PEOPLE'S Action Party (PAP) Women's Wing veterans, like Mrs Angie Neo, who have worked for years behind the scenes yesterday received a big thank you from the party's chief, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He was speaking to some 1,000 guests at a bash to mark the 20th anniversary of the women's wing at St James Power Station.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Tarmugi and around 25 MPs joined in the celebrations.

Mrs Neo, 50, joined 15 years ago and had started out preparing refreshments and cleaning up after Meet-the-People sessions.

Today, she chairs the women's wing branch in the Tampines Changkat ward, mentors younger activists and helps MP Irene Ng with front-line work at Meet-the-People sessions.

Mr Lee highlighted the contributions of women activists like her.

'They work very hard in the background, gathering feedback, manning MPS, organising events, making sure everything works right. These are the unsung heroines that help the party to hold the ground and the party says a big thank you to all of them,' he said.

Mr Lee also paid tribute to three retired MPs, who launched the women's wing in July 1989 to draw more women into politics and identify potential leaders.

The trio were women's wing founding chairman and former senior minister of state Aline Wong, former acting minister for community development Seet Ai Mee and Dr Dixie Tan.

Dr Tan could not attend the event as she was in London for her daughter's graduation.

Mr Lee also took stock of the progress of the women's wing in the last two decades, chief among which was an increase in the number of women MPs from four in 1989 to 17 today.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times.