and Chua Kheng Wee visiting residents in Sengkang. Photo by Edwin Koo.
So what are the concerns of Sengkang's residents?
The costs of living and filial piety
He said that the general concerns of Sengkang residents are in line with those of the population at large.
Many residents had approached the team regarding the economic impact of Covid-19, and how some of them were facing job losses and unemployment.
Chua chimed in to say that cost of living is the underlying concern for "the sandwich generation."
He added that for such young families, "you worry about the educational expenses of your kids, but yet at the same time, you are concerned about the health care expenses, retirement adequacy for your own parents".
Here's his full quote:
"It's one where, I mean, we are young families as well, where you worry about the educational expenses of your kids, but yet at the same time, you are concerned about the health care expenses, retirement adequacy for your own parents, and it's great that we as a society care about filial piety, but it is something which we believe it's becoming an increasing burden to the sandwich generation."
It is the hope of the WP team to be able to provide more room for flexibility for families, so as to "ensure that they are able to play their multiple roles more effectively".
Chua further cited his own status as a father working in a bank; his experience of working from home for six months had been "a very good experiment in terms of trying to ensure that there is work life balance".
Shorter waiting times for childcare centre access
As for issues specific to Sengkang, Lim said that "based on anecdotal feedback, it seems like waiting times [for childcare centre access] have not really improved that much."
The team is keen to look into the matter, to see if there can be a push for easier childcare access.
Lim acknowledged the fact that the number of childcare centres in the estate had increased, but pointed out that the number of young families with childcare needs had also risen.
More coffee shops
Another matter, which Lim dubbed his "pet issue", is the need for a greater density of coffee shops.
Lim said that while walking about the estate, the team noted that "Sengkang is a very dense new town, nevertheless, you find that it's actually relatively hard to get to a coffee shop or to retail spaces".
It also appears that the density of coffee shops in Sengkang is not comparable to that of a mature estate.
He Ting Ru and Chua Kheng Wee exchange fist bumps with residents in Sengkang. Photo by Edwin Koo.
Development will not stop if the WP is voted into Parliament
That being said, residents should not fear the halting of estate development if the WP team were to be voted into Parliament, He said.
"You know the childcare centres are not going to stop being built. They're not going to stop the coffee shop plans."
In reiterating that the WP will champion the residents' concerns by working with various government agencies to bring about solutions as soon as possible, she clarified:
"If the Workers' Party were to be voted into Parliament, I think residents should also rest assured that the PAP or at least the national institutions will not actually fall away."
Chua also stressed that the WP understands the concerns of young families given that the team has young families themselves.
"If we just look at the team that we have here, we are young families, we really share the same fears, the same hopes for Singapore as the Sengkang families. And this is something which I think we can really identify with them, and hopefully they can identify with us as well."
He was echoed by Lim who said, "We do our very best. We hope to serve the residents of Sengkang."
He Ting Ru and Chua Kheng Wee in Sengkang. Photo by Edwin Koo.
Top photo by Edwin Koo