S'porean man, 55, brings PAP & Marine Parade flags up to Mount Everest base camp

In October 2024, 55-year-old Yusof Lateef raised the People's Action Party (PAP) flag and the Marine Parade 50th anniversary flag during his second ascent to Mount Everest South Base Camp.

Speaking to Petir.sg, PAP's digital magazine, Yusof said that he and a few others decided to trek up Mount Everest 25 years after their first expedition to "see if [they] could still accomplish it".

Gruelling

Yusof shared that it was not a decision made on the "spur of the moment".

They had trained for almost a year by climbing the staircases of Housing and Development Board flats and hiking up Bukit Timah Hill weekly.

Yusof and his friends trekked for 16 days to Mount Everest Base Camp.

The daily treks lasted seven to nine hours; on one gruelling day, the team trekked for 14 to 16 hours.

"It was physically and mentally demanding, requiring sheer determination to overcome," he told Petir.sg.

He added that the expedition was not easy, with many slopes covered in ice glacial sheets, and one wrong step could lead to disaster.

The flags

Unlike 25 years ago, when Yusof brought the Singapore flag on his expedition, he brought the PAP flag and the Marine Parade 50th anniversary flag, as both were significant to him.

As the PAP Marine Parade branch secretary, he said he carried the party flag as a tribute to the hard work and perseverance of the party's members.

He said to Petir.sg:

"I have been a branch secretary since Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong's time [as a Member of Parliament]. Flying the flag was also a tribute to ESM Goh and Tan See Leng, who is the current Member of Parliament."

Beyond being a branch secretary, Yusof also served as a grassroots leader in the Marine Parade community, so the Marine Parade 50th Anniversary flag holds significance to him.

Flew the Young PAP flag in 1997

This was not the first time Yusof flew a PAP flag while mountain climbing.

According to Petir.sg, he flew the Young PAP flag when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in August 1997.

Back then, he was serving as the Assistant Secretary of the PAP Marine Parade branch and was a Young PAP executive committee member.

Looking ahead, Yusof has more mountain climbing plans — he aims to trek up K2 Base Camp in Pakistan, and climb the Mardi Himal peak in Nepal.

Top photos via Yusof Lateef/Facebook & Petir