GE2020: Nicole Seah is back in politics because of her daughter

After the Workers' Party (WP) teased her return to politics in their general election campaign video earlier this week, Nicole Seah was officially introduced as one of the party's candidates in a virtual press conference this afternoon (June 25).

The 33-year-old former golden girl of the National Solidarity Party (NSP) caused a stir when she ran in the 2011 General Election for Marine Parade GRC. The People's Action Party (PAP) won the seats, and she later left NSP and went overseas for work.

Seah is currently an associate director at a multinational marketing company and is married with a two-year-old daughter. During the press conference, she said she has been volunteering with WP since 2015 and also explained why she has returned to politics.

"To be honest, I'm having a very stable career right now. My personal life is in a very good state, and I do recognise that coming back out would also mean increased scrutiny. But I do it for the party because I believe in the leadership and I believe in the vision," Seah said.

"And I do it for my daughter because she's the next generation of Singaporeans and I want to leave behind a legacy for her where she would feel comfortable regardless of her political inclinations or the kinds of views she's expressing."

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She also shared that she joined WP because it's a party that doesn't oppose for the sake of opposing. "I hope that people who might speak out respectfully and out of concern would not get mobbed or bullied for their differing views," she added.

She didn't contest in the 2015 general election but was an observer and noticed that even though the sentiment on the ground during WP's rallies was warm and welcoming, these didn't translate into votes.

She continued: "We need to recognise the urgency and importance of this. Every single vote counts. I urge you to keep an open mind and I urge you to vote us in, because otherwise, we could be in the situation where we might have absolutely no opposition parties in Parliament as elected MPs when this election is over."

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com