SINGAPORE — After nearly an hour waiting at a roundabout outside Yew Tee Point shopping complex, enduring the heat and humidity as they held placards and readied their phones to take photos, a jubilant crowd of residents erupted into cheers when Prime Minister Lawrence Wong appeared.

They were part of more than 1,000 residents from Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency (GRC) who had gathered for a special, historic occasion.

First, to watch a live broadcast of the swearing-in of Mr Wong, 51, their Member of Parliament (MP) since 2015, and then to attend what can be considered his first grassroots event after he was sworn in as Singapore’s fourth prime minister on Wednesday (May 15). 

Mr Qayyum Lukman, 26, a production assistant and grassroot leader of the Yew Tee Youth Network who was among the crowd, said: “How often do you see your MP become PM? How many people can say that?”

Ms Nusrat Jagin, a 54-year-old entrepreneur and grassroots volunteer, showed TODAY a picture she took with Mr Wong when he visited her home nearly 10 years ago when he was first elected MP for the GRC.

Sitting at the front row of the watch-along event with her husband, Ms Jagin said that she was amazed at how a familiar and friendly face will now lead the country.

“I have no doubt he’ll do well. He’s someone in touch with the people and has always cared for us. I’m sure he’ll keep at it,” she added.

The watch party, dubbed "May Day Sing Along", was held on grounds within the constituency and organised by the People's Association.

Together with his wife Loo Tze Lui and fellow MPs of the GRC Alex Yam, Hany Soh and Zaqy Mohamad, Mr Wong arrived to what looked like a hero’s welcome at around 10.30pm.

He then gave a five-minute speech to the people gathered there, who cheered with gusto after every other sentence. 

“I decided to rush from the Istana tonight because I wanted my first event as prime minister of Singapore to be an event with all of you — residents of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC,” Mr Wong told the crowd.

“In my new capacity as prime minister, I hope you understand that from time to time, there may be new responsibilities that will make it difficult for me to attend some community events and activities the way I used to in the past.

“But I assure you we have a very strong team… We will continue to work hard to provide a better home, a better living environment, and to take care of all your needs in Marsiling-Yew Tee.”

Having spoken to try to manage their expectations of seeing him not as often in future in their constituency, Mr Wong stuck around until 11.15pm to take photographs with his eager supporters who lined up around a tentage.

Unable to take photos with all of them, he took what the emcee dubbed as “Singapore's biggest wefie” before leaving.

For the Marsiling-Yew Tee residents, the evening started at 7.30pm — around three hours before his arrival — with a crowd of around 1,000 people having gathered at the tentage before the 8pm live telecast.

While waiting for the ceremony to start, the people in Yew Tee were serenaded with a mix of English and Mandarin songs performed by several singers walking through the crowd, including a cover of American pop singer Taylor Swift's song Love Story. Mr Wong had played this song before on a guitar on his TikTok account.

The crowd then quickly settled down when the screen displaying the live telecast showed Mr Wong entering the grounds of the Istana at around 8pm.

At least 100 more curious passers-by stood around the periphery and stuck around to watch the hour-long ceremony. Most of them had had dinner at Yew Tee Point next door or were heading home from work. 

Most of the attendees consisted of older residents, but there were also some youthful faces in the crowd. 

One of them was 14-year-old Joseph Yap, a Secondary 2 student from Kranji Secondary School and a resident in Mr Wong's Limbang ward for 13 years.

Joseph, who professed to have an interest in politics and decided to attend the communal watch party with his family, said that he had met the new prime minister several times during school events and showed a collage of pictures he had taken with Mr Wong.

“He’s extremely down-to-earth and candid with us students,” he added.

“I want to be here to congratulate him, wish him all the best and hope he’ll come by our school more.”

Standing at the fringes was 21-year-old Republic Polytechnic student Bernice Hing, who spoke of her meeting with Mr Wong almost six years ago.

She remembered being worried and panicking at a meet-the-people session, before Mr Wong sat her down and told her to relax — though she declined to reveal why she was there at the session to consult with him as MP.

“He told me straight up what my options were (to the matter I presented to him) and consoled me that everything would be all right,” Ms Hing recalled.

“He was calm and collected, and was willing to help everyone including me when I was still a teenager. That left a lasting impression… if I need help again, I’ll head to (Mr Wong’s) meet-the-people session.”

OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE

Like Mr Qayyum, Mr Lim Zhan Yang, 26, also a grassroot leader of Yew Tee Youth Network, which organises community events, was there to show his support for Mr Wong.

Even though both he and Mr Qayyum work with MP Alex Yam closely because the network's activities are organised within Mr Yam's ward, their brushes with Mr Wong left a lasting mark on them, they said. 

When Mr Lim met Mr Wong during a Budget 2024 session, for instance, Mr Lim said that the finance minister's words had struck a chord with him.

“For Gen Zers like me, being truthful, candid and willing to have a conversation is what we want for a prime minister, and that is who Mr Lawrence Wong is,” he said.

“I hope in the future, he’ll continue engaging us and talk about topics (that we) youth care about like climate change, LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and others) and more.”

When the residents had a music event for the GRC last year, Mr Wong supported the event and was excited for the line-up of performing artistes, including singer Benjamin Kheng. For Mr Qayyum, the new prime minister is someone “chill”.

As for Ms Hing, Mr Wong’s inaugural speech as prime minister stood out for her when he acknowledged the more complex international landscape — which meant new challenges that he will have to face. However, she is confident that he would be able to do so.

“If PM Wong remains true to himself and continues to keep Singapore together as promised, I’m sure we’ll be able to strive in this more complex international environment,” she added.

Several residents attending the watch party held similar views as Ms Hing as they recounted past encounters with their MP.

For 75-year-old retiree Chow Wui Nian, Mr Wong’s premiership has renewed his belief that Singapore will continue being a liveable place for his children and family to thrive.

“This is (the young people's) prime minister, he is our future. I’m here to see history happen and hope that he’ll continue improving and growing Singapore for our next generation,” he said in Mandarin.