PAP Aljunied's Daniel Liu & Faisal Abdul Aziz on safe seats, social media, & 'suicide squads'

Daniel Liu and Faisal Abdul Aziz aren't social media stars.

Liu is a community volunteer and the managing director of a local architectural firm. Faisal, a dental surgeon at Nuffield Dental.

But as two of the five People's Action Party (PAP) candidates contesting in the opposition-held Aljunied GRC, they've understandably been on the receiving end of a fair bit of attention, curiosity — even scorn.

Some have called their team a "suicide squad", particularly considering the lack of an anchor minister.

Liu admitted that the influx of public attention has been one of the biggest shocks in being fielded as a PAP candidate.

"You have to be a bit of a social media star or a social media influencer, and that's something I'm not used to," the 40-year-old said.

Welcoming the challenge

It's a challenge they're OK with, the duo said on an episode of Mothership's Help Desk.

"We welcome that challenge. But on the other hand, we are focused on our narrative, which is we are diverse, we are young, we are fresh — but also we see and feel very strongly about how the lives of our residents can be improved," he said.

Faisal added: "Definitely, we went into Aljunied knowing that it is going to be a very tough fight."

"But we chose to do it anyway, because I think Singaporeans deserve better."

Faisal also noted that though Aljunied may seem a tougher-than-usual battleground, there is "no such thing as a safe seat".

"I know it sounds very party line, but it's true, you know," he said. "Elections are unpredictable...all of us have to work hard for Singapore and Singaporeans."

"That's the reason why I joined the party. Because they don't take Singaporeans' votes and trust for granted.

No political party should be given a free pass, and every one should be contested...that's the whole point of democracy."

Not newbies

Despite being a party of new faces, none of the team is new to politics.

Liu was a volunteer since 2014, and Faisal since 2015.

The other members, Chan Hui Yuh, Adrian Ang, and Jagathishwaran Rajo, began volunteering in 2000, 2012, and 2009 respectively.

For Faisal, who'd been working at Aljunied for 10 years, "it was a very natural transition".

"I knew everyone there....the residents know me, they're very familiar, they know what work we've done on the ground. I just hope that now that I'm a candidate, I hope they will support me in this upcoming elections and my team as well."

Liu, on the other hand, thought it was "a bit of a surprise", having come from Nee Soon GRC.

Despite being deployed in Aljunied, he doesn't see it as a contest between the PAP and the Workers' Party.

Rather, it's a contest between the five of them, he said.

"Between the five of us, we have over 75 years of community experience," he pointed out.

"So we just feel like we can do a lot. We know how the pieces move....we just feel very, very strongly that we can do a lot for our residents that hasn't been done on the ground."

On being a suicide squad

All the experience and good intentions in the world can't stop people from making their judgments however. And it's hard to escape the label of "Suicide Squad".

But the pair takes it in their stride.

Asked what comic book characters the different members would be, Liu quipped: "Hui Yuh is obviously Wonder Woman."

While she's small, she's "quite mighty". "To be honest, to me, she's a very underrated politician," he said. "She's probably the last person that takes off at night. She's a mother of two, she wakes up very early. She spends all weekend in the constituency with her volunteers.

"She has so much energy. It's incredible."

Ang, a father of five, is Superman — "he doesn't sleep, he sleeps like three, four hours a night, I don't know how".

While Jagathishwaran is Captain Planet. "This guy has the purest heart I've ever met, but also a very, very sophisticated brain."

Liu, being a "quite funny" individual, is Deadpool. Faisal immediately is dubbed Flash.

"He's everywhere at the same time," Liu explained.

"We had meetings in the morning, then he goes to see his patients, then he goes to walk the ground, then he goes to the coffee shop. Then he comes back for another meeting."

Watch the full episode here: