General Election 2025

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GE2025, island edition: Pulau Ubin’s elderly voters and their election stories​

Thirty or so residents continue to live on Pulau Ubin, which will be part of the new four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Shawn Hoo
Apr 20, 2025

SINGAPORE – Lifelong Pulau Ubin resident Ong Kim Cheng, 67, loves his island idyll and is happy to forgo most of the urban conveniences that Singaporeans enjoy. But the one municipal concern he brings up ahead of the general election proves that Ubinites are not that different from mainland urbanites after all.

The former quarry worker would like a covered walkway built between Changi Point Ferry Terminal – where the bumboats from Pulau Ubin dock – and Changi Village Hawker Centre, where he buys his groceries twice a week. Right now, he says in the wake of a recent monsoon surge, he gets drenched whenever it rains.

Mr Lim, a fellow Ubinite who declined to disclose his full name, has a fraught relationship with the teeming forest surrounding his home that will sound familiar to city dwellers. The 81-year-old and his wife have, in recent years, been besieged by an overpopulation of feisty macaques, which gobble up their durians, leaving nothing but empty husks.

Neither Mr Ong nor the Lims have found a solution to their woes despite raising them with the various authorities. Still, they and about 30 senior residents choose to live on Ubin, where amenities are minimal and some problems intractable because they are used to their disappearing way of life.

For Mrs Lim, a retired cleaner, the “outside world” – what Ubinites call the mainland – is a less-than-genial place where “everyone shuts their doors and is anonymous”.

Mr Ong, a bachelor who drives the occasional tourist around in his PU-licence-plate taxi van, relishes the stress-free life.

“We live day to day,” he says.

Like every other Singaporean, the 30 or so senior residents on Pulau Ubin, including 67-year-old lifelong Ubinite Ong Kim Cheng, will vote in the upcoming general election on May 3.ST PHOTO: SHAWN HOO
Like every other Singaporean, Ubinites will go to the polls on May 3. Part of the fiercely contested East Coast GRC in 2020, the island is now part of the newly formed Pasir Ris-Changi GRC in the upcoming election.

To cast their votes, residents here will have to pay $8 for a round-trip ferry ride to the mainland – up from $6 in pre-Covid-19 pandemic times.

During the 2020 election, the fare hike spurred artist and former disaster relief worker Terence Tan to fork out a few hundred dollars to charter two ferries and four cars to fetch residents to their polling stations, including the Singapore University of Technology and Design in Changi.

Mr Tan, 44, has been visiting the island regularly since he held his wedding there in 2018. The artist, who has helped residents with matters such as medical care and first aid training, says: “Thanks to them, the island is preserved – they are our heritage heroes.”

But he adds: “They need a lot more basic amenities. There’s no clinic, for example, and the residents are getting older.”

Residents receive their mail weekly on Thursdays from a postman who takes the ferry from Changi Point Ferry Terminal and walks around to the various houses on the island, he says.

Up until 1999, Pulau Ubin – which is nearly the size of Sengkang town – had active quarries holding the granite used to build the Istana and the Singapore-Johor Causeway. Its hilly terrain is broken up by lush mangroves, open meadows and towering trees such as the common pulai, which shoots 40m skyward.

Mr Tan has not decided if he will again arrange and pay for transport for Ubin residents to cast their votes this time around. He says he will wait until their ballot papers arrive ahead of GE2025 as their polling stations might have changed and the senior residents might need help with directions.

Islanders whom The Straits Times spoke to on a scorching afternoon on April 15 were aware that their incumbent East Coast GRC MP Maliki Osman would not be running in the constituency in GE2025, and that they would instead be voting under the newly formed Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.

Postman Shahruddin Datok delivering a letter to the Season Live Seafood Restaurant (left) on Pulau Ubin in 2021.PHOTO: ST FILE
Mr Ong recalls the tight contest in GE2020, when the PAP won 53.39 per cent of the vote. He does not intend to attend any political rallies and believes life on Ubin will likely plod along in its own languid way – no matter the outcome on Polling Day.

He recognises, however, that his remote existence cannot be separated from the economic trends on the mainland.

“Who I am voting for is not going to make much of a difference. The cost of living will continue rising,” he says.

Mr Ong is speaking to ST in “Orchard Road” – not the mainland’s shopping belt, which he last visited three decades ago, but the island’s pierside town centre. The hyperbolic moniker might suggest Ubinites have a sense of humour, but it is not entirely tongue in cheek: The island enjoyed a brief influx of visitors not too long ago, giving Ubinites a taste of mainland buzz.

Taxi van drivers gathering at the pick-up point on Pulau Ubin’s “Orchard Road”. There are 11 taxi vans on the island, although the visitor levels have dipped since the Covid-19 pandemic.ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Mr Heng Buck Lim, 70, who drives one of 11 taxi vans on Pulau Ubin, recalls the days during the Covid-19 pandemic when more than 1,000 “mainlanders” flocked to Ubin to walk and breathe free in the great outdoors amid travel restrictions. These days, visitors number only 200 to 300 on a good weekend – and his income has taken a hit.

The gregarious driver hopes for a tourism revival on the sleepy island. Currently, he drives mostly biodiversity researchers and students around Ubin.

“It’s difficult when Ubin is under the care of NParks (National Parks Board). It might be better if the Singapore Tourism Board comes in and develops the place with attractions such as cable cars. Just look at how Sentosa became what it is today,” he says. It is an issue he has raised constantly, but he also acknowledges it is unlikely to happen.

Madam Ong Ang Kui, who runs Ah Ma Drink Stall on Ubin, agrees that boosting the number of attractions would help her small business. The 86-year-old estimates that visitors currently spend at least $50 each on the ferry ride, bicycle rental and food. More attractions, she says, would make the place more tourist-friendly.

Mr Heng Buck Lim, a 70-year-old taxi van driver, and Madam Ong Ang Kui, an 86-year-old drink seller, are two Ubin residents who hope for more tourism to boost their business on the island. ST PHOTO: SHAWN HOO
Still, islanders acknowledge the improvements they have seen over the years, such as new roads that lead up to their houses. The five residents ST spoke to recall regular visits by their well-loved MP, Dr Maliki, ever since he represented the Siglap division in 2011. They also met Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and his PAP Pasir Ris-Changi team for the first time on April 11.

In GE2020, candidates from the Workers’ Party’s East Coast team also visited Ubin. The residents have yet to see candidates from the Singapore Democratic Alliance, which indicated it will contest Pasir Ris-Changi GRC in 2025.

For the Lims, Dr Maliki had made a difference. When wild boars killed two of their three dogs, Dr Maliki – who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office – helped them secure a fence around their house. He also showed up with blankets during a recent cold spell in Singapore.

Rising costs, however, have affected them and other islanders. Mr Lim’s monthly electricity bill is about $135 a month, higher than the $90.01 an average four-room HDB household typically pays. Rental for the land now costs more than $1,500. In 2013, the annual rent was between $72 and $420.

The PAP team, including Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean (far right), conducted a walkabout on Pulau Ubin, which is under the the newly drawn Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, on April 11.ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
With no young residents left, it has become a super-ageing island. Most of Ubin’s remaining residents either travel to the mainland to see their loved ones or play host to family and friends on weekends.

Madam Ong confesses: “I don’t know if anyone will continue to live on Ubin, but I think there will be fewer and fewer people in the future.”

As Mr Heng points out during a village drive, many houses are now unoccupied or boarded up because their residents have moved to the mainland or died.

Mrs Lim says wryly: “There have been fewer people and more macaques.”

On the mainland, Ubinites say they sometimes feel invisible. One resident – who did not want to be named – recalls having trouble claiming CDC vouchers.

“They told us that our area does not exist, but I told them that we receive the letters to vote,” she says, adding that the oversight was eventually sorted out.

Residents of Pulau Ubin queuing up at the Pulau Ubin Community Centre polling station to cast their votes in the general election in 1972.PHOTO: ST FILE
Ubin housed as many as 2,000 residents during its heyday in the 1950s.

At the 1972 General Election, they cast their votes at the polling station at Pulau Ubin Community Centre, which has since been repurposed into the Ubin Volunteer Hub, managed by NParks.

On this April 15 morning, less than a dozen visitors can be spotted on “Orchard Road” at any given hour.

Asked what difference the upcoming election might make to her life, Madam Ong says: “I don’t know what difference it would make. We’ll only know when the candidates are elected and get to work.”

 

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GE2025: PSP to field A-team in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, setting up rematch with PAP​

The PSP candidates for West Coast-Jurong West GRC and Pioneer SMC were announced during a media event held at Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre on April 20.ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
Chin Hui Shan and Ng Wei Kai
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - The opposition PSP will field its three top leaders in the newly formed West Coast-Jurong West GRC for the upcoming general election.

It is the second time that PSP chairman Tan Cheng Bock, 84, party chief Leong Mun Wai, 65, and vice-chair Hazel Poa, 54, will stake a claim in the constituency since the 2020 General Election.

The three were part of the PSP team that lost narrowly in the constituency during GE2020, with the opposition party claiming 48.32 per cent of the vote against the PAP team’s 51.68 per cent.

Joining them in the 2025 polls are new faces Mr Sumarleki Amjah, 53, and Mr Sani Ismail, 49. Both have been seen on the ground with the party in the lead-up to the election.

The party will also be fielding Ms Stephanie Tan, 37, in Pioneer SMC, which the PSP also contested in GE2020. She will likely face off against incumbent Labour MP Patrick Tay from the PAP.

Mr Sani is an in-house legal counsel and Mr Sumarleki, a former WP volunteer, is head of packaged food and business development at food and beverage company Del Monte Pacific. Ms Tan is a full-time homemaker with a law degree from the National University of Singapore.

The PSP candidates for West Coast-Jurong West GRC and Pioneer SMC were announced by Dr Tan during a media event held at Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre on April 20.

Mr Leong said the battle for West Coast-Jurong West GRC will be an “uphill task”. He added: “We are ready to serve the residents of West Coast, Jurong West and Pioneer as a team.”

