In the rainy pre-dawn of May 4, 2025, the results of the General Election were released.
As Singaporeans around the island took in the wins and losses with breathless anticipation, there was a more reserved mood among the candidates — even with strong showings for both the People's Action Party and the Workers' Party.
The message I got from both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition was this: There is cause for celebration, but also cause for reflection.
We Singaporeans need to do the same.
Women as tokens
If there's one candidate who truly punched above her weight in terms of virality, it's undoubtedly the WP's Alexis Dang, who stood for election in Punggol GRC.
Not necessarily for good reason. Throughout the campaigning period, Dang was the recipient of numerous lascivious comments, to the point that her teammate Harpreet Singh intervened (although Dang herself responded with undeserved grace).
People declared that they'd vote for the chiobu.
For Dang herself, I can hardly conceive how it felt. Imagine having served in the WP for five years — the longest of all the female new faces in the party, by the way — and yet have people say they'll vote for you because of something you never had any control over.
Imagine that, of all your strengths and weaknesses, the only factoid that people remember about you is your singlehood.
I frankly don't even want to know what was going through the minds of her fellow female new faces: Eileen Chong, Siti Alia Mattar and Paris V. Parameswari.
The feeling of hearing voters declare their support for your peer — not because she's any more qualified. But because she's prettier.
In a political election.
Women as carries
On the topic of the walkover at Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, PM Wong said at a press conference that despite moving Manpower Minister Tan See Leng over to Chua Chu Kang, he had "confidence that Seah Kian Peng, as Speaker, would be able to anchor the Marine Parade team and hold their own in Marine Parade".
It seems innocuous enough. Seah is Speaker and hence the highest-ranking political office holder in the team; he's also the longest-serving MP.
But historically, the anchor of a team has always been the one who holds the most influence, who's well-known enough by the public to "carry" the other less prominent backbenchers.
In most cases, this means the anchors are cabinet ministers, with the exception of Marine Parade GRC in 2020, which was led by then-Speaker Tan Chuan-Jin.
Tin Pei Ling
Then what about Tin Pei Ling? One would argue that she is certainly more recognisable than several of her political office-holding colleagues in Marine Parade.
The veteran MP has been involved in grassroots work since her university days, during which she helped her father, who was involved in grassroots work, do translation.
Later, in her second year at the National University of Singapore, she met Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. He invited her to join them and the following week, she went to his Meet-the-People session to help out.
So if we are talking about an "anchor MP", Tin seems a natural choice.
In GE 2020, Tin romped home to victory for the second time in MacPherson SMC, improving her vote share of 65.58 per cent to an above-average 71.74 per cent of the votes.
And in GE 2025, her high-performing MacPherson SMC was absorbed into the constituency in the recent boundary redrawing, leading to quips online that she was the "de facto anchor".
Despite not being a political office-holder, Tin's work on the ground has not gone unnoticed.
At Kong Hwa School on Nomination Day, her residents chanted her name instead of her party's or her new GRC's: "MacPherson! Tin Pei Ling!"
Sun Xueling
Here's another example.
When the move of Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong to Punggol GRC after years in Chua Chu Kang caused muttering and uncertainty among voters, it was experienced MP Sun Xueling who helped tide the party over to its tentative victory.
She told Mothership in an interview that she has been a grassroots leader since she was 20 years old.
Like Tin, Sun's former Punggol West SMC was absorbed into the new Punggol GRC.
Her vote share there was the PAP's best electoral result against WP in 2020 — a clear testament to her effectiveness as an MP.
While Gan may be the "anchor minister" as the team's sole member of Cabinet, I'd opine that without Sun's hard work in Punggol West to balance out his unfamiliarity with the area, the team's electoral result might not have been as successful as it eventually was.
Sure, these two women may not be the highest-ranking in the team. Sun is a Minister of State, while Tin does not hold political office.
But they've done the work on the ground. They've won the hearts and swayed the minds of the people.
They're the real anchors.
Holding ground
In the dizzying clamour of last night, you might not have noticed; but a few other female MPs also quietly made their mark this GE.
The first is Low Yen Ling from Bukit Gombak SMC.
The senior minister of state has been the MP representing the Bukit Gombak division of Chua Chu Kang GRC since 2011.
She stood as its candidate after her ward was carved out this GE, and her hard work and groundwork reaped its rewards as she garnered 75.83 per cent of the vote.
Her vote share was much higher than the Chua Chu Kang GRC (63.59 per cent) that she was previously part of.
The second is Gan Siow Huang from Marymount SMC.
The minister of state made her political debut in the last GE and was tasked to contest on her own in a one-on-one fight against experienced candidate Ang Yong Guan from the Progress Singapore Party.
Gan won with 55.04 per cent of the vote against Ang.
This time, she improved her vote share by 15.66 per cent, scoring 70.70 per cent.
Even with the PAP's stronger performance as compared to GE2020, both women scored higher in their respective SMCs than the party average of 65.57 per cent.
Their wins might have been relatively unobtrusive in comparison to several other hotly-contested fights. That doesn't make them any less valuable.
Ode to the women
Politics has never been an easy field for women.
I remember Tin, who in 2011 made her political debut to accusations that she was spoilt and shallow — accusations based off nothing more than a handbag brand that I see dangling off the arms of aunties in the MRT.
Unfair judgments persist. A serious male politician is perceived as dignified; a similar female politician is cold and unfriendly. A goofy man is relatable; a goofy woman is embarrassing.
Has the playing field improved since then? Yes. Is it still unfair? Absolutely.
As the hype of GE2025 dies down and political parties conduct after-action reviews and deep dives, I hope that we as Singaporeans, as a society, do the same and take a deep, long look into our own hearts.
In the meantime, here's to all the women who have stepped up.
The battle we wage is one of hearts and minds, not eyes; may all of Singapore someday understand that.
Top image from Workers' Party/Facebook, Tin Pei Ling/Facebook, Sun Xueling/Facebook
