Mohd Fahmi Bin Aliman

Mohd Fahmi Aliman (born in 1972) is a Singaporean politician from the governing People’s Action Party (PAP). He has been the Mayor of the South East District since 2020. As an MP, he represents the Geylang Serai division of the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

Education

He received his early education from Jubilee Primary School and Jurong Secondary School. He obtained a diploma from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and later completed a Bachelor of Engineering with honors from the University of Liverpool. He also holds a graduate diploma in Defence Technological Science from the National University of Singapore.

Military career

Before entering politics, Fahmi had an extensive career in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). During his service, he was deployed to various places, such as Blangpidie, Sumatra, Indonesia, as part of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (2005) and to Kabul, Afghanistan (2012 ) under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

2019, Fahmi left the SAF and joined the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) as the deputy chief executive. He also joined the labor movement in the same year. In March 2020, he joined the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and became Director of the Administration and Research Unit.

Political Career

Fahmi made his political debut in the 2020 general election. He joined a five-member team of the PAP representing the Marine Parade GRC. His team secured 57.76% of the votes. He has been serving as the Mayor of the South East District since July 2020.

Parliamentary works

Fahmi is committed to raising the wages of low-income workers and improving the welfare of underprivileged Singaporeans. He has also successfully negotiated progressive wages for waste management workers.

Controversy over” dishwasher to cleaner” remarks

Fahmi faced criticisms from Singaporeans over his “elitist” remark about employment for senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the talk show held by the PAP, Fahmi shared a story about a 55-year-old man who lost his job due to the pandemic and later got his first job as a dishwasher.

“So after that, about two or three weeks later, he got a job. So initially he was a dishwasher, cleaning things…so is that particular group and is 55 years old imagine…and after that when we help him, he moved on to become cleaner and he got pay increment in that sense,” Fahmi told the host, adding that the man got a job through periods of training and upskilling.

Fahmi's statement sparked harsh criticism from netizens, arguing that such a remark indicates the government's failure to provide welfare for senior citizens.

"So the gloomy future for Singaporeans moving forward after GE2020 esp[especially] for those out of jobs after age 55 years, will likely be looking at filling up cleaners, dishwashers, and Grab jobs while most of the senior and managerial jobs are likely to be given to PMETs instead,” a netizen wrote.

Personal life

Fahmi is a father of four.