The team hopes to address three things: Improve the facilities in the constituency, bring more jobs to the area and create a nice living environment where residents can enjoy a good work-life balance.

He said that PSP supporters have suggested that either he or Ms Poa contest a single-seat constituency.

“But we decided that Dr Tan, Hazel and I contesting together in West Coast-Jurong West GRC will be the best way to thank West Coast GRC residents for having strongly supported us in the last election,” Mr Leong said.

Ms Poa said she thought she would contest an SMC to “walk the talk” on abolishing GRCs. That was the plan at one stage, she said, but added that the party came to a decision for the three of them to contest the GRC together.

“With the boundary changes, it has become tougher, but we are not shying away from the challenge,” she added.

Mr Leong also said that this is probably the last election for Dr Tan, who will turn 85 on April 26.

Mr Leong said Dr Tan was “a man who has devoted his whole life to the service of Singapore and Singaporeans”.

He added: “We continue to need him to be with us in Parliament, to guide us to be outstanding MPs like him, and always have the interest and welfare of residents at heart.”

When asked how PSP’s campaign will differ this election, Mr Leong said the party is more organised and has done more resident engagement than before.

Two candidates – Mr Jeffrey Khoo and Mr Nadarajah Loganathan – from the PSP’s GE2020 slate in West Coast GRC are not returning to contest in the new GRC.

Mr Khoo will stand for the party in Marymount SMC, while Mr Loganathan has not yet been announced as a candidate for GE2025.

PSP has also swopped its Pioneer SMC candidate. Mr Lim Cher Hong previously ran there under the PSP banner.

When asked about the changes, Mr Leong said: “What we want to do is to form a more multiracial slate, that is why we have two (minority candidates) – Indian and Malay – on our team.”

They can contribute very much to national and community issues, he added.

He said Ms Tan was asked to stand because the party is interested in investigating and solving problems faced by young women and families.

Ms Tan is a homemaker who has a legal background. Before she put her career on pause in 2016 to be a full-time caregiver to her two children, she was legal counsel to the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Leong said: “Stephanie Tan is a very good example of a young woman who wants to continue to work while looking after the kids, who was not given an opportunity – or at least an opportunity that she likes – to continue to be in the job market.”


The April 20 announcement sets the stage for a rematch between the PSP leadership and the PAP team, which will be led by Minister for National Development Desmond Lee this general election.

In the last election, former transport minister S. Iswaran was anchor for the then West Coast GRC. He stepped down after a corruption probe in 2024.

In this year’s hustings, Mr Lee will be joined by two new faces – orthopaedic surgeon Hamid Razak, 39, and lawyer Cassandra Lee, 33.

Rounding out the PAP slate are Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Education Shawn Huang, 42, and three-term MP Ang Wei Neng, 58.

The PSP’s strong performance in GE2020 gave Mr Leong and Ms Poa Non-Constituency MP seats in Parliament as they were the top losers of the polls.

On March 11, changes to West Coast GRC’s electoral boundaries were announced. It will absorb parts of Jurong GRC and become West Coast-Jurong West GRC when Singaporeans go to the polls on May 3.

West Coast GRC is also ceding areas including HarbourFront and Sentosa to Radin Mas SMC, and Dover and Telok Blangah to Tanjong Pagar GRC.

The new West Coast-Jurong West GRC is a five-member one, and has 158,581 voters, up from the 146,089 voters in West Coast GRC in the 2020 General Election.

 

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GE2025: PAP team in Jalan Besar taking nothing for granted, says Josephine Teo​

PAP new face Shawn Loh, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo, Dr Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah and Ms Denise Phua on a walkabout at Sims Vista Market and Food Centre on April 19.ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY

Judith Tan
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - The PAP team contesting Jalan Besar GRC might have won with about two-thirds of the vote in the past two general elections, but the current team is taking nothing for granted for the May 3 election.

“We take every GE on its own terms. The past record, I think, is only important in so far as what we have been able to do for our residents,” Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said on April 20.

Mrs Teo, who is leading the PAP team in the group representation constituency again for this general election, added that voters there are entitled to assess the candidates on their merits, as well as their track record and plans for the area moving forward.

“We always take the past results as... history, and going forward, you don’t start off thinking that you have that already secured,” Mrs Teo, 56, said in an interview at Kolam Ayer Bridge, near Bendemeer Primary School.

“You always start from the basis that you fight for every vote from the first one. And so it starts from zero, and you build from there.”

The PAP slate, led by Mrs Teo, secured 65.37 per cent of the vote against a team from the Peoples Voice (PV) in the 2020 election, while then Cabinet minister Yaacob Ibrahim’s team won 67.7 per cent of the vote against a Workers’ Party team in the 2015 edition.

Since the constituency’s formation in the 1980s, the PAP has mostly won it in general elections by at least 60 per cent of the vote. However, the vote share dropped to 58.56 per cent in the 2011 GE for the ruling party’s team in the now-defunct Moulmein-Kallang GRC, which took in parts of Jalan Besar GRC.

Other than Mrs Teo, incumbent Jalan Besar GRC MPs Denise Phua and Wan Rizal Wan Zakariah are part of the PAP’s team in this area for the May 3 election, along with new face Shawn Loh, who takes over from veteran Heng Chee How in the Whampoa ward.

The National Solidarity Party and the People’s Alliance for Reform, which includes PV, have so far indicated their interest in contesting the constituency, potentially setting up a three-cornered fight with the PAP.

When asked about the prospect of a multi-cornered contest in the constituency, Mrs Teo said voters “have always shown a very strong ability to look at candidates”.

She added that the voters would assess the manifestos of the candidates’ parties, the candidates’ track record in helping the residents in the area, and plans ahead, such as for estate improvement and social support schemes.

Speaking at the same event, Dr Wan Rizal – a first-term MP who entered Parliament at the height of Covid-19 – said that residents in the area wanted to get connected after the pandemic, as well as emphasise sustainability and mental health.

To those ends, the 46-year-old chairman of the Jalan Besar Town Council said that there have been improvements to the connectivity in the constituency in the past five years, such as the refurbished Kolam Ayer Bridge.

Over 60 solar panels have been installed on the blocks in the constituency, while more than 600 blocks there have been refurbished and repainted.

Referring to the PAP team’s masterplan for Jalan Besar, Dr Wan Rizal said residents there can look forward to upgrades such as the conversion of vacant spaces into green spaces for activities suitable for the young and old.

“Jalan Besar has lots of heritage, so our main idea moving forward is to blend heritage with sustainability, innovative ideas,” he said.

 

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GE2025: Tan See Leng to helm PAP’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights team, which includes new face​

Dr Tan See Leng (centre) with teammates for PAP’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC slate (from left) Seah Kian Peng, Diana Pang, Tin Pei Ling and Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Ng Keng Gene and Esther Loi
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE – The PAP team contesting the Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in the upcoming election will be led by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng and include new face Diana Pang, a business development director and long-time party volunteer.

Also on the party’s slate for the GRC are Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, and incumbent MPs Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade GRC) and Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson SMC), Dr Tan told a press conference on April 20.

The newly renamed Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC is formed from parts of Marine Parade GRC, MacPherson SMC, Mountbatten SMC and Potong Pasir SMC.

Ms Pang’s confirmation on the slate means incumbent Marine Parade GRC MP Mohd Fahmi Aliman, who oversaw the Geylang Serai ward during his single term in Parliament, will not be part of the PAP’s Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC team.

Meanwhile, PAP will field shipping lawyer Gho Sze Kee to contest the Mountbatten single seat in place of incumbent Lim Biow Chuan, who is stepping down after serving four terms in Parliament.

Dr Tan, 60, who is contesting his second election, said he is grateful to the residents of Marine Parade for welcoming, supporting, encouraging and inspiring him.

He added that the PAP’s work in the group representation constituency is “never done”.


“We continue to want to improve the infrastructure, the intergenerational connectivity. Therefore, I seek a strong mandate from all of the residents.”

Dr Faishal, 56, who entered politics alongside Mr Seah in 2006, said that even though he has been an MP for Nee Soon GRC for 14 years, he has continued to be on the ground in Marine Parade.

This includes being the lead adviser to Wisma Geylang Serai, the cultural heritage integrated hub that falls within Marine Parade GRC.

Dr Faishal was a Marine Parade GRC MP in his first term in Parliament.

Noting that Dr Faishal is no stranger to Malay/Muslim residents, Dr Tan said: “Our plan for him is to take on an even more leading role in coordinating all the Malay/Muslim affairs within our entire GRC and the SMC in Mountbatten.”

Dr Faishal said that in his various roles, he has engaged the Malay/Muslim community on the ground, including as Minister of State for Home Affairs, where he has had to work with the community “on some very sensitive issues”.

“The PAP government is a government that takes action, a government that really looks at the affairs of the people together and makes sure that at the heart of the matter is our people, including the Malay/Muslim community,” he said.


Ms Pang, 51, said she believes that leadership is not about making speeches, but about “giving your heart”.

“It’s about action... I hope to be a voice, not just to listen, but I will also act on it.”

Ms Pang was an activist for more than two decades at PAP’s Fengshan branch, where she was branch treasurer and chaired its women’s wing.

Referencing her years of service, Ms Pang said: “I learnt this in my journey: That when we care deeply and work together, anything is possible. You are not alone. There’s always a Diana around you.”

She added: “Regardless of where I go, I’m very glad that people open up to me, and I’ve got a ‘talk to me’ face and I enjoy that, and I’ll do my best to care for (the people) and do what I can to make sure their life is a little bit easier.”

At the 2020 election, the PAP team won 57.74 per cent of the vote in Marine Parade GRC, beating a WP team, which garnered 42.26 per cent.

Dr Tan said he hopes voters will give his team a strong mandate, which will have to be assessed based on the national numbers after the election.

“If we can at least be on a par with the national numbers, and maybe do slightly better, I think that would be a good mandate,” he said.

