‘Renewal is a potent force’: Sylvia Lim shines light on WP’s young women leaders

SINGAPORE: In a recent social media post, Workers’ Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim continued to shine a light on the latest generation of female leaders in the WP, underlining how important representation is even in this day and age.

On her Instagram account earlier this month, she posted a photo of herself with Sengkang Member of Parliament He Ting Ru, Non-constituency Member of Parliament Eileen Chong, as well as Alexis Dang and Alia Mattar, both of whom were fielded by the WP as candidates in last year’s General Election.

The women, all dressed in WP blue, had been at Kovan 209 Market & Food Centre to distribute The Hammer, the party’s newsletter.

“Renewal is a potent force,” Ms Lim wrote in the caption, adding, “长江后浪推前浪!” This translates to “the rear waves of the Yangtze River drive on those before,” an idiomatic expression about constant evolution, specifically how the new constantly replaces the old, or how each new generation is better than the previous one.

She also wrote that “unfortunately Paris left without getting the memo,” in reference to Paris V, who had also contested in GE2025.

Her post has been liked by many Instagram users, with one commenting “That’s a proud mama bear,” referring to Ms Lim by the fond nickname others in the party have given her.

Nomination Day post

On April 23, 2025, the day when the candidates for the election were officially announced, a photo of Ms Lim with the other WP women candidates shared on the party’s Facebook page went viral, with many users on the platform wishing the women luck.

The WP won yet again at Aljunied GRC and Sengkang GRC, which meant Ms Lim’s fourth term in Parliament as an elected MP, as well as Ms He’s second. The election also resulted in Ms Chong coming in as an NCMP as a result of the WP’s narrow loss in Tampines GRC, where it received 47.37% of the votes.

On June 8, Ms Lim posted a photo with the same women from the lunch the WP held after the GE, captioning it with “Managed to take this picture with candidates Alia, Paris, Ting Ru, Eileen and Alexis. As I said then and I say again: ‘Mama Bear is Proud!’”

Leadership renewal

The WP has been aware of the need for leadership renewal for some years now. In 2018, former WP chief Low Thia Khiang, who had led the party for 17 years, was succeeded by the much younger Pritam Singh. Two years later, he announced he would not be seeking reelection, saying that it was time for the next generation to step up.

Ms Lim, now 60 and who has been party chair since 2003, appears to be following the same principle. /TISG

Read also: S’poreans praise ‘QUEEN ENERGY’ served by Sylvia Lim, He Ting Ru, & Eileen Chong in new video