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The PAP conceding that NTUC labour chief Ng Chee Meng has no chance of winning Sengkang GRC.
They have decided to send in the suicide squad and parachute Ng Chee Meng into a safe constituency in the next elections.
Ng Chee Meng will then be given a ministerial position and on his way towards being a possible 5G Prime Minister.
The Sengkang GRC team distribute groceries to the underprivileged families in Sengkang GRC on March 27, 2022. PHOTO: PEOPLE'S ACTION PARTY
David Sun
Correspondent
Mar 27, 2022
SINGAPORE - Three new faces have been unveiled by the People's Action Party (PAP) to chair its party branches in Sengkang GRC, a sign that they will be the ruling party's candidates there in the next general election.
In a party statement issued by chairman of the PAP HQ Executive Committee Chan Chun Sing on Sunday (March 27), it was revealed that Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, Ms Theodora Lai and Mr Ling Weihong will replace Mr Ng Chee Meng, Mr Amrin Amin and Mr Raymond Lye, who were part of the team that was fielded against the Workers' Party in GE2020.
Prof Elmie will be the branch chair of Sengkang Central, while Ms Lai will chair Sengkang North and Mr Ling Sengkang East.
Dr Lam Pin Min, branch chair of Sengkang West, will lead the PAP Sengkang GRC team.
Mr Ng, Mr Amrin and Mr Lye will continue to assist the new team.
Mr Ng will also be the adviser to the PAP Sengkang GRC team.
"The Party would like to thank the outgoing branch chairs for their service and contributions to Sengkang GRC, and we look forward to their future contributions in other capacities," said the statement.
Speaking to the media after a grocery distribution event for underprivileged families in Sengkang GRC on Sunday, Dr Lam said: “I think with our passion and enthusiasm to serve residents, we hope residents can see we are sincere in serving them and that they’ll give us their trust and support.”
He added that the introduction of the new team now would give them a long enough runway for interactions with residents before the next General Elections.
“I won’t say it’s a suicide squad,” he said. “All of us are in this together”.
Former MP for Sengkang GRC Raeesah Khan resigned from the Workers’ Party (WP) and Parliament last year after she admitted to making false allegations in Parliament.
Asked for his comments on the incident involving Ms Khan, Dr Lam said it was an “unfortunate incident”.
“But whatever the reason is, as a new team in Sengkang, our main focus is to serve the residents,” he said.
Prof Elmie, 40, is an associate professor of Communications and New Media and assistant dean of research in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore.
He has been a party activist since 2016, including with the Young PAP and Malay Affairs Bureau.
He is a board member of Sport Singapore, council member of Ngee Ann Polytechnic and district councilor for Central Community Development Council.
He is also a member of the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee for the Ministry of Education, Malay Language Examination Syllabus Review Committee for Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board and Adviser for the Steering Committee of Community Leaders Forum Leadership and Benefactor Scheme for Yayasan Mendaki.
(From left) Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, Ms Theodora Lai and Mr Ling Weihong. PHOTOS: TIMOTHY DAVID, THEODORALAI/INSTAGRAM, SCREENGRAB FROM THE STRAITS TIMES/YOUTUBE
Ms Lai, 36, is the chief strategy officer of food app company Burpple, and has been a party activist since 2009, including as Chairperson of the PAP Policy Forum from 2019 to 2020.
She is a founding member of the Young Women's Leadership Connection, and of Prep Junior - a free-to-download app which helps to teach Chinese to preschoolers through interactive stories around Singapore.
Ms Lai is also an Advisor with Safespace, a mobile platform that connects people who are going through mental health issues, with mental healthcare professionals.
Dr Lam Pin Min (second from right) will lead the PAP Sengkang GRC team while Mr Ng Chee Meng, Mr Amrin Amin and Mr Raymond Lye will continue to assist. PHOTO: RAYMOND LYE/FACEBOOK
The party statement also said she is an active community volunteer including as a District Councillor in Northeast Community Development Council.
Mr Ling, 41, is a lawyer in private practice, and has been a party activist since 2015, including as Branch Secretary of Sengkang Central Branch since April 2021 and Assistant Branch Secretary of Woodlands Branch from 2016 to 2018.
He helped to launch the Woodlands Mentoring programme which paired children from low-income families with youth mentors in the community, and was an Assessor for Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act from April to October 2020 and a volunteer with the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme between 2007 and 2016.
The PAP has 93 branches across Singapore, and branch chairmen have traditionally been its elected MPs - except for those in opposition-held constituencies.
Political observer Eugene Tan, Associate Professor of Law at Singapore Management University, noted the lack of heavyweights among the new team.
“Except for Dr Lam, it is a new line-up,” he said.
“So the first order of business is to ensure residents know who they are and the plans they have. They will have to be creative given that WP is also upping their game in the wake of Ms Khan’s resignation last year. The PAP team has to operate without reinforcing WP’s messaging that voting for the WP will result in the PAP serving residents well.”
He added that the new trio will have their work cut out for them, and that if Mr Ng and Mr Amrin are to contest in the next GE, they would likely be fielded in other GRCs.
“The PAP is realistic about its prospects in Sengkang GRC and they have not lined up any heavyweight or Minister or even an existing political office holder such as a Minister of State,” he said.
“It is still too male-dominated a line-up, although a slight improvement from the all-men line-up in the 2020 GE.”
They have decided to send in the suicide squad and parachute Ng Chee Meng into a safe constituency in the next elections.
Ng Chee Meng will then be given a ministerial position and on his way towards being a possible 5G Prime Minister.
PAP unveils three new faces in Sengkang GRC