The PAP won 61.24 per cent of the popular vote in 2020.

Of the PAP’s five-member team at the 2020 election, only Dr Tan and Mr Seah, 63, are set to remain in the constituency.

Incumbent Marine Parade GRC MP Edwin Tong, who oversaw the Joo Chiat ward, is expected to run in neighbouring East Coast GRC after the ward was carved out and absorbed into East Coast.

Former Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, who led the PAP’s Marine Parade GRC team in 2020, resigned in 2023 over an extramarital affair with fellow MP Cheng Li Hui.

Dr Tan said it was a pity Mr Tan did not finish his term, adding that nonetheless, grassroots initiatives and programmes that Mr Tan put in place for the Kembangan-Chai Chee ward continued in his absence, without “any gap or any drops”.

“Who doesn’t make mistakes?” the minister said in Mandarin in reference to Mr Tan’s affair, adding in English that “we can’t change the past, but we can certainly, from today, work hard in fulfilling a better future together”.

The PAP team is expected to be challenged by a team from WP, which has continued to walk the ground since 2020.

Mr Fahmi, 52, was an army colonel and stepped down as deputy chief executive of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore in March 2020 before joining politics. He is now a director at the National Trades Union Congress.

Dr Tan said that whether Mr Fahmi will be fielded in the coming election in another constituency is a “decision that we will make in the final analysis on Nomination Day itself”. Nomination Day is on April 23.

Ms Tin, 41, a three-term MP who has served MacPherson since 2011, prevailed against the People’s Power Party’s Goh Meng Seng at the 2020 polls, with 71.74 per cent of the vote.

“What is most precious is actually the connections, the personal bonds that are forged with residents. So wherever MacPherson goes, I will follow,” said Ms Tin on April 20.

She added: “It wasn’t a very easy start for me back in 2011, but my residents in MacPherson, my team there in MacPherson, accepted me and gave me the opportunity to serve.”

Mr Seah said he has built relationships with Braddell Heights residents over the past 19 years, with many asking if he would run again in this election.

“I enjoy the trust that they have accorded to me, and I can assure you that my team and I will continue to work hard to earn their trust.”

About 75 per cent of Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC’s 131,493 voters are from the previous Marine Parade GRC (98,341).

 

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GE2025: PAP’s Gho Sze Kee to contest Mountbatten; 4-term MP Lim Biow Chuan to step down​

Ms Gho Sze Kee’s candidacy was announced at a press conference on April 20 by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who will lead the PAP’s five-member slate for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC.ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
Esther Loi and Ng Keng Gene
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE – Maritime lawyer Gho Sze Kee will be fielded by the PAP to contest the Mountbatten single seat at the general election, taking over from four-term MP Lim Biow Chuan, who is stepping down after almost two decades of serving the area.

Ms Gho’s candidacy was announced at a press conference on April 20 by Manpower Minister Tan See Leng, who will lead the PAP’s five-member slate for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC in the May 3 polls.

A PAP new face, Ms Gho, 46, has been a party activist since 2012 and has been photographed alongside Mr Lim since August 2024.

She has been the branch secretary at the PAP’s Bukit Timah branch since December 2020.

Ms Gho is associate director of AsiaLegal, a boutique law firm that specialises in maritime law, and has more than two decades of experience in the legal industry.

She said she is stepping up as a candidate because of a personal conviction to give back to Singapore, and because she feels a sense of mission, as a mother, to safeguard the future for the next generation.

She noted that while government policies have generally served Singaporeans well, “not every situation fits policy”.


Some people need a more personalised approach to solving their problems, she said, adding that MPs play a critical role in providing “that last mile of coverage” and bridging the gap between policy and people.

Ms Gho said Mr Lim, whom she has understudied for the past 10 months, has left big shoes to fill.

Mr Lim’s starting point for PAP MPs, she added, is that each of them has to be dedicated to service and amplify residents’ voices in Parliament.

“He wants every one of us to do more than just that,” she said.

“I would like to bring my personal touch, motherly touch,” said Ms Gho, who has two teenage children.

“And what I hope to achieve is that when residents find themselves in a difficult or stressful situation, and if the first person they do think of is me, I will be very, very happy, and I would be most grateful for that chance.”

Ms Gho previously spoke at the PAP Convention in 2021, emphasising the need for gender diversity within the party.

She is expected to be challenged by a candidate from the opposition coalition People’s Alliance for Reform for the Mountbatten seat.


Mr Lim said he felt a “sense of loss of friendship”, as he has been serving the area for 19 years.

“But in politics, there is always a need for renewal,” he told The Straits Times at a Hari Raya celebration in Dakota Breeze on the evening of April 20.

“The leadership at the PAP... will decide at what point in time they should refresh the slate of candidates, and we leave it to the wisdom of that collective leadership.”

Mr Lim said Ms Gho comes across as a “caring, compassionate, humble person” whom he is confident will be able to take care of Mountbatten residents.

Should Ms Gho be elected Mountbatten MP and need any help, Mr Lim said he would be happy to assist. “She can call me any time.”

Mr Lim, 61, entered politics in 2006 as part of a team for Marine Parade GRC led by then Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, which won the constituency in a walkover.

In the 2011 election, Mountbatten – the ward Mr Lim oversaw – was carved out as a single-member constituency.

Mr Lim prevailed in the single seat at three consecutive polls, winning 58.62 per cent of the vote in 2011, 71.86 per cent in 2015, and 73.82 per cent in 2020.

As Mountbatten MP, Mr Lim was actively involved in municipal affairs, serving as Marine Parade Town Council’s chairman for multiple terms from 2010 until April 2025.

In the 14th Parliament, which was dissolved on April 15, Mr Lim was on the PAP’s Government Parliamentary Committees (GPCs) for National Development and Transport. He chaired the GPC for Education in the 12th Parliament.

Before running in the 2006 election, Mr Lim had been a grassroots leader serving in the Jalan Besar area.

While he was an MP, Mr Lim served as the vice-president of the Consumers Association of Singapore from 2006 to 2012, and then as its president from 2012 to 2021.

He was Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2016 to 2020.

A lawyer, Mr Lim began his career in 1989 and is now a director of boutique firm BC Lim & Lau, which he co-founded in October 2019 with fellow lawyer Lau Kah Hee.

Residents interviewed by ST described Mr Lim as an active MP who was often spotted around the constituency, including at community events and house visits.

Ms Dawn Lim, 37, described him as a friendly MP who remembers her 1½-year-old daughter’s name by heart. “Every community event that I attend, he is always there,” said the architect.

On the MP stepping down, she said: “I wish I had more opportunities to interact with him.”

Madam June Yong, 75, was surprised to hear that Mr Lim was stepping down, adding that he was a warm-hearted MP.

The homemaker recounted an incident that took place on a weekday at 10pm some time in 2024, when she spotted Mr Lim circling the perimeter of a nearby block.

When she approached him, Mr Lim told her that he was checking on a resident’s complaint about sources of stagnant water near the drains.

Madam Yong said: “I thought it was very good of him to be checking on the complaint all by himself... He was a very focused MP.”

 

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GE2025: Bringing jobs into West Coast-Jurong West GRC among priorities for PSP new face Sani Ismail​

Mr Sani Ismail said that if he is elected, he hopes to bring new jobs into the constituency, so residents can work near where they live.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Chin Hui Shan
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - Having worked overseas for close to two decades, PSP new face Sani Ismail, 49, now wants to tap that experience to improve the lives of residents of West Coast-Jurong West GRC, where he is contesting.

Mr Sani said that if he is elected, he hopes to bring new jobs into the constituency so residents can work near where they live.

He also hopes to rejuvenate the constituency, making it a socially and commercially vibrant one, he said.

“People talk about work-life balance. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you can get a good job, which is (near) where you live and everything else?” he said in an interview held at Block 43 Teban Gardens Road.

Such employment opportunities could come from local firms, or multinational corporations, said Mr Sani, who runs a strata management firm.

“It is down to the elected MPs of the constituency to create the conducive environment, to bring trade in,” he added.

Mr Sani said this idea to facilitate job creation for residents was sparked by his experience in the UK, where he worked for 17 years.


For example, in the UK, he was part of a task force to create a programme to provide training for workers and help them transition into relevant job placements.

“If I were to be elected in the constituency, I would certainly look into these ways,” he said.

Mr Sani is part of the PSP team, led by party chairman Tan Cheng Bock, contesting the newly formed West Coast-Jurong West GRC.

He will be running alongside PSP’s A-team, comprising the party’s top three leaders – party chair Tan Cheng Bock, 84; party chief Leong Mun Wai, 65; and vice-chair Hazel Poa, 54 – as well as fellow new face Sumarleki Amjah, 53.

As an employer, Mr Sani said he welcomes employee-centric proposals by PSP, such as increasing the minimum number of paid annual leave days from seven to 14, implementing a minimum living wage as well as increasing the number of public holidays.

“These are measures that will help to improve the well-being of the workforce and, in return, it could increase productivity,” he added. “Happy employees, happy employers.”

Mr Sani, who is married to a Polish woman, added that he would also like to study the issues faced by Singaporeans in transnational marriages and come up with proposals to help them.

While it may be his first time running in an election, Mr Sani has experience as a grassroots volunteer.

Mr Sani said his first foray into politics was when he joined the PAP youth wing when he was 17 and represented Singapore at The First East Asian Young Leaders Congress held in Kuala Lumpur in 1994.

After serving national service, Mr Sani left Singapore to read law in Britain and graduated from Thames Valley University, now known as University of West London. He later worked in Oxfordshire and Yorkshire in executive management positions in the private sector and in a regional development agency.

Even then, he kept tabs on the political scene here, Mr Sani said, adding that he came back to Singapore at least twice every year.

“I was exposed to a wide variety of cultural challenges, differences, language barriers and everything else, but they only hardened me up,” he said of his time abroad. “I hope to bring an international perspective to the political scene in Singapore as far as alternative voices are concerned.”

