“We miss meeting residents in person” – Sylvia Lim

Workers’ Party (WP) chairman Sylvia Lim has said that she misses meeting residents in person, in a social media post published on the day Singapore exited a two-month circuit breaker.

Back in April, Ms Lim said that while she was not enjoying the circuit breaker restrictions and would rather be out and about, she understands that healthcare workers are overstretched as they try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aljunied GRC MP urged fellow Singaporeans to stay home and save lives.

Singapore is now gradually emerging from the lockdown-style circuit breaker and aims to open up in three phases. Safe distancing restrictions are still in place in the first phase, which is expected to last at least one month. Some workers are allowed to return to work on-site while some students alternate between home-based learning and going to school. Social gatherings are largely still not allowed.

For members of parliament, this means meet-the-people sessions are no longer held like before. In the past, MPs would meet and listen to the concerns of their residents once a week in person but the National Environment Agency (NEA) suspended all meet-the-people sessions during the circuit breaker period.

Even though the circuit breaker has ended, meet-the-people sessions can only take place virtually if at all due to ongoing safe distancing restrictions. As a result, many parliamentarians have taken to using tools like video conferencing app Zoom to stay in touch with their residents.

Ms Lim and her fellow Aljunied GRC MPs have urged residents in need to contact them directly through their public lines. In a Facebook post published last Tuesday (2 June), Ms Lim said that while she misses meeting her residents in person, remote access will have to do until more safe distancing restrictions are lifted.

She wrote: “As per NEA’s advice, Meet People Sessions are still not permitted to resume under Phase 1 of the post circuit-breaker period. We do miss meeting residents in person, but remote access will have to do for now…”