Election spotlight: Close fight to decide if Workers’ Party keeps Sengkang or PAP wins it
With battle lines redrawn and significant changes to many constituencies, which will be the ones under the spotlight in GE2025? The Straits Times dives into the issues and concerns on the ground in Sengkang GRC.
Political observers said the four-member Sengkang GRC will be hotly contested at the next election, given the Workers' Party’s slim margin of victory at the last polls.PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
Kok Yufeng and
Ang Qing
Mar 24, 2025
SINGAPORE - It has been five years since the opposition Workers’ Party eked out a
historic win in Sengkang GRC, and another close fight is likely as the PAP tries to win it at the upcoming polls.
While the north-eastern battleground has been spared changes in the
latest redrawing of the electoral map, there is uncertainty in the air.
Residents say the rising cost of living, a turbulent geopolitical environment, and the credibility and credentials of the candidates being fielded are among the factors that could sway loyalties at the polls, which are widely expected to be called by mid-year.
What is clear is that the WP and the People’s Action Party will need to run strong campaigns during the hustings to shore up their chances of securing the support of residents living in the neighbourhoods of Anchorvale, Rivervale, Buangkok and Compassvale.
Logistics manager Lillian Lim, 61, who lives in Compassvale and voted for the WP in 2020, said her decision on Polling Day will depend on who runs in the constituency and what the candidates say during the campaign.
“Any party can get complacent, so we need to keep them on their toes,” she added.
Homemaker Fionn Cheong, 53, said she will need to evaluate the quality of each party’s candidates before making her choice.
“If they are lousy, I don’t think I would vote for them,” said the long-time Rivervale resident, who previously voted for the ruling PAP.
The WP did not respond to requests to speak to The Straits Times for this report.
How the battle will shape up
Political observers said the four-member Sengkang GRC, which was
created in 2020, will be hotly contested at the next election, given the WP’s slim margin of victory at the last polls.
A fresh-faced team comprising lawyer He Ting Ru, financial analyst Louis Chua, economics professor Jamus Lim and social enterprise founder Raeesah Khan won Sengkang with 52.12 per cent of the vote at the 2020 election.
(From left) Sengkang GRC MPs Louis Chua, He Ting Ru and Jamus Lim were part of a Workers’ Party team which won the constituency with 52.12 per cent of the vote at the 2020 election.PHOTO: ST FILE
In a major upset, they beat a seasoned PAP team with three political office-holders, including labour chief and former Cabinet minister Ng Chee Meng.
IPS Social Lab research fellow Teo Kay Key said the WP will likely enjoy some advantage in Sengkang, as the incumbents have had five years to establish a presence in the area and work on residents’ issues and concerns.
She said: “While PAP members may have been appointed as grassroots advisers in Sengkang GRC, I think the WP MPs would probably still be more prominent.”
However, the next election could also be the PAP’s best chance to reclaim the constituency, since it has not been in WP hands for long.
Former PAP MP Inderjit Singh said the WP will fight hard to retain Sengkang, but the ruling party will also fight hard to win it as well. “Losing twice in a row will make it very difficult to ever win the GRC back,” he said.
In 2021, the WP was forced to contend with a scandal when
Ms Khan resigned from her post after she admitted to lying to Parliament.
Her Compassvale ward was divided up between Ms He, Associate Professor Lim and Mr Chua. This, and other
recent WP transgressions, have dented the party’s image in some quarters.
Voters like finance executive Sue Lim, 34, said these controversies will affect how they vote.
However, others said it is not something that will weigh heavily on their minds at the ballot box, adding that the PAP has had scandals of its own.
Instead, the bigger question for voters is who will replace Ms Khan.
Mr S. Kumaran, who has lived in Compassvale for 11 years, said he hopes the new WP candidate can relate to younger families like his or focus on the older generation – given the growing number of seniors in the constituency.
The 40-year-old bank employee said he gave the WP a chance in 2020. “If they are doing a good job, it doesn’t hurt to have alternative voices in Singapore,” he added.
One possible name tipped to fill the WP seat in Sengkang is Mr Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik, a senior property manager at Aljunied-Hougang Town Council.
He has been helping out at monthly Meet-The-People Sessions in Compassvale under the mentorship of Aljunied GRC MP Faisal Manap, who has been advising the Sengkang team after Ms Khan’s departure.
