MPs & politicians from S’pore major political parties attend SG Climate Rally 2023 in show of support – Mothership.SG

Local climate advocacy group SG Climate Rally (SGCR) held its second physical rally at Hong Lim Park on Sep. 23, 2023.

This year, they call for a clear and inclusive roadmap towards the government’s net-zero emissions target by 2050.

Politicians from major political parties in Singapore attended to show support for the green movement, including several Members of Parliament (MP).

Wan Rizal (People’s Action Party) (PAP)

Although he was not expressly invited, Member of Parliament (MP) for Jalan Besar GRC Wan Rizal said he wanted to drop by as he has been following SGCR online since 2021.

The chairman of the Action for Green Towns (AGT) task force, a collective effort launched in May 2021 among the 15 PAP-led Town Councils to level up sustainability practices within their communities, also said that “residents know the environment best”.

Wan Rizal was looking forward to getting feedback from the community through the “Postcards to My MP” stations at the rally.

Jamus Lim, He Ting Ru, Dennis Tan, Gerald Giam, Louis Chua (Workers’ Party) (WP)

WP has the most parliamentarian representatives, with five WP members attending the rally.

“I think (SGCR) is contributing a lot to the discourse and our society about bringing awareness about climate change,” said Aljunied GRC MP Gerald Giam.

Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru also said that she is looking forward to reading the postcards sent by attendees and hearing feedback and recommendations on environmental issues.

Leong Mun Wai and Jeffrey Khoo (Progress Singapore Party) (PSP)

PSP Non-Constituency MP Leong Mun Wai and member Jeffrey Khoo also attended.

“It is impressive to see a lot of ground-up initiatives of young people and also see a few older folks around. It is important that everybody understands that climate change is a clear and present danger and impacts every single one of us,” said Khoo, who is PSP’s Deputy Organising Secretary.

Leong added, “We think that as a responsible party, this is the area that we should always study — to understand from the ground and how people feel about it.”

Paul Tambyah (Singapore Democratic Party) (SDP)

Chairman of SDP, Paul Tambyah, was at the rally as well.

He said that environmental issues are very important and that climate justice also encompasses social justice like workers’ rights and overdevelopment.

“These are all issues which I personally feel a lot about,” he shared.

Mohamed Fazli Talip & Ravi Philemon (Red Dot United) (RDU)

“It’s important for us to be plugged into events like this because, being a political party, we need to know the pulse of the younger people and how they feel on certain topics,” RDU secretary-general Ravi Philemon said.

He was accompanied by RDU councillor Mohamed Fazli Talip.

Top photo by Zhangxin Zheng