He returned to Singapore in 2013.

Upon his return, he said he started volunteering at People’s Association grassroots organisations, including residents’ committees, and worked with residents to help them, such as informing them of various government schemes that they could tap.

“It is a sufficiently good avenue to serve the community, but I felt I wanted to do more, and I do still feel that there is a desire in me that wants to do more,” he said.

Mr Sani said that, if elected, he also hopes to address municipal issues.

These include ensuring that communal spaces are safe and accessible. For example, this could be done by eliminating trip and slip hazards, he said.

“From condominiums to HDB flats, safety is not a luxury, it is a right. I will bring that same vigilance to our public housing estates,” he added.

Mr Sani said that he had been approached by a friend, who is a PSP member, to join the party in 2020, but he turned down the opportunity as he was not ready and had much on his plate.

“Last year, I felt that the time was right and, coincidentally, that same friend reached out to me again.” He joined the party in September 2024.

Mr Sani said he hopes to be able to create a Singapore which appreciates people of differing views, to discuss issues to enhance policies.

“We don’t expect one person to have the answers to the world’s problems but, collectively, we can work together, put our party affiliations aside and work for one Singapore. We can get there,” he said. “We have good policies, but they could be better.”

 

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GE2025: SDP launches manifesto – proposes new HDB flats sell for no higher than $270,000, to scrap PSLE​

Party chairman Prof Paul Tambyah speaking about the SDP manifesto at Yew Tee Square on April 20.ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Lee Li Ying
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - Selling new Housing Board flats for $90,000 to $270,000, making maternal and paediatric care mostly free, reducing the goods and services tax to 7 per cent, and removing the PSLE.

These are some proposals put forth by the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on April 20 as it unveiled its manifesto for the upcoming polls on May 3.

A day earlier, it revealed its campaign slogan of Thrive, Not Just Survive.

The manifesto was launched by party chairman Paul Tambyah at Yew Tee Square, part of Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, where the opposition party has planted its flag.

“Our campaign manifesto is a promise, and it is a promise that we want all of you to hold us accountable to,” said Professor Tambyah.

Flanking him were party vice-chairman Bryan Lim, organising secretary Jufri Salim and member Gigene Wong. The three are set to be fielded in constituencies that SDP intends to contest in.

SDP’s manifesto has six broad sections, spelling out “Thrive”, with more than 40 proposals.

Its six thrusts include ensuring fair taxes, universal healthcare, respect for the planet and people, rational immigration, a voluntary early redevelopment scheme for affordable housing, and an education system promoting creativity and equality.

To address housing affordability, the SDP proposes introducing the non-open market (NOM) scheme.

It argues that this will make homes cheaper because the cost of an HDB flat will include only the cost of construction and administration.

It said it believes the NOM scheme can offer two-room flats at around $90,000; three-room flats at $120,000; four-room units at $200,000; and five-room apartments at $270,000.

It proposes NOM flats be sold back only to HDB at the purchase price less the consumed lease, and their leases cannot be transferred in the HDB resale market.


For education, SDP’s manifesto proposes doing away with the PSLE, offering interest-free student loans for all undergraduates, and nationalising all pre-schools to make pre-school education affordable for everyone.

Under healthcare, SDP proposed that maternal and paediatric services should be largely free and funded by the government from taxes. It believes this will reduce the cost of raising children and potentially address the problem of Singapore’s falling birth rates.

When asked how SDP would fund such policy changes, Prof Tambyah pointed to the budget surplus of $6.8 billion expected for financial year 2025.

According to Prof Tambyah’s calculations, a reduction of GST from 9 per cent to 7 per cent would still result in a surplus of $1.83 billion.

The education proposals, with estimates churned using AI software ChatGPT and DeepSeek, will cost about $1.5 billion.

Prof Tambyah added: “Interestingly enough, it is well within the $1.8 billion surplus for FY2025 budget, even if you reduce GST to 7 per cent. So, for the education part, it does cost, and we think we can pay for it through the surplus without touching the reserves.”

Prof Tambyah also addressed questions on how SDP’s manifesto can guide Singapore through rough waters caused by the US tariffs. He said Singapore has to strengthen its domestic economy.

He said: “The domestic consumption portion of our GDP is very low. It is at 40 per cent, which is one of the lowest in high-income countries across the world. Clearly, we have to increase the proportion of consumption.”

To do so, SDP has recommendations to support small and medium-sized enterprises.

“There are many levers we can do domestically, because the external environment is so unpredictable,” said Prof Tambyah.

For the coming general election, Prof Tambyah will run again in Bukit Panjang SMC, where he secured 46.27 per cent of the vote in 2020.

SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan plans to contest in the newly carved out Sembawang West SMC.

The opposition party’s four-member slate for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, comprising Mr Salim, Ms Wong, alternative news site founder Ariffin Sha and theatre director Alec Tok, will be up against a PAP slate led by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

SDP will also contest Sembawang GRC, with a five-member team consisting of Mr Lim, deputy head of policy James Gomez, treasurer Surayah Akbar and members Damanhuri Abas and Alfred Tan.

 

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GE2025: Stage set for multi-cornered fights in Sembawang and Tampines as NSP says it will contest both GRCs​

Leading NSP in Sembawang GRC is party secretary-general Spencer Ng, who also helmed a team to contest there in the 2015 and 2020 elections.ST PHOTO: HESTER TAN

Shabana Begum
Apr 22, 2025

SINGAPORE - The opposition National Solidarity Party (NSP) on April 20 announced that it will contest Sembawang GRC and Tampines GRC at the upcoming polls.

It will go up against the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the incumbent PAP in Sembawang GRC. In Tampines GRC, it will face off against the PAP as well as the WP, which is expected to contest there. The People’s Power Party had also announced its intention to field a team in Tampines.

Leading NSP in Sembawang GRC is party secretary-general Spencer Ng, 45, who also helmed a team to contest there in the 2015 and 2020 elections.

While Mr Ng did not reveal the full slate for both Sembawang and Tampines, he introduced two new faces – Republic Polytechnic lecturer Verina Ong, 46, and financial planner Zee Phay, 32 – on April 20 following a party walkabout at Kampung Admiralty.

Mr Ng also announced that the party will not be contesting the newly formed Sembawang West SMC, backing down from a three-cornered fight with SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and the ruling PAP. The incumbent MP for the Sembawang West ward is Ms Poh Li San.

NSP will also be stepping away from Tampines Changkat SMC, Jalan Besar GRC and Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, Mr Ng told the media.

“Considering the various parties’ interests in the various constituencies, we will let the other opposition parties take a shot at the constituencies they are interested in,” said Mr Ng.


“To balance our philosophy, our idea of opposition unity, we (will) let Dr Chee have a straight fight with Ms Poh Li San,” he added.

The party’s decision to withdraw from those constituencies comes after SDP and NSP held talks in a bid to avoid a multi-cornered fight in Sembawang GRC. NSP has been active in Sembawang since 2011.

In early April, SDP asked NSP to contest Holland-Bukit Timah GRC instead, a proposal which NSP rejected. At that time, Mr Ng likened the proposal to the “exchanging of wives”.

On April 12, Red Dot United said that it would withdraw from a coalition of opposition parties formed in 2023, after NSP, which is also part of the coalition, refused to back down from a three-cornered fight in Sembawang GRC.

Mr Ng said NSP’s slate for Sembawang and Tampines GRCs will be revealed on Nomination Day, on April 23.


New candidate Ms Ong, a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s School of Hospitality, could run alongside her partner and previously introduced candidate, swimming coach Raiyian Chia.

As an educator, Ms Ong wants to push for greater critical thinking and creativity in students, while championing young people’s mental health.

“They are very afraid (for) their grades. Students are limiting themselves to very standard and safe answers. I think we need more diverse pathways because exams do not define your child,” she said.

Mr Phay, who started volunteering with the party in 2011, is a former student of Mr Ng, who taught at North Vista Secondary School.

As the father of a one-year-old boy, Mr Phay is calling for greater support for infant care services and early childhood professionals, who he says are overworked. He also hopes to see more secondary school students learn about financial literacy.

On April 20, the party also revealed its campaign slogan: Your future, our priority. A bright future for Singapore.

Among its focus areas are proposals to reduce housing prices and boost the country’s fertility rate.

In the 2015 General Election, the NSP secured 27.72 per cent of the vote in Sembawang GRC. The party improved slightly upon that performance in the 2020 General Election, garnering 32.71 per cent of the vote.

 

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GE2025: Tough fight not just for PAP’s Sengkang team, but everywhere, says Lam Pin Min​

PAP’s Sengkang GRC team members (from left) Bernadette Giam, Elmie Nekmat, Lam Pin Min and Theodora Lai during a walkabout at Kopitiam Square on April 20.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Ang Qing
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE – The fight for Sengkang GRC will be an uphill battle, given the incumbent advantage that the WP has, but the PAP team there is hopeful it will put up a good fight, said former senior minister of state Lam Pin Min.

“As a party, we understand that every election will be a tough fight, not only just in Sengkang alone. Every GRC, every SMC, will be a tough fight, and we do not want to take anything for granted,” he told the media on April 20 before a walkabout with PAP’s Sengkang team at Kopitiam Square in Compassvale.

Dr Lam, the only candidate retained from PAP’s Sengkang 2020 team, was responding to WP chief Pritam Singh’s remark a day earlier that the opposition expects “a very difficult fight” in Sengkang, citing the narrow margin of its last victory over the ruling party.

In 2020, the WP team of new faces took 52.12 per cent of the vote, beating the PAP’s slate made up of then Cabinet minister Ng Chee Meng, Dr Lam, then Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health Amrin Amin and lawyer Raymond Lye.

Dr Lam, who has walked the ground at all of Sengkang’s coffee shops following his previous loss, was with his team members, who will be making their political debut in the upcoming election.