Mr Abdul Muhaimin has also been seen with the other Sengkang MPs at community events and walkabouts.
On March 8, WP chief Pritam Singh posted a photo of Mr Abdul Muhaimin with Ms He, Prof Lim and Mr Chua outside Masjid Al-Mawaddah in Compassvale Bow, referring to the group as “Team Sengkang GRC”.
As for the PAP, it appears to have taken some lessons from its 2020 defeat.
Unlike its previous all-male slate – who had an average age of 49 compared with the WP team’s average age of 35 at the time – the PAP line-up in Sengkang today has an average age of 44, which hews more closely to the demographics in the constituency.
According to
an ST analysis of data published by the Department of Statistics in June 2024, about 30 per cent of residents in Sengkang are working adults aged between 26 and 45, and 28 per cent are between 46 and 65.
Of the four PAP representatives in Sengkang, three are political newcomers.
They are: Ms Theodora Lai, 39, a principal at private equity firm Tembusu Partners; Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, 43, who teaches communications and new media; and Mrs Bernadette Giam, 38, a director at local food and beverage enterprise Creative Eateries.
The team is led by Dr Lam Pin Min, 55, who has been active in Sengkang West since 2006. The ophthalmologist and former senior minister of state is the only one who was retained from the PAP’s 2020 slate.
In an e-mail reply, he said the PAP team understands the difficulty in winning back an opposition-held group representation constituency.
Even though the team has been labelled a “suicide squad”, Dr Lam said he hopes its hard work, determination and sincerity will touch the hearts of Sengkang voters.
He added that in the past three to four years, the team has ramped up ground engagements in Sengkang, and has been conducting regular house visits, going on community walkabouts and attending grassroots events.
However, when asked to confirm whether the current Sengkang slate will be fielded in the coming polls, Dr Lam said it was for the party to decide on whom to field.
(From left) Ms Bernadette Giam, Ms Theodora Lai, Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat and Dr Lam Pin Min seen at Anchorvale Village on March 16.ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
The PAP appears to have had trouble finding the right person for Sengkang East, which covers estates in Rivervale.
Mrs Giam is the third person to
chair the PAP branch in the area in the past three years.
Her predecessor, Mr Marcus Loh, stepped down in January, citing family reasons. Mr Loh, a director at digital transformation company Temus, was himself a replacement for lawyer Ling Weihong, who was redeployed elsewhere within the party in November 2023.
When asked about the confusion this has caused residents, and how the party plans to address it, Dr Lam said Mrs Giam has worked hard to meet as many Sengkang East residents as possible since her appointment, and will continue to walk the ground religiously.
It was reported in 2020 that the PAP did not do well in central and eastern Sengkang, with Sengkang West faring slightly better.
Political analyst Loke Hoe Yeong said the inclusion of Ms Lai and Mrs Giam in the PAP slate can be seen as an effort by the party to address criticisms about the lack of diversity in its 2020 line-up.
Ms Lai and Mrs Giam are working mothers and have been vocal about women empowerment.
However, both Mr Loke and Mr Inderjit Singh felt that the PAP will ultimately need to field a candidate of greater stature if it wants to show voters that it is serious about winning back Sengkang.
Mr Singh said: “The PAP team has worked the ground hard to win back support. But it may take sending some heavyweights there to ensure a win.”
He said the PAP will also need to campaign well during the next election, and focus on the bread-and-butter issues that caused it to lose Sengkang in the first place.
He added: “I hope the PAP does not waste time attacking the opposition... They need to remain focused on the manifesto and convince Singaporeans that they can solve the short-term and long-term issues of cost of living and housing.”
Responding to concerns of residents
Anxiety over inflation, the economy and prospects for the next generation of Singaporeans were common threads in interviews with Sengkang voters.
Retired civil servant M.T. Lim, 70, lamented the high food prices around his Rivervale Vista home. “Everything here is expensive,” he said.
Mechanical engineering undergraduate Bryan Ong, 23, who will be voting for the first time, said he is worried about getting a job after he leaves school, citing competition from foreigners.
Healthcare administrator Nur Athirah Azhari, 29, who has lived in Anchorvale for five years, said affordability and income inequality are some of her considerations.
She said: “The reality is that prices and the general cost of things are increasing.” Other items on her wish list include more childcare support and more food options for people with specific requirements, like halal or vegetarian diets.
