GE2025: Ex-army chief David Neo spotted with PAP’s Tampines team again
(From left) Former Chief of Army David Neo and Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli posing for photos with a resident at Our Tampines Hub on April 12.ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
David Sun
Apr 12, 2025
SINGAPORE - Former Chief of Army David Neo has joined the PAP’s Tampines GRC team in the lead-up to the election, with the constituency’s anchor minister Masagos Zulkifli saying he hopes the line-up there will be confirmed soon.
Mr Neo, 47, has been introduced to various parts of Tampines and has been following the incumbents on house visits, said Mr Masagos, who is Social and Family Development Minister.
He has also been joining the team in many events around Tampines.
“We are happy that he’s making his rounds and getting himself familiar with them,” Mr Masagos.
“Today, I’m happy to have David Neo joining our team. We hope that the final confirmation of the team will be made soon.”
Mr Masagos made these comments on the sidelines of the Irama Aidilfitri 2025 Concert at Our Tampines Hub on April 12.
He was joined by Tampines GRC MPs Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon; Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Sustainability and the Environment Baey Yam Keng; and Mayor of North East District Desmond Choo.
Also present was the team’s other new face, Dr Charlene Chen, 43, an assistant professor of marketing at the Nanyang Technological University.
Dr Chen was
introduced to Tampines residents in June 2024, and is the second grassroots adviser in the Tampines East ward.
There has been much speculation about who the PAP would field in Tampines, after the departure of former MP Cheng Li Hui and the
carving out of the Tampines Changkat single seat.
Ms Cheng, who oversaw the Tampines East ward,
resigned in 2023 over an extramarital affair with then Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin.
Mr Masagos took over her duties at the ward, and introduced residents to Dr Chen in 2024.
A former Buona Vista grassroots volunteer, Dr Chen has been helming Meet-the-People sessions for residents in Tampines East since late 2024.
(From left) Former Chief of Army David Neo and Dr Charlene Chen with Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli and his fellow Tampines GRC MPs Koh Poh Koon, Baey Yam Keng and Desmond Choo.ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Mr Neo is a newer face in Tampines, having handed over the reins as army chief only on March 21.
He appeared in an April 5 Instagram post with Tampines GRC MP Baey Yam Keng, and was on April 8 spotted with Tampines grassroots volunteers at new Housing Board Build-To-Order projects in Tampines North.
He joined the Singapore Army in 1996 and served as army chief from March 2022.
Tampines is set to be hotly contested at the polls, with
up to three opposition parties expected to vie with the PAP for the five-member Tampines GRC and the Tampines Changkat single seat.
Shortly after the electoral boundaries were redrawn on March 11, the opposition National Solidarity Party and People’s Power Party threw their hats into the ring.
The WP has so far kept its cards close to its chest, but has been spotted actively engaging Tampines residents over the past two years, at least.
