WP fields fresh faces in Punggol GRC as DPM Gan Kim Yong leads PAP slate in surprise
Workers’ Party will field Harpreet Singh, Jackson Au, Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar and Alexis Dang in Punggol GRC, where they will face a People’s Action Party team led by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong. This marks a surprise shift from his previously announced Chua Chu Kang posting.
The Workers’ Party (WP) has confirmed its team for Punggol GRC in the upcoming General Election, set to be one of the most closely watched contests.
Filed on 23 April 2025, the WP’s team features four fresh faces:
Harpreet Singh, Jackson Au, Siti Alia Abdul Rahim Mattar and Alexis Dang.
In a surprising move, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong will lead the People’s Action Party (PAP) slate in the same constituency.
DPM Gan’s inclusion was not pre-announced. He was originally expected to anchor PAP’s team in Chua Chu Kang GRC.
He appeared at Yusof Ishak Secondary School — the nomination centre for Punggol GRC — at around 11:20am, confirming his new role.
Joining him in Punggol are returning MPs Janil Puthucheary, Sun Xueling and Yeo Wan Ling, forming a team of experienced members.
Observers note that this is the second successive election featuring a surprise appearance by a deputy prime minister.
In 2020, DPM Heng Swee Keat made headlines when he was fielded unexpectedly in East Coast GRC.
DPM Gan’s shift saw Manpower Minister Tan See Leng take his place in Chua Chu Kang GRC.
Tan was sighted earlier at Jurong Pioneer Junior College, the nomination centre for Chua Chu Kang.
He had been seen just hours before at PAP’s Mountbatten branch with the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights team.
WP’s East Coast GRC line-up was also confirmed on 23 April. It includes former NCMP Yee Jenn Jong and GE2020 candidate Nathaniel Koh.
They are joined by new entrants Jasper Kuan, Sufyan Mikhail Putra and Paris V Parameswari, reflecting WP’s mix of experience and renewal.
The contrast between PAP’s experienced slate in Punggol and WP’s all-new team may shape the campaign narrative ahead.
Harpreet Singh is widely seen as WP’s leading candidate in Punggol and has drawn early attention as a “star catch”.
Both sides now turn their focus to the campaign period, with attention expected to remain high on Punggol GRC due to its political significance and the surprise deployment of a senior Cabinet member