SINGAPORE: After what has been a crucial week for the Workers’ Party (WP), Sengkang Member of Parliament (MP) He Ting Ru, in keeping with the party’s latest motto, wrote in a social media post, “#WeContinue our work with full hearts.”
In her January 23 post, Ms He, who has been representing the Buangkok ward in Parliament since 2020, shared about recent “meaningful conversations, and the wonderful energy that was palpable over the last few days” with residents.
She also looked back 15 years ago, when she began volunteering for the WP after the 2011 General Election. This was when the party won at Aljunied, a watershed moment as it was the first time for an opposition party to capture a GRC.
Tagging her fellow Sengkang MPs Louis Chua, Assoc Prof Jamus Lim, and Abdul Muhaimin in her post, Ms He wrote about how a young resident’s eyes lit up as she talked about the peer support initiatives she’s involved with at school and how important it is for students to support each other.
“Coincidentally, the topic of peer support was also one that came up in the SG Mental Health Matters engagement session that we attended earlier in the week, and also how workplace wellbeing has to be a key focus area when we tackle the many challenges (faced by) each one of us every day,” noted Ms He.
Mental health appears to be an issue Ms He cares much about, as she has brought it up in Parliament time and again over the past few years. In 2022, for example, she raised the issue of protecting teachers’ mental health.
In the same year, she also said in Parliament, “It’s important that our plans to address mental health illnesses are firmly anchored within the primary health care system.” Two years later, she called for more training for police who need to deal with people with mental health issues.
Looking back to the beginning
Ms He also noted in her post that 2026 marks her 15th year since she started her WP journey.
“It has been a ride! It sometimes feels just like yesterday when I stood for nearly 5 hours at the void deck in Paya Lebar division, waiting for the Meet-the-People Session to end to speak to Choong Yong (who coincidentally paved the way for us in Sengkang by running here in an SMC in 2 elections) about volunteering opportunities, before newly-minted NCMP Gerald Giam 严燕松 gave me a lift to the train station so that I could catch the last train home!” she wrote, calling it “really quite cool” that many residents, colleagues, and friends have come alongside her in the journey as well.
“To my dearest squad, iykyk, you guys are just amazing. And no matter how things have been, the last 15 years have demonstrated that the universe somehow provides the support needed, and that We Together are able to continue our work,” she added. /TISG
