WP's Faisal Manap says he's selling property to feed his family & serve the people — but he's not ruling out going back to MP work

Walking through Aljunied constituency with former MP Faisal Manap feels a bit like hanging out with a celebrity.

Even before we sit down for our interview at New Century Food House — a coffeeshop in his former ward, Kaki Bukit — he's accosted by former residents reaching out for a smile, a handshake, a friendly how-are-you.

Here, Faisal is on home ground. That person is a cleaner, he tells me, always gets the best cleaner award. That man hasn't been doing well lately, we still keep in touch.

Take the man out of the estate if you will, but 14 years as an MP doesn't go away that easily.

A move to real estate

On Sep. 21, local real estate agency ERA Real Estate Singapore announced that Faisal had joined the team as a property agent.

It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, Faisal tells me. In fact, he'd first signed up for a real estate course last June, just a month after GE2025.

During the election, the Workers' Party (WP) vice-chair had moved from his Aljunied stronghold to anchor the Tampines team. Despite a strong showing, they lost narrowly to the PAP with 47.37 per cent.

The loss left Faisal — essentially — unemployed.  "I served as a full-time MP, I had no other income," he tells me.

"I need to earn, right, I need to feed my family.

[But] I wanted a profession where you can actually provide, you can give clarity."

Serving the people

A month after the election, Faisal signed up for a course in real estate.

"I'm a service-oriented person," he explains.

"Both [being an MP and being a real estate agent] are providing services...

I thought that since I do have some knowledge about housing policies, I can provide a good service, for those people who need to know more about housing."

Pre-politics, he'd worked as a technical officer for the Housing and Development Board (HDB). Still, it took him two tries to pass the exam.

He recalls how his daughter joked that she would "kick [him] out of the house" if he didn't get serious about studying.

"It's not easy," he admits, "but I think a lucky star was shining on me." That, combined with his family's encouragement, worked.

On his second attempt in July this year, he passed the notoriously challenging exam. "[My wife] was happy that after 16 months of unemployment, I managed to get a job," he laughs.

Honest work

But the news was met with mixed reactions.

Many lauded it as honest work, an honest living. Yet others pointed out the incongruity of a former MP taking on a relatively everyman role.

In Singapore, most MPs have day jobs. But these tend to be in specialised sectors like law, banking, or academia, and often in advisory or directorship positions.

For Faisal, however, this wasn’t a path he felt was viable. “My first passion was counselling,” he explains. Back in university, he studied psychology; he'd been a counsellor until he decided to join politics full-time in 2011.

But the requirements have since changed, and he would need a post-graduate degree if he wanted to return to the social services sector.

Another issue, which Faisal doesn't go into detail about but is surely cognisant of, is the perception that opposition politicians don't always have it easy in the marketplace.

Things have improved, he says, citing his WP colleagues — Jamus Lim and Louis Chua — as examples.

The former is an associate professor at Essec Business School, the latter an equity research analyst.

But Faisal himself is the OG cautionary tale. The WP veteran publicly shared that he was asked to leave his social services job in 2011 due to his WP involvement.

"If I don't retain the MP position, will it be easy for me to get employed?" he said in a 2015 interview with Yahoo Singapore. It would take another 10 years for him to face that question head-on.

Taking it seriously

Faisal says he's thankful for the opportunity to serve the community again, even if it is in a different role.

He is taking it seriously. He has a mentor, a more experienced realtor he's working with in ERA, and he has gotten "a few leads" so far, including a former Aljunied resident.

"Nothing confirmed yet. But I'm happy that after the news broke, a few people contacted me, even though I have not marketed myself," he says.

The job also has flexible hours — an important factor, considering that he remains the WP's vice-chair and has party responsibilities to think of.

He also plans to use what extra time he has for his family, and his pro-bono counselling work, which he continues to do on the side.

Don't count him out

Even in this next phase of life, Faisal hasn't ruled out returning to MP work, wherever or whenever it may be.

His heart for serving the community remains. And however successful he may be in his new endeavour, it's "not just about making money".

So if the call arises, he will return.

"I go where the heart directs," he tells me. "If the party sees that I still can contribute, I won't turn the party down."

"Yes, I'm doing property now. But I always believe in following the heart... [So] I will not discount contesting, if I can contribute."