SINGAPORE — Having time on their hands while awaiting their A-Level results, Zameer Husref, Akmal Dani, Fareez Khan and Angie Ooi, all 19, figured they might as well get involved with the Punggol East by-election by volunteering in the campaign of Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) candidate Desmond Lim.

Zameer, who saw an SDA Facebook post at the start of the year asking for volunteers and asked the rest along, said he saw “this as an opportunity to have a hands-on experience of what local politics is like on the ground”.

He added: “If we had volunteered with a bigger party, I doubt we would have the chance to interact with the candidate himself, or get to follow him on his walkabouts.”

The group conceded that they were at first clueless about the SDA or Mr Lim. And after doing their own research, they were sceptical about Mr Lim’s chances, given his record of losing in three previous elections.

In the 2011 General Election, Mr Lim’s election deposit was forfeited as he received just 4.5 per cent of the vote in Punggol East. But still, having spent the past few days with him, they felt that he “genuinely cares for the people and their concerns and really wants to do something”. “He is admirable for being willing to try his best even though he lost the previous time,” said Zameer.

The group is among Mr Lim’s youth volunteers — some are as young as 17 — who have attracted much media interest, amid speculation that they were paid to volunteer. Mr Lim had clarified that no electioneering rules were broken, and the youths are given a token sum to cover their food and transport expenses.

According to the group, the number of volunteers has fallen sharply: On Nomination Day, almost 100 volunteers — comprising eight groups of 12 — turned up to support Mr Lim. But in the following days, only a handful of groups have been reporting for the campaign activities.

Mr Lim declined to say if the number of volunteers has fallen, adding that such information is confidential.

Nevertheless, he did not expect to get so many volunteers initially. “I was very surprised myself that someone who is just a normal person like me can attract so many youths to step forward,” he said.

The volunteers were mostly students awaiting their O- or A-level results, and included Permanent Residents who were interested in politics here. According to the volunteers, their meal expenses are reimbursed, with a cap of S$5 per meal. On some days, they will be provided with meals. The volunteers were told that they can make transport claims at the end of the by-election.

Meanwhile, Mr Lim said yesterday that if elected, he will do his best to bring forward the opening of the new Cross Island Line, which was announced on Thursday. He wants to have residents sign a petition to bring forward the train line’s opening, currently set to be around 2030.

Mr Lim said he hopes the Cross Island Line can be completed in eight years — with five years to lay the foundation and three years to build.

He added, however, that he understands the difficulties in building the line as it is close to the sea and will take longer.

The new train line, which starts from Changi and ends at Jurong Industrial Estate, serves Punggol residents. It would reduce travelling time from Punggol to Pasir Ris — currently 40 minutes by bus — to 10-15 minutes.