They are Ms Theodora Lai, 39, co-founder of deep tech venture capital firm Moringa Ventures; Associate Professor Elmie Nekmat, 43, who teaches communications and new media at the National University of Singapore; and Mrs Bernadette Giam, 38, the director of Creative Eateries, a local food and beverage company.

The 56-year-old said the team will face more challenges in the rematch against the WP’s 2025 line-up featuring the incumbent Sengkang GRC MPs, Mr Louis Chua, Ms He Ting Ru and Associate Professor Jamus Lim, and Aljunied-Hougang Town Council senior property manager Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik.


Dr Lam said: “If we talk about Sengkang GRC, we are not the incumbent. We do not have the resources of the town council, and we find that as a challenger, we are always facing more challenges compared to somebody who is an incumbent in a GRC.”

Nevertheless, the ophthalmologist said he was very happy to know that the team from the WP will be contesting again.

He said: “We have seen how they have served the residents in Sengkang, but we are also under no delusion that it is going to be very easy for us.

“We will do our best to give them a good fight, with the hope that we can win the hearts and minds of our Sengkang voters and to be able to wrest back Sengkang from the WP.”

Asked by The Straits Times about what the PAP team could contribute, Dr Lam said they have been walking the ground for the past four to five years, and added that his experience as former chairman of Ang Mo Kio Town Council puts him in the position to address some municipal issues that residents face.

On his team’s odds, given that three members are new faces compared with the WP’s team of just one political newcomer, Dr Lam said his slate comes with a fresh perspective, as well as a lower average age of 43 years, compared with the PAP’s previous line-up.

“With our three new team members, we are able to bring a new perspective to the team and to address some of the concerns of the younger families.”

Mrs Giam said a key focus for the PAP Sengkang team is to address local issues such as the demand for more elderly-friendly infrastructure, which directly impacts residents’ lives.

She pointed out that both she and Ms Lai are members of the business community who believe that they can create opportunities for youth.

Another trait of Sengkang that has stood out to the team is the multi-generational nature of its residents, which it hopes to address as well.

Dr Elmie said many families they have met on their visits often have grandparents living nearby.

“So, one of the concerns... is that they want to have improved connectivity, improved amenities and facilities that are not only well maintained, but also purposeful and meaningful,” he said.

This is especially so for amenities and facilities that can cater to many generations, including more ease of travel, particularly for seniors who want to travel and see their families, he added.

In a Facebook post on the evening of April 20, Mr Singh disputed Dr Lam’s claim that the PAP team was disadvantaged without the backing of a town council.

He said: “I was a little surprised to read this one-dimensional perspective of the ‘resources’ available to losing PAP candidates who are commonly appointed as grassroots advisers by the People’s Association, or who work hand in glove with the appointed grassroots adviser as PAP branch chairmen.”

He pointed to an article he wrote for the WP newsletter in 2024, where he had said that if developments in Sengkang GRC were anything to go by, voting for a WP candidate as an MP means that a voter has three representatives to look out for their interests: a grassroots adviser, a PAP branch chairman and a WP MP.

 

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GE2025: Opposition People’s Alliance for Reform unveils nurse, private school director as new faces​

People’s Alliance for Reform secretary-general Lim Tean (centre) unveiled four candidates, (from left) Mr Kumar Appavoo, businessman; Mr Prabu Ramachandran, commercial banker; Ms Sarina Abu Hassan, nurse; and Mr Nadarajan Selbamani, private school director.ST PHOTO: DAVID SUN

David Sun
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - The People’s Alliance for Reform (PAR) has introduced two new faces as its candidates for the upcoming general election on May 3.

They are Ms Sarina Abu Hassan, 54, a nurse at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and Mr Nadarajan Selbamani, 59, the director of a private school.

PAR’s secretary-general Lim Tean introduced the candidates to the media during a walkabout at the Jalan Batu Market and Food Centre off Mountbatten Road on April 20.

“I will not tell you where they will be standing, because that is pending finalisation,” he said.

Ms Sarina has been in the nursing profession for 35 years. She said she joined PSP about five years ago and left to join PAR recently, as she is aligned with PAR’s values.

She hopes to campaign for a better healthcare system and free food for school-going children.

“I hope I can impart my knowledge and skills I have gathered over the years with other political parties,” she added.


Mr Selbamani, who prefers to be called Mani, has been volunteering with Peoples Voice (PV) since its inception in 2018.

He had previously played a supporting role at polling stations and helping out with election campaigning.

“They had enough candidates at the time. Now, I want to give it a shot, to enhance or help (PAR),” he said.

He wants to push for better housing policies and free education in Singapore.

Mr Lim also introduced businessman Kumar Appavoo, 56, and commercial banker Prabu Ramachandran, 36, as candidates.

Mr Kumar first contested West Coast GRC in the 2011 General Election as a candidate for the Reform Party (RP).

He was formerly RP’s treasurer, and a member of Singapore People’s Party’s central executive committee before joining PAR.

Mr Prabu joined RP in 2011, then joined PV in 2018.

He contested Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC in the 2020 General Election.

PAR is an alliance of three parties – PV, RP and the Democratic Progressive Party. The People’s Power Party had withdrawn in February over irreconcilable strategic differences.

Mr Lim had said on April 18 they planned to field 14 candidates in the upcoming election.

Nine are expected to stand in Jalan Besar GRC and Tanjong Pagar GRC, with five to contest the single seats of Potong Pasir, Mountbatten, Radin Mas, Queenstown and Yio Chu Kang.

While Mr Lim declined to confirm where the candidates he introduced on April 20 will be standing, The Straits Times understands Ms Sarina could be fielded in Mountbatten SMC.

The PAP is fielding new face Gho Sze Kee, 46, in the single-member constituency.

She will replace four-term MP Lim Biow Chuan.

Mr Lim Tean said Ms Gho, a maritime lawyer, was an unknown quantity.

He said: “She has been parachuted into Mountbatten very late in the day, and I don’t think she really knows the ground.”

Mr Jeremy Tan, 34, who claims to be Singapore’s first “bitcoin candidate”, has said he intends to contest Mountbatten SMC as an independent candidate.

Asked about Mr Tan, Mr Lim said independent candidates do not stand a chance of being elected.

“If Jeremy Tan is serious, I think he should join a political party, and he should contest under the banner of a political party.”

 

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GE2025: WP unveils 3 more new candidates, including start-up co-founder, ex-US Navy administrator​

WP chief Pritam Singh and chair Sylvia Lim, with the new candidates, (from left) Mr Michael Thng, Ms Paris V. Parameswari and Mr Jackson Au, at the press conference at Workers' Party Geylang headquarters on April 20.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Kok Yufeng, Nadine Chua and Clement Yong
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - The WP has introduced its final batch of new candidates for the May 3 General Election.

The three new faces were unveiled on April 20 at a press conference at the party headquarters in Geylang – the fourth briefing in as many days.

They are:

• Mr Jackson Au Chee Meng, 35, a senior manager of corporate affairs and marketing with the London Stock Exchange Group;
• Ms Paris V. Parameswari, 51, a former US Navy security administrator; and
• Mr Michael Thng Quan Wei, 37, the chief operating officer of a technology start-up.

With Nomination Day just days away on April 23, this latest batch of new faces takes the number of WP candidates making their political debut to 14.

WP secretary-general Pritam Singh and party chair Sylvia Lim, who were at the press conference to introduce the new candidates, did not indicate which constituencies the candidates would be fielded in.

Mr Singh was asked about the calibre of WP’s new candidates, if its slate of new faces had improved compared with past slates, and whether the number of people interested in joining the party and standing for election had increased significantly.

Replying, Mr Singh said: “We are always on the lookout for people who’ve got that desire to contribute and want to get involved in public service in a serious way.”


He added: “In terms of their calibre, it’s a broad range of individuals from different walks of life, different age groups, different backgrounds and different experiences. And I think that is important in so far as what the Workers’ Party has put forward to Singaporeans for this election.”

Jackson Au Chee Meng, 35​

Mr Jackson Au sits on the executive committee of the WP’s youth wing. He is also a core member of the party’s media team.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Mr Au, who leads regional communications and corporate affairs at the London Stock Exchange Group, has been volunteering with the WP in Aljunied GRC since 2022.

He was the legislative assistant to former Aljunied GRC MP Leon Perera, and subsequently became the coordinator for the constituency’s Serangoon division after Mr Perera resigned in July 2023.

Mr Au, who has recently been pictured with the party’s Marine Parade GRC team, sits on the executive committee of the WP’s youth wing. He is also a core member of the party’s media team.

Speaking to reporters on April 20, Mr Au said he believes strongly in greater transparency and press freedom, and cited concerns over how political advertising is done here.

“I believe this is important in speaking truth to power and holding our institutions accountable. I want to guard against the risks of executive overreach through laws such as Pofma,” he added, referring to Singapore’s fake news law – the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act.

Mr Au said he also hopes to fight for young Singaporeans. “I feel the weight of pessimism that many in my generation carry,” he added.

Paris V. Parameswari, 51​

Ms Paris V. Parameswari, a former US Navy security administrator, resigned from her job in March to run as a WP candidate in the coming general election.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Ms Paris, a former US Navy security administrator, resigned from her job in March to run as a WP candidate in the coming general election.

She spent six years with the Republic of Singapore Navy as a uniformed personnel.

She then spent 18 years in the United States Navy covering security-related duties, a role which was based in Singapore.

A volunteer with the WP since May 2021, Ms Paris said: “I wanted to be part of a dynamic team that works tirelessly for Singaporeans, and the Workers’ Party team asks questions fearlessly in Parliament.”

If elected, she said, she will advocate that former offenders have better job opportunities and that the social stigma placed on them be removed.

Ms Paris added that she intends to place focus on students in Singapore, and be an advocate for student-life balance.

A volunteer with the Singapore Police Force’s Psychological Unit and the Singapore Prison Service, Ms Paris said: “I’ve met people from all walks of life, and I’m able to easily interact with them and know their concerns. This will be my contribution to the team if elected.”

