Agonising road to victory for WP’s Low
Workers' Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang was unsure if he was going to win the toughest battle of his political career.
He admitted that he had prepared a victory and a loser's speech for his contest in Aljunied GRC on the afternoon of 7 May, Polling Day.
Speaking to The Straits Times on Friday, Low said, "I'm always prepared to lose and I prepared both speeches."
As it turned out, the losing speech was not needed as his WP "A-team" soared to victory, with 54.7 per cent of the votes, over the People's Action Party (PAP) team comprising Ministers George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua.
However, the opposition veteran revealed that the road to victory was filled with much agony.
With tears and emotions flowing freely, he told the same paper of the tough decision to leave his Hougang stronghold for a GRC as memories of his 20 years as Hougang MP came flooding back.
"I miss a lot of things in Hougang, but I have to move on," said the 54-year-old.
He said a key factor in his anguish was the opposition he faced from his detractors of his GRC bid. Some made it known to his face that he would become a li shi jui ren (a sinner in historical records in Chinese) should he fail.
They felt that his actions could have landed Singapore with the possibility of no elected opposition MPs, as both he and SPP's Chiam See Tong were leaving their single-seat wards to contest in GRCs.
However, Low persisted as he believed a GRC win was necessary for the opposition to play an effective, long-term role in Parliament in being a check and balance to the incumbent party, or in forming an alternative government in the future.
He added that he would be shortchanging the Hougang residents had he stayed put.
"I think Hougang wanted me to represent them and also to play a role. So I can't just say 'never mind, stay here'. I think it's not correct."
With his triumph as the leader of the first opposition party to win a GRC, the heavy load has now been removed.
Others on the WP Aljunied GRC team are law lecturer Sylvia Lim, 46; renowned corporate lawyer Chen Show Mao, 50; postgraduate law student Pritam Singh, 34; and family counsellor Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap, 35.
Low said that had his party had prepared itself for the worst -- losing all eight of its contested wards.
"So we thought that even in the worst-case scenario, let's say, we lost Hougang and Aljunied, our assessment is that the party would be able to carry on to serve Singaporeans," he said.
When asked if he would have quit politics if he had lost, Low quickly shot back, "No. I think that would be irresponsible of me, throw and then cabut (flee in Malay), retire. No, I'm not doing that."
Despite his party's feat in winning a GRC, Low still lamented the fact that there are only six elected opposition MPs in Parliament against 81 from the PAP, which he described as "grossly imbalanced".
"So if you're talking about significance, I think we still have miles to go compared to that," he said.
Low added that this GE has helped cement the WP's renewal efforts by putting its younger leaders, like Singh, into Parliament and the party's central executive committee.
When asked about his potential successor, he remained coy, giving nothing away.
He is now only focused on running the Aljunied and Hougang constituencies well, saying, "We have made our pledge known to Singaporeans as well as to the residents of Aljunied GRC that we will serve to the best of our ability."
"Because if we fail, we're not only failing the Workers' Party, but also the aspirations of Singaporeans. So we must not fail," he added.