The Sengkang GRC team distribute groceries to the underprivileged families in Sengkang GRC on March 27, 2022. PHOTO: PEOPLE'S ACTION PARTY

David Sun
Correspondent
Mar 27, 2022
SINGAPORE - Three new faces have been unveiled by the People's Action Party (PAP) to chair its party branches in Sengkang GRC, a sign that they will be the ruling party's candidates there in the next general election.
In a party statement issued by chairman of the PAP HQ Executive Committee Chan Chun Sing on Sunday (March 27), it was revealed that Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, Ms Theodora Lai and Mr Ling Weihong will replace Mr Ng Chee Meng, Mr Amrin Amin and Mr Raymond Lye, who were part of the team that was fielded against the Workers' Party in GE2020.
Prof Elmie will be the branch chair of Sengkang Central, while Ms Lai will chair Sengkang North and Mr Ling Sengkang East.
Dr Lam Pin Min, branch chair of Sengkang West, will lead the PAP Sengkang GRC team.
Mr Ng, Mr Amrin and Mr Lye will continue to assist the new team.
Mr Ng will also be the adviser to the PAP Sengkang GRC team.
"The Party would like to thank the outgoing branch chairs for their service and contributions to Sengkang GRC, and we look forward to their future contributions in other capacities," said the statement.
Speaking to the media after a grocery distribution event for underprivileged families in Sengkang GRC on Sunday, Dr Lam said: “I think with our passion and enthusiasm to serve residents, we hope residents can see we are sincere in serving them and that they’ll give us their trust and support.”
He added that the introduction of the new team now would give them a long enough runway for interactions with residents before the next General Elections.
“I won’t say it’s a suicide squad,” he said. “All of us are in this together”.
Former MP for Sengkang GRC Raeesah Khan resigned from the Workers’ Party (WP) and Parliament last year after she admitted to making false allegations in Parliament.
Asked for his comments on the incident involving Ms Khan, Dr Lam said it was an “unfortunate incident”.
“But whatever the reason is, as a new team in Sengkang, our main focus is to serve the residents,” he said.
Prof Elmie, 40, is an associate professor of Communications and New Media and assistant dean of research in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the National University of Singapore.
He has been a party activist since 2016, including with the Young PAP and Malay Affairs Bureau.
He is a board member of Sport Singapore, council member of Ngee Ann Polytechnic and district councilor for Central Community Development Council.
He is also a member of the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee for the Ministry of Education, Malay Language Examination Syllabus Review Committee for Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board and Adviser for the Steering Committee of Community Leaders Forum Leadership and Benefactor Scheme for Yayasan Mendaki.

(From left) Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, Ms Theodora Lai and Mr Ling Weihong. PHOTOS: TIMOTHY DAVID, THEODORALAI/INSTAGRAM, SCREENGRAB FROM THE STRAITS TIMES/YOUTUBE
Ms Lai, 36, is the chief strategy officer of food app company Burpple, and has been a party activist since 2009, including as Chairperson of the PAP Policy Forum from 2019 to 2020.
She is a founding member of the Young Women's Leadership Connection, and of Prep Junior - a free-to-download app which helps to teach Chinese to preschoolers through interactive stories around Singapore.
Ms Lai is also an Advisor with Safespace, a mobile platform that connects people who are going through mental health issues, with mental healthcare professionals.

Dr Lam Pin Min (second from right) will lead the PAP Sengkang GRC team while Mr Ng Chee Meng, Mr Amrin Amin and Mr Raymond Lye will continue to assist. PHOTO: RAYMOND LYE/FACEBOOK
The party statement also said she is an active community volunteer including as a District Councillor in Northeast Community Development Council.
Mr Ling, 41, is a lawyer in private practice, and has been a party activist since 2015, including as Branch Secretary of Sengkang Central Branch since April 2021 and Assistant Branch Secretary of Woodlands Branch from 2016 to 2018.
He helped to launch the Woodlands Mentoring programme which paired children from low-income families with youth mentors in the community, and was an Assessor for Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act from April to October 2020 and a volunteer with the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme between 2007 and 2016.
The PAP has 93 branches across Singapore, and branch chairmen have traditionally been its elected MPs - except for those in opposition-held constituencies.
Political observer Eugene Tan, Associate Professor of Law at Singapore Management University, noted the lack of heavyweights among the new team.
“Except for Dr Lam, it is a new line-up,” he said.
“So the first order of business is to ensure residents know who they are and the plans they have. They will have to be creative given that WP is also upping their game in the wake of Ms Khan’s resignation last year. The PAP team has to operate without reinforcing WP’s messaging that voting for the WP will result in the PAP serving residents well.”
He added that the new trio will have their work cut out for them, and that if Mr Ng and Mr Amrin are to contest in the next GE, they would likely be fielded in other GRCs.
“The PAP is realistic about its prospects in Sengkang GRC and they have not lined up any heavyweight or Minister or even an existing political office holder such as a Minister of State,” he said.
“It is still too male-dominated a line-up, although a slight improvement from the all-men line-up in the 2020 GE.”