Michael Thng Quan Wei, 37​

Mr Michael Thng, a master’s graduate from Harvard Kennedy School, has contributed to the WP for more than 15 years.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
Mr Thng, a master’s graduate from Harvard Kennedy School, has contributed to the WP for more than 15 years.

He is the chief operating officer of a technology start-up, and was previously a principal at management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group from 2016 to 2022.

He began volunteering in 2011 for the WP, helping the party’s East Coast team. He has also been involved in parliamentary work and house visits.

In recent years, he primarily supported incumbent Sengkang GRC MP He Ting Ru in various grassroots and policy efforts.

Mr Thng said: “I’ve been able to see first-hand how impactful the Workers’ Party has been at shaping policy in Singapore, especially for communities that are often overlooked.”

He cited examples, including equalising support for single mothers and improving access to housing for singles.

Noting the importance of policies that reflect the desires of Singaporeans, Mr Thng said: “Stronger systems aren’t built overnight, but they also don’t build themselves, which is why I stepped forward hoping to help build the momentum that many of my friends and colleagues at the Workers’ Party have been at for decades.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to do my part to shape a future that would work for Singaporeans and will work for Singapore.”

 

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PM Wong completes visits to all constituencies since taking office, calls on S’poreans to be united​

PM Lawrence Wong interacting with residents at the Sembawang GRC Health Carnival on April 20.ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Zaihan Mohamed Yusof
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE – After 11 months in office, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong completed visiting all of the island’s constituencies after he attended the Sembawang GRC Health Carnival 2025 on April 20.

“In the past year, I have been going around visiting different constituencies. Today, I am here in Sembawang. In fact, this is the last stop. I saved the best for last,” PM Wong said at the community event, to cheers from residents.

Shortly after he was sworn in, in May 2024, PM Wong had pledged to complete a round of visits to all constituencies, so he could meet as many residents as he can.

PM Wong, who is an MP in the adjacent Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC, thanked Sembawang residents for welcoming him.

Pointing to how far the nation has come since independence, PM Wong said Singapore’s best days are still ahead despite “so many dark clouds, so many challenges in the world”. These include conflicts, wars, economic uncertainty, and trade and tariff wars.

“(It is) all the more important this little red dot, all of us, stay together, stay united. And if we do that, I am confident we can overcome whatever challenges lie ahead,” said PM Wong, whose visit to Sembawang GRC comes two weeks before Singapore goes to the polls on May 3.

PM Wong added that despite Singapore’s multicultural and multi-religious society, its citizens are all one family.

“It is one of those unique things in Singapore – we have our Muslim friends celebrating Raya; our Indian friends celebrating the start of the Tamil New Year,” he said.

“Today is Easter Sunday for our Christians. And in Singapore, it is so precious. Different communities, different faiths, different religions, we celebrate together as one Singapore family. So, let us continue – regardless of race, language or religion, we are all Singaporeans together.”

PM Wong’s arrival was a surprise to the more than 1,000 residents who attended the health carnival, where they could play games, get health advice and enjoy performances by kindergarten pupils and zumba dancers.

Sembawang GRC incumbent MP and Health Minister Ong Ye Kung also addressed residents, drawing applause and laughter when he said various advisers and ministers from other GRCs wanted to make their GRC “the health hub of Singapore, the health centre of Singapore, the wellness centre of Singapore”.

Mr Ong said: “Honestly, I am very happy when they say that... it means the Ministry of Health is doing its work. Because the Ministry of Health does our work, we support the whole country. Every area can be a health hub in Singapore.”

He noted that in the last few years, the ministry has made healthcare more affordable, such as by offering higher healthcare and dental subsidies to more Singaporeans and free health screenings, as well as lowering the cost of shingles vaccination for seniors.

Other incumbent MPs – Mr Vikram Nair, Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Ms Mariam Jaafar and Ms Poh Li San – were also at the event.

Two new PAP candidates tipped to run in Sembawang GRC, Mr Gabriel Lam and Mr Ng Shi Xuan, were also seen mingling with residents.

PM Lawrence Wong (second from right) and Sembawang GRC MPs (from left) Ong Ye Kung, Mariam Jaafar and Poh Li San at the Sembawang GRC Health Carnival on April 20.ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Sembawang resident Hazel Yau, 39, said she initially thought that a celebrity had arrived.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the Prime Minister, said Ms Yau.

Retiree Peggy Lim was one of the residents who braved the crowd to take a selfie with PM Wong.

Said Ms Lim, 71: “The health carnival is a yearly affair that is a reminder for us seniors to not take our health for granted. We have nothing to lose because most of the programmes are free or subsidised.”

 

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GE2025: SDA will contest Pasir Ris-Changi GRC even if it faces three-cornered fight again​

Singapore Democratic Alliance chair Desmond Lim speaking to the media during a doorstop on Pulau Ubin on April 20.PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Harith Mustaffa
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) has reaffirmed its decision to fight in Pasir Ris-Changi GRC this general election, even if it faces a three-cornered contest.

Party chairman Desmond Lim told reporters after a walkabout on Pulau Ubin on April 20 that SDA intends to continue serving the residents there. In 2020, SDA had gone up against the incumbent PAP and another opposition party, Peoples Voice (PV), in the then Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.

Pasir Ris-Changi GRC combines most of the Pasir Ris estate and the Changi portion from what had been Pasir Ris-Punggol and East Coast GRCs, respectively. Pulau Ubin has been subsumed under the new boundaries of Pasir Ris-Changi GRC.

Mr Lim said: “We are committed to our residents, and we have been very consistent after every election, we are present in that constituency, now Pasir Ris-Changi (GRC), then Pasir Ris-Punggol.”

It is not yet known if other political parties intend to contest the four-member Pasir Ris-Changi GRC, aside from SDA and PAP.

In 2020, PAP won the then five-member Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC with 64.16 per cent of the vote, while SDA achieved second place with 23.67 per cent of votes. PV lost its election deposit.

“We still stay, because we believe in consistency and commitment, and we are sincere and honest to the residents,” said Mr Lim.

Regarding Punggol GRC – an estate which previously fell under Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC but is now a separate four-member GRC – Mr Lim said he is still awaiting updates on his party’s talks with the Workers’ Party regarding the contest there.

SDA sent an 11-member team to Pulau Ubin on April 20. Aside from Mr Lim and party secretary-general Abu Mohamed, who contested in the last GE, the group also included business owner Muhammad Faizal Mohmad, 42, who has been active in almost all of SDA’s walkabouts. They arrived on the island at around 10am via bumboat, and spoke to residents about cost of living and power supply issues.

Mr Lim had also sent a medical team, including a doctor, to Pulau Ubin during the Good Friday public holiday to provide free medical check-ups for its 30 or so residents.

Asked by the media on April 13 if the doctor would wear an SDA shirt for its party’s events, the seasoned politician avoided giving an answer. He remained tight-lipped about his identity on April 20.

 

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The Usual Place Podcast​

Being able to change is one of the reasons for PAP’s success, says Shanmugam​

Deepanraj Ganesan
Apr 20, 2025

SINGAPORE – Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam is no stranger to change.

In his 37 years in politics, he has served under four prime ministers, first as a PAP backbencher and then later in Cabinet. He entered politics in 1988, just before the global environment was about to change rapidly with the collapse of communism in Europe, and that of the Soviet Union a few years later.


In all that time, the PAP has remained successful as a party because it has “forced itself to change continuously” to stay relevant to evolving challenges.

Mr Shanmugam said this on The Straits Times’ current affairs podcast The Usual Place on April 16, when he was asked about how the PAP has evolved over the last four decades.

“This party has been successful because it accepts change. Many parties don’t have longevity because certain things worked and they stuck to whatever worked, and after a while, when things changed, they couldn’t give up on what they liked doing, or what they were comfortable doing,” he said.

Success has been possible only because the Government regularly takes stock and changes the way it does things as the external environment changes, he said during the session, which was hosted by podcast host Natasha Ann Zachariah and ST editor Jaime Ho.

Mr Shanmugam cited as an example how the Singapore economy has been restructured over the years.


He pointed to how Singapore has continued to prosper despite the various turbulent periods over the last three decades, such as the 1997 and 2008 financial crises, the 2002-2004 Sars outbreak and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We survived all of them. We have done well on any objective economic criteria. In terms of our quality of our people’s lives, they have improved,” he said.

While that does not mean that 100 per cent of Singaporeans are better off, Mr Shanmugam pointed out that the vast majority were.

“I would say 90 over per cent are better off, and we have to focus on the remaining percentage – just under 10 per cent. We have to focus on them, and we have to uplift them,” said Mr Shanmugam.

The 66-year-old veteran minister’s comments come weeks before Singapore heads to the polls on May 3.

He demurred when asked to give a grade for how the PAP government has performed in the last term, pointing out that it was up to people to judge.

But he cited a range of economic indicators such as the growth of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment figures, foreign investment, and healthcare and housing access, as proof that the Government has done its job.

For instance, Singapore’s nominal GDP has gone up by more than 30 per cent from US$370 billion in 2019 to over US$500 billion (S$655.7 billion) in 2023, and overall unemployment has come down from between 3 per cent and 4 per cent in 2019 to under 2 per cent, he said.

But he also said it is not all “hunky-dory” for everyone, and that the Government needed to continue to help people deal with problems today, including cost of living.

A top lawyer when he entered Parliament in 1988 at the age of 29, Mr Shanmugam first represented the Chong Pang ward under Sembawang GRC and later under Nee Soon GRC from 2011.

He led the PAP team in Nee Soon GRC, which won 61.9 per cent of the vote, at the 2020 General Election. He is set to lead the incumbents into a contest against opposition party Red Dot United at the upcoming election.

Asked about a desire among some Singaporeans to have more opposition voices in Parliament, Mr Shanmugam urged people to think about whether having more opposition voices would lead to better governance.