Some residents said they hoped for more development in Sengkang, with new amenities like sporting facilities.
Mr Oh, who has lived in Compassvale for 25 years and wanted to be known only by his surname, said the developments in the town centre are dated and not as good as expected.
“For the PAP, I want to know their proposed plan... How do they intend to make Sengkang residents feel that they are not sidekicks to those in Punggol,” said the 55-year-old educator.
At the municipal level, residents were generally satisfied with the maintenance and cleanliness of their estates, though a handful had major gripes.
Since 2023, the WP-run town council has been directly managing the entire constituency, after it failed to receive any bids in its 2022 tender for a managing agent.
Mr Noor Idzwan, 25, who has not voted in a general election before, complained about rats and ants at his Compassvale block, and the red tape he faced when he asked the town council for help after his family lost their cat.
Citing the bursaries he received when he was younger and the PAP was in charge, the airport worker said: “I will choose the party that can help me.”
Another game changer could be the new voters that have made Sengkang their home.
While the GRC has not grown as significantly as other places, the number of electors in Sengkang has risen from 120,010 in July 2020, to 126,641 in February 2025.
This is largely due to new public housing projects – like the 2,500-unit Rivervale Shores – and new condominium developments.
There has also been an injection of new residents in older Sengkang estates, as homes in these neighbourhoods changed hands.
According to property investment blog Stacked Homes, Sengkang had the highest resale flat transaction volume out of 26 towns in 2024, with 2,056 sales.
Dr Teo said these newcomers may be of a different profile. “Chances are, some would have moved from PAP-held areas, so they might have more reservations over being in an opposition ward,” she added.
Independent political analyst Felix Tan said the WP and PAP should be courting these new residents, many of whom will be voting in Sengkang for the first time.
“As they are likely to be younger, they might be more willing to take risks,” Dr Tan added.
Indeed, Rivervale Shores has become something of a battlefront since the Build-To-Order project was
completed in 2023. The WP and PAP have conducted multiple house visits there and publicised these efforts on social media.
Ms Nat Tan, 34, who moved into Rivervale Shores in January 2024, said the WP MPs have made their presence felt at the new estate, organising various activities.
“Given that there are a lot of young families here, I think they cater to our needs,” said the advertising professional, who has a one-year-old son.
“When they shared their experiences, talking about life, it just felt more relatable. It didn’t feel like ‘I’m your MP, this is what I can do for you’, but more like a conversation with your friends.”
Ms Tan said she is glad that her MPs have been speaking up in Parliament, too. She gave the example of how Prof Lim, who teaches economics at Essec Business School, recently raised the issue of aircraft noise – a common complaint among residents.
Based on ST data compiled up to early February, the three Sengkang MPs were among the top six backbenchers who asked the most questions during the current term of Parliament. They spoke on topics such as housing policy, transport and social welfare.
Beyond bread-and-butter issues, younger voters like doctoral student Sankar Ananthanarayanan, 30, said he will be looking out for how the parties’ campaigns and manifestos tackle international problems, such as the Israel-Palestine conflict and climate change.
Social media is expected to play a major part in the hustings, and Sengkang residents have lauded the regular updates from their MPs on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, publicising how concerns of constituents are being addressed.
For instance, in response to complaints about the lack of food options, WP MPs held a survey in 2024 to gather feedback about the installation of vending machine “cafes” in the constituency.
When the initial vendor encountered difficulties, Mr Chua kept residents updated on Facebook, and did so again when another operator was appointed to take over the contract.
Since 2020, the WP-run town council has also implemented a raft of infrastructure projects in Sengkang as part of its five-year plan for the town.
On its website and in its annual reports, the town council has touted the construction of themed playgrounds to cater for young families in the area, the upgrading of fitness corners, and the provision of more covered linkways.
This is on top of essential improvement works, such as lift upgrading.
To engage the community, the Sengkang MPs have held a series of quarterly forums since 2022 called Sengkang Conversations, so residents can discuss national and local issues.
Anchorvale resident Zul Sahali, 47, who is self-employed, said he understands that it is not easy for the WP to implement changes as it takes a while for these improvements to be made.
He added: “The previous MP, Dr Lam Pin Min, was good, but the WP has done a good job also. To me, if I feel the person has done well, I will vote for him or her.”
