What it's like to be a GE2020 campaign helper: Exhausting, but an experience to remember, says 'accidental' volunteer

He showed up at the office before 8am and followed an election candidate around as she visited coffee shops and homes, did media interviews, conducted dialogue sessions, and visited more apartment blocks into the night.

"I am exhausted!" a GE2020 campaign volunteer wrote on his Facebook page of his one-day experience.

Timothy Anand Weerasekera, who indicated in his Facebook profile that he's a student at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, uploaded a long post on Sunday (July 5) titled "The Accidental Volunteer - How I became a GE2020 campaign helper".

Weerasekera wrote that he had made a few posts commenting on this year's general election, including one about treating candidates fairly regardless of party affiliation and beliefs.

To better appreciate that in reality and not just "conceptually", he then decided to reach out to a friend in the GRC and was invited to volunteer at Nee Soon for a day with electoral candidate Carrie Tan.

Tan is a new candidate with the People's Action Party, and the founder of the charity Daughters of Tomorrow, which works to empower women from low-income families in Singapore.

He wrote: "I'm really happy I got a chance to do this - it's not every day that you get to peer into the inner workings of campaign preparation and get first-hand insight on how the mammoth operation is conducted."

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/timothy.weerasekera/posts/10157784071799541[/embed]

He went into detail about how his day went, beginning with reporting at the branch office at 7.50am and being introduced to Tan.

"From briefings, to coffeeshop visits, to block visits, to dialogue sessions to newspaper interviews then followed by more block visits into the night… a candidate's schedule feels ridiculously heavy to me. I don't know how the older candidates do it! Yesterday, we did six blocks of flats I think. Maybe seven," Weerasekera wrote.

The most fun part, he said, was the coffeeshop and block visits because of the people interaction. He noticed the older folks were "much warmer" when a political candidate approached them, compared to the younger ones who were "a tad reserved".

He also shared his observations of Tan. "From her senior volunteers to random aunties sitting at void decks, Carrie made time to have moments with people throughout the day. I think she made them feel...seen, and not just like cogs in the party machine, or votes for the ballot"  

And the volunteers ranged from "chatty uncles" who have helped out for three election cycles to young university students, he described.

"The young ones are very savvy. Many constructively critique the party from within. If the PAP listens, it will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in coming years," he said, calling the group of volunteers a "nice kinship".

While he was exhausted by the end of the day, Weerasekera concluded that the experience was one to remember and a great eye-opener.

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com