SINGAPORE - The Straits Times looks at what politicians, and the politically related, are up to in this weekly series.

In this edition, the Covid-19 wave is back, with several MPs testing positive and missing events. Some politicians also shared pictures of their younger selves to mark SAF Day while others show that being an MP is no child's play.

Look out for the latest edition of the series every Friday, and check out past ones here.

Missed engagements and mobile vaccinations

As Singapore's daily Covid-19 cases crossed the 12,000 mark this week - fuelled by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants - several politicians became part of the statistics.

Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin was among them, and said on Monday (July 4) that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

As a result, he had to miss this week's Parliament sitting, and could not host his Malaysian counterpart, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, and his delegation when they visited Parliament House on Tuesday.

But perhaps the biggest loss was not being able to attend his daughter's commencement ceremony as she graduated from the National University of Singapore.

"Sadly have to miss this event!!" Mr Tan said, followed by a teary-eyed emoji.

"Already missed my son's OCS (Officer Cadet School) commissioning... and now this… Stars aren't aligned," he said on Facebook.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, who also had the bug, had to sit out the Disability Sports Awards on Wednesday.

Mr Tong said he elected to stay away from the ceremony despite having passed the seven-day period since he first tested positive in an abundance of caution.

"I decided to stay away, given that many athletes are training, and will be travelling to Asean Para Games shortly," he said.

Amid the current Omicron wave, MPs like Mr Sharael Taha (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) and Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar GRC) went around this week to remind residents to get boosted.

Mobile vaccination centres have been set up around Singapore so that those eligible can get their booster vaccination dose easily. Mr Sharael, who visited the mobile vaccination centre at Block 484 Pasir Ris Drive 4, observed turnout was good, and one residents even remarked that it was as convenient and "as fast as McDonald's drive-through".

As Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung noted in a Facebook post on Wednesday, this is the first time that Singapore will be going through a Covid-19 wave without much safe management measures - like group size and venue capacity limits - in force.

"The weight is mostly on our healthcare system and its workers - our nurses, our doctors, our medical personnel, to manage and care for the patients who need hospitalisation," he said after the annual Nurses' Merit Award ceremony on Wednesday.

"They are working flat out as we weather through this wave. They are the backbone of our healthcare system. Without them, our system cannot stand."

Kids say the darndest things

Just what do MPs do? That was on the mind of Kristen, a primary school student from Fengshan who had been waiting patiently for her MP, Ms Cheryl Chan (East Coast GRC), to visit so she could get a first-hand answer.

Ms Chan did not say what exactly she told Kristen, but after the conversation, the girl was asked by her grandmother if she wanted to be an MP now that she knew what the job entailed. The girl shook her head immediately and said: "Too much work."

Relating the incident in a Facebook post, Ms Chan said: "Such innocence and honesty of a child."

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson) was also chuffed after a young resident said it like it is. During a block visit, she had showed the little girl a picture of the younger of her two sons, as they are the same age.

"I asked my little resident if my younger son was handsome," she said.

Later in the comments under the post, she said: "I am delighted to share that… she said yes."

One netizen teased: "Wah... finding future daughter-in-law liao?"

Interactions with children seem to be one of the more enjoyable parts of the job, if MPs' social media posts are anything to go by.

For instance, Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) was tickled even though he was bludgeoned by a little girl.

"Lovely to meet Mr Chris de Silva and his daughter, Cassandra, whom (I think) was trying to bless me with her balloon sculpture! Mr de Silva was as surprised as I was!" he said in a Facebook post accompanied by smiling emojis.

Comrade in arms

It was Singapore Armed Forces Day last Friday (July 1), and several MPs took to social media to mark the period of their lives when they went from ah boys to men.

Calling national service a rite of passage and a brotherhood, Mr de Souza said today's world has made the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) even more relevant to protecting Singapore's sovereignty.

"Alliances, good international relationships and, of course, our armed forces' own innate capability are key," he said accompanied by a photo of himself in uniform, alongside his fellow NSmen in 163 Squadron.

"These are lessons which NS and my father have taught me. I believe these life lessons to be true."

Mr Desmond Tan (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC), who is deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said in his own Facebook post that he had "spent and gained from the SAF" over a 28-year career.

Mr Tan held various key appointments in the Ministry of Defence and the Singapore Armed Forces including as Chief of Staff (General Staff), Director of Joint Operations and Chief Guards Officer before he joined politics.

He said: "I didn't plan how I would end my journey, but I gave my best at every step, focused on my task at hand and people around me. I'm indebted to this great organisation that has kept us strong and free."

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition and Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh said he was grateful to the SAF "for all the friends made, life lessons taught and learnt, and the small part each of us was able to play (and in many cases, are still playing) in contributing to the defence of Singapore".

Resharing a group photo of his 35 Singapore Combat Engineers platoon, Mr Singh said it is not enough to hope and pray that war never comes to Singapore.

"A strong, capable and credible SAF plays an oversized role in keeping the peace - while being operationally ready for war," he said.

Not to be outdone by the "boys", Ms Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC) - who was a helicopter pilot in the military before politics - shared a snapshot from her days in basic military training as an 18-year-old.

"Good old memories", she said of her time in Officer Cadet School, as she thanked SAF servicemen and women for their sacrifices and contributions.

NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng, who flew high (literally and figuratively) before joining politics - as a fighter pilot and then as Chief of Defence Force - meanwhile spent part of SAF Day watching the latest Tom Cruise blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick.

"Finally found the time to enjoy the movie and relive the Top Gun days!" he quipped in a Facebook post. He even wore a bomber jacket with his old Air Force call sign: Camel.