Bedok North resident tells WP’s Kenneth Foo: S’pore shouldn’t have dominant single party so that the voice of the people will be taken seriously

Workers’ Party politician Kenneth Foo spoke to residents at Blk 85 Food Market at Bedok North Rd over the weekend, and said in an April 3 Facebook post that “they understand the importance of the presence of a credible opposition in the Parliament.”

One resident even told him that the country should not have a dominant single party.

Mr Foo particularly made mention of a conversation he had with a man he referred to only as “Uncle Tan” (not his real name) who, like Mr Foo’s father, had once been a private hire driver. 

April 11, 1971, is a day that lives on in the memory of “Uncle Tan” because “that day, he had to give up his job as a private hire driver, in those days called (霸王车夫) as the authorities clamped down on this trade.”

“Uncle Tan” said he was later able to get a taxi licence, which was his job until he retired when he was in his 60s.

Mr Foo’s father, in contrast, eventually ended up working as a sailor.

“How have times changed and a trade once illegal is now a means of living for many people,” the WP pol commented.

As he spoke with a number of residents, he realised with gratefulness that they have an understanding of the importance of the opposition in Parliament, as this promotes “a more balanced system.”

Mr Foo pointed out that one resident even “said that it should not be a situation of 一党专政 (dominant single party) so the voice of the people will be taken seriously.”

He expressed thankfulness that Singaporeans understand what WP is endeavouring to achieve for the country, adding, “Yes, there will be a lot of challenges ahead but we will take it on as it comes.”

He ended his post by writing that fellow WP member, Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim, continued the party’s outreach that day at the landed properties.

Mr Foo has been very active on the ground at East Coast GRC for the past few years, together with Nicole Seah, who is a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) as the president of its youth wing.

Ms Seah, 35, is currently on maternity leave.

Ms Seah, together with Mr Foo, Mr Abdul Shariff, Mr Terence Tan and Mr Dylan Ng, contested at East Coast GRC in the 2020 General Election, winning a very respectable 46.61 per cent of the votes against the ruling People’s Action Party slate’s 53.39 per cent. /TISG

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