“There are many other countries with more opposition than Singapore. I think you’ll have to ask, are they necessarily better governed? Do they get better governance? I don’t think the answer is clear-cut,” he said.

Focus on governance​

Mr Shanmugam urged people to channel their focus on how the PAP has governed.

“Are people’s lives getting better? Do they have security, peace, harmony (and) good jobs? Is the Government able to create good jobs through bringing in investments? Is it creating a good environment for our people to have better education, better lives and maximise their potential?” he said.

“And is all of this done in a free environment where there is open debate? And I think if you look at it like that, we are not anywhere near perfect, but I would say we do not do too badly.”

Proper governance, he said, is especially crucial in an increasingly challenging external environment.

GE2025 comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is upending the global trading system. He has imposed sweeping tariffs on all countries. Singapore is subject to the flat duty of 10 per cent that Mr Trump placed on goods arriving from all foreign countries, which took effect on April 5.

“It is very worrying. In my 37 years, I haven’t felt this concerned,” said Mr Shanmugam, adding that this was troubling both from a security and economic perspective.

“If you are serious-minded, you will be concerned… but then you got to be determined to act. And thankfully, we have built up reserves. We have an economically competent government and our people’s trust, so we can think long term.”

Looking out for talent​

As he heads into his ninth general election, Mr Shanmugam has over the years also taken on an unofficial role of party recruiter. He added that part of adapting to change is in finding new talent.

This includes some of the new faces in GE2025 that the PAP is expected to field, including Mr Gabriel Lam, chief operating officer of moving company Shalom International Movers, and Mr Jackson Lam, the former PAP branch chairman in Hougang. Both men have come through Mr Shanmugam’s Chong Pang branch.

PAP new face Elysa Chen, executive director of charity CampusImpact and a former journalist, is also “from my area”, said Mr Shanmugam.

Over the years, he has also worked with or recommended many people that the party has fielded.

He cited as examples Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, incumbent MP for Sembawang GRC Vikram Nair, Minister of State for Law and Transport Murali Pillai and former politician Teo Ser Luck.

Mr Shanmugam said bringing in talent is extremely important for the party to succeed, and added that among the qualities he looks out for in potential candidates are sincerity and honesty.

“I wouldn’t put up somebody who I don’t think is honest, because the people deserve politicians who are honest, and when they speak in Parliament or when they speak to them in private, the electorate has got to know that they can trust this person,” said Mr Shanmugam.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

‘Difficult decision to make’: Pritam on WP’s caution over revealing GE2025 deployments​

The WP is a “price-taker” when it comes to the redrawing of electoral boundaries, said party chief Pritam Singh.ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Kok Yufeng
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - The decision by the WP to play its electoral cards close to its chest for the upcoming general election was a difficult one to make, said party chief Pritam Singh.

Mr Singh said the WP is a “price-taker, not price-setter”, especially when it comes to the redrawing of electoral boundaries and deciding where to field its candidates.

The opposition party has to be mindful about the signals it sends and how it employs its electoral strategy, Mr Singh told reporters on April 20 during a press conference to introduce its final batch of new candidates.

“I request voters to understand how we have to determine what are the best prospects of success for the Workers’ Party. It is a difficult decision to make,” said Mr Singh, the Leader of the Opposition.

He added: “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”

Mr Singh, who did not reveal where the WP will contest in the coming polls, was asked if he thought that the party’s coyness about its plans would affect voters’ ability to learn more about its candidates.

He pointed out that his conversations with Singaporeans about this have been telling.

“They say, Mr Singh, we know the party. We know what the party stands for... All we ask is just give us a committed individual who will serve the constituency well, but more importantly, serve us in Parliament,” he said.

“Certainly, the PAP are keeping their cards close to their chest, and so are we,” he said, when reporters pointed out that neither party has announced its slate for closely watched constituencies such as East Coast GRC and Punggol GRC.

Of the 14 new faces that the WP has introduced so far, the opposition party has said only that it will field technology start-up director Kenneth Tiong in Aljunied GRC, and town council senior property manager Abdul Muhaimin Abdul Malik in Sengkang GRC.

Asked whether the WP would be fielding its deputy organising secretaries Kenneth Foo and Ang Boon Yaw, who have been spotted walking the ground in East Coast GRC over the Good Friday weekend, Mr Singh said he could not shed any more light on this.

He gave the same response when asked if Ms Paris V. Parameswari, a former US Navy security administrator and new WP candidate, would be fielded in the newly created Punggol GRC, which requires at least one candidate to be from the Indian or other minority communities.

The WP’s other Indian candidates – Mr Singh and senior counsel Harpreet Singh Nehal – are expected to stand in constituencies other than Punggol.

While the WP will not be holding any more candidate introductions, Mr Singh could not guarantee that the party will not field any more new faces come Nomination Day on April 23, pointing to the need to prepare spare candidates.

Mr Singh also said he “agreed wholeheartedly” with Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s comments on April 19 that Singaporeans will have to judge candidates not just as individuals, but the party they stand for.

Town council experience​

On whether the WP will base its 2025 election campaign on its performance in Parliament instead of its ability to handle municipal issues, WP chair Sylvia Lim said the party has built up its town council management experience, having run Aljunied GRC for more than a decade.

“So, what I can say to residents is that they shouldn’t have concerns about us taking over,” she added, noting that the WP’s Aljunied-Hougang Town Council and Sengkang Town Council have been rated as well as PAP-run town councils.

“If we are fortunate enough to win new areas, we will get working from day one, and we have experience to share with our newly elected MPs,” she said.

However, in areas where the WP is not the incumbent, expecting candidates there to come up with a five-year plan for the estate would be “jumping the gun”, Ms Lim said.

“We do find that our value proposition lies very much in what we can bring to Parliament,” she added.

Ms Lim said voters understand the need for parliamentary check on the Government, and the WP believes it can bring something to the table that PAP MPs cannot. “That is, the topics we bring up, the questions that we have, or even the way we vote. We do it independently,” she added.

During the April 20 briefing, Mr Singh was asked for his take on opposition unity. In response, he said he has heard this point being made less often now, adding that the WP is focused on building up itself “internally”.

“Even on something as simple as three-cornered fights, suddenly a group of parties can decide to break away. And that is just on a point which has got nothing to do with policy, nothing to do with bread-and-butter issues, nothing to do with fundamental concerns of Singaporeans,” Mr Singh noted.

He added: “We have our plans, and we work on the basis of our plans, and we know how difficult it is to stand for the opposition. Other opposition parties are at different stages of their own evolution, and we wish them well.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

GE2025: Red Dot United sec-gen Ravi Philemon to lead opposition team in Nee Soon GRC​

Red Dot United secretary-general Ravi Philemon (second from left) with (from left) party chairman David Foo, Ms Sharon Lin, Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad and Mr Pang Heng Chuan.ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI

Deepanraj Ganesan
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE – Red Dot United (RDU) secretary-general Ravi Philemon will lead his party’s slate to contest Nee Soon GRC, alongside party chairman David Foo.

The party’s announcement on April 20 completes its line-up for Nee Soon GRC, as it had earlier introduced three new faces that will compete in the five-member constituency at the coming general election.

Mr Philemon, 56, and Dr Foo, 60, will head an RDU team comprising Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad, a 57-year-old private school teacher who is RDU’s head of policy and its Malay bureau; Mr Pang Heng Chuan, 56, a tech start-up business director; and Ms Sharon Lin, 40, a senior consultant in the IT sector.

At a media briefing at Block 701C Yishun Avenue 5, Mr Philemon said the opposition party had decided to contest in Nee Soon because it is anchored by Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam.

“It is helmed by a minister who initiates laws (and) who makes sure that these laws are implemented,” he said.

“And, in a sense, it is an important battle to bring to this constituency, (as it) defines and determines the kind of contest that we will have in the other constituencies that we are going to.”

Mr Philemon, the managing partner of a media business, had earlier declared Nee Soon GRC the “heart” of RDU’s campaign for GE2025.


At the last general election in 2020, the RDU chief led a team that lost to the PAP in Jurong GRC.

Dr Foo, a chemist, had also previously contested in Jurong GRC, in GE2015 under the Singaporeans First (SingFirst) banner. The SingFirst party was dissolved in 2020.

When it released its manifesto on April 19, RDU had said Nee Soon GRC would be one of five constituencies it will contest at the general election. The others are Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Jurong East-Bukit Batok GRC, Jurong Central SMC and Jalan Kayu SMC.

Key proposals from its 24-page manifesto include an unconditional cash transfer to all Singaporeans; that all Housing Board flats be eligible for redevelopment under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme; and for MediFund to serve as the primary healthcare safety net for all Singaporeans.

Dr Foo on April 20 said RDU’s manifesto is not just policies, but a promise to build a Singapore that not only runs efficiently, but also “lives humanly”.

“It is a serious proposal to rebuild our social contract, to restore dignity to our seniors, protection for our workers and fairness for every Singaporean,” he said.


At the 2020 election, the ruling party retained Nee Soon GRC with 61.9 per cent of the vote, against a team from the PSP.

The PAP team then consisted of Mr Shanmugam, Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Mr Louis Ng, Mr Derrick Goh and Ms Carrie Tan.

Its line-up will be changed significantly for the upcoming contest – Mr Shanmugam told reporters on April 19 that the PAP team is likely to include four new faces, with the slate to be introduced at a press conference on April 21.

The four are expected to be former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi, 40; Ms Goh Hanyan, 39, a former director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information; Mr Jackson Lam, 40, head of a pest control and cleaning company; and Ms Lee Hui Ying, 36, who works for Temasek Foundation.

At the media briefing on April 20, Mr Philemon was also asked whether RDU still intended to field party member Kala Manickam in Jalan Kayu SMC, and if not, why she was not contesting in Nee Soon, given that she had fought there on the PSP’s ticket in GE2020.

RDU had previously announced that Madam Kala, an educator and former Singapore Armed Forces officer, would be the party’s “groundwork leader” in Jalan Kayu.

Jalan Kayu is a new single seat carved out of Ang Mo Kio GRC. On April 19, labour chief Ng Chee Meng said he will represent PAP in the SMC at GE2025.

Mr Philemon said RDU would make an announcement on Jalan Kayu “at some point in time”.

“We have options to send someone there besides Madam Kala, and we will make the right decision at the right time,” he added.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Focus remains on residents as rematch with PSP looms in West Coast-Jurong West: Desmond Lee​

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee (centre) with (from left) Mr Hamid Razak, NTUC assistant secretary- general Caryn Lim, and NTUC director for youth development Natasha Choy at Boon Lay Community Club on April 20. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG

Hariz Baharudin
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - As the PAP gears up for a rematch with the PSP in West Coast-Jurong West GRC, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said he and his team will stay focused on rolling out commitments made to residents, if elected.

There are many things to look into, from social challenges and infrastructural upgrades to dealing with obstacles that the external environment would bring to Singaporeans, said Mr Lee, who is now anchor minister for the GRC.

Speaking on April 20, he added that he looks forward to seeing what the opposition will bring to the table, so that voters can compare and decide who they want as their leaders.

Earlier in the day, the opposition PSP had announced that it would field its three top leaders – chairman Tan Cheng Bock and its Non-Constituency MPs, party chief Leong Mun Wai and vice-chair Hazel Poa – in the GRC.

The three were part of the PSP team that lost narrowly in the West Coast GRC during GE2020, with the opposition party claiming 48.32 per cent of the vote against the PAP team’s 51.68 per cent.

The PAP team there was previously helmed by then Transport Minister S. Iswaran, with Mr Lee as part of the slate. Mr Iswaran resigned in January 2024 amid a corruption probe.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an NTUC Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) event, Mr Lee said, when asked about the rematch between PAP and PSP, that both sides are “known quantities” that have crossed paths in Parliament and on the ground over the years.


He noted that Singaporeans are familiar with the debates, proposals and interactions between the two sides going into the election, which puts them in a better position to decide.

He was also asked how this contest might differ from the last, given that he is now leading the PAP team, and Mr Leong and Ms Poa have been more vocal in the past five years.

Mr Lee pointed out that he was new to West Coast in 2020, and the campaign was done under greater constraints due to Covid-19. He also noted that his current team is a blend of experienced hands and newcomers with fresh ideas.

They are three-term MP Ang Wei Neng and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Finance and Education Shawn Huang, as well as new faces Hamid Razak and Cassandra Lee.

Mr Lee was also asked whether voters might be influenced by Dr Tan’s declaration that the upcoming GE could be the final electoral outing for the 84-year-old veteran.

While Mr Lee said that he respected Dr Tan’s contributions to Singapore and to residents of Ayer Rajah, where he served as a PAP MP, he reiterated that the current PAP team offers a mix of youth and experience.

Dr Hamid, who was also present, noted that while he and Ms Lee are new faces in the election, they have nearly 35 years of combined experience serving the community.

“Every Singaporean, every resident in Jurong West and West Coast, they are discerning. They will look at our plans, they will look at the track record, and they will make a decision on Polling Day, and we will respect that,” said Dr Hamid.

The “Bringing Jobs to Your Doorstep” initiative held at the Boon Lay Community Club on April 20 saw over 3,500 job vacancies being curated by e2i and its partners. In a release, the institute said that the jobs on offer were aimed at supporting Singaporeans from diverse backgrounds.

Attendees were also introduced to skills-building workshops and personalised career coaching, said e2i. Career coaches were also present to guide job seekers, especially those who had limited access to digital tools or were less familiar with using technology, to find work.

The e2i will continue to step up its efforts to provide support for job seekers, said Ms Caryn Lim, who is the chief executive of the institute and assistant secretary-general of NTUC.

“We want every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, to know that meaningful career opportunities are within reach,” she said in the release.

At the event, e2i also signed an agreement with several partners – including social enterprise Findjobs, NTUC, NTUC LearningHub and youth group Raydee 2 Win – to work more closely together in supporting young professionals and residents from low-income families.

Minister for National Development Desmond Lee (third from left) witnessing the signing of an agreement between e2i and several partners including social enterprise Findjobs, NTUC, NTUC LearningHub and youth group Raydee 2 Win on April 20.ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Mr Lee told reporters that over the last two years, more than 55 jobs- and skills-related events have been organised for West Coast GRC residents.

He added that close to 10,000 residents in the constituency alone have received support with job matching, career counselling, career transition, resume building and training courses in the last five years.

 

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GE2025: Gan Siow Huang prepared for a tough election fight in Marymount​

Minister of State for Manpower and Education Gan Siow Huang posing for photos with residents at a Hari Raya celebration at Marymount Community Club on April 20.ST PHOTO: HAZEL TANG
Hazel Tang
Apr 21, 2025

SINGAPORE - Minister of State for Manpower and Education Gan Siow Huang said she is prepared for a tough fight as she defends her single seat of Marymount in the coming general election.

But five years after the former air force general made her electoral debut, Ms Gan said on April 20 that she is confident she has built a community in Marymount, and that residents know who she is beyond her military background.

Speaking to The Straits Times between a Hari Raya celebration and a temple dinner to celebrate sea goddess Mazu’s birthday, Ms Gan said she and her team intend to step up their pace of resident outreach over the nine days of the campaign period, even as they have been very active for the past five years.

Ms Gan, 50, said she was “thankful for winning GE2020, not by a big margin”, against PSP’s former assistant secretary-general Ang Yong Guan.

In 2020, she won 55.04 per cent of the vote against Dr Ang’s 44.96 per cent. PSP said in February that Dr Ang, a psychiatrist, would not be contesting the coming general election, following a three-year suspension of his medical licence for professional misconduct.

Instead, Ms Gan will face off against Mr Jeffrey Khoo, who was part of PSP’s best performing team at the 2020 polls, which took 48.32 per cent of the vote in West Coast GRC.

On April 12, PSP secretary-general Leong Mun Wai said during a walkabout in Marymount that he was confident Mr Khoo, who works in insurance, can achieve a “breakthrough” in the single seat at the coming polls.

Marymount SMC has its boundaries retained for the upcoming election. The constituency now has 23,219 registered voters, slightly lower than the 23,439 recorded in GE2020.

Asked about her PSP opponent on April 20, Ms Gan said: “I believe Singaporeans are discerning, and will vote for the party and candidate whom they trust to keep Singapore strong, united and ready for challenges ahead.”

Ms Gan recounted the initial hesitation some Marymount residents had felt in 2020 about their estate being carved out from Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, and for the new seat to be led by someone who was from the military.

Pandemic election rules that limited face-to-face interactions made it challenging for candidates to connect with residents, and it was also “a little awkward, maybe even uncomfortable”, to be labelled a certain way when people did not know who she was, Ms Gan said without elaborating.

On Nomination Day in 2020, Ms Gan had cut a commanding figure behind the microphone. Clips of her rallying voters went viral, and some netizens joked that she could turn their cats into lions.

Today, she feels things have changed, given that she has had time to build a team, know her residents and to help the vulnerable among them. “I believe more residents now know and understand what matters to me and the work I do with my team,” she said. “That gives me more confidence going into this election.”

Ms Gan had said on April 18 that she would continue to be the PAP’s candidate for Marymount SMC, during a press conference that also confirmed the ruling party’s line-up for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

With only nine days of campaigning, Ms Gan said she and her team will be reaching out to residents at popular spots in the estate, such as the town centre and parks.

This is because the “quite healthy turnover” of residents moving into and out of Marymount means even households she had previously engaged may have changed, she noted.

“We will give it our all, right? We intend to go out to engage more residents,” she said.

She also intends to put out more videos on her social media accounts to connect with residents online.

In one video on April 19, Ms Gan proudly listed achievements over her past term, such as improved infrastructure in the neighbourhood and her contributions at the national level towards empowering women and workers.

Ms Gan said that if re-elected, her key priorities would be to ease cost-of-living pressures, especially for the “sandwiched” middle-aged, middle-income group that makes up the majority of households in the constituency.

She will also focus on supporting seniors in ageing well, and improving job opportunities for mid-career workers and those with special needs.

 

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East Coast GRC MP Cheryl Chan retires from politics, will not contest GE2025​

Ms Cheryl Chan first entered the political scene in 2015 and was deployed to the newly formed single-member constituency of Fengshan.ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO

Goh Yan Han
Apr 22, 2025

SINGAPORE – PAP MP Cheryl Chan will be retiring from politics after two terms.

She announced this in a Facebook post on the morning of April 21.

“This decision was difficult for me and was made after careful consideration. It had been challenging since my father was ill in 2022. After his passing a year ago, I decided to give time to my family,” she wrote.

Ms Chan, who is one of the incumbents in the five-member East Coast GRC, did not specify who would be replacing her.

She is the seventh PAP MP to have announced retirement ahead of the polls on May 3.

The 48-year-old is currently group chief strategy and sustainability officer at ST Engineering.

She first entered the political scene in 2015 and was deployed to the newly formed single-member constituency of Fengshan.

The move was surprising then, as it is rare for the PAP to field a new face in an SMC where it is the incumbent.

Ms Chan won the seat with 57.5 per cent of the vote against the WP’s Mr Dennis Tan, who in 2020 contested and won in Hougang SMC.

In 2020, Ms Chan’s Fengshan SMC was merged with East Coast GRC. The PAP team, led by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, won 53.39 per cent of the vote against the WP.

In her Facebook post, Ms Chan recalled moving to Fengshan 26 years ago with her family.

“I liked it so much that a few years later, I decided to help out in the community,” she said.

One evening after house visits, Mr Raymond Lim, who was then looking after Fengshan ward, asked her to contest the coming general election.

“I was stunned. I had never thought about entering politics. It was a huge honour for me that I would even be considered. My mum and dad have brought me up to always, when we can, pay it forward, so I eventually took the leap of faith,” she said.

“It had been a meaningful journey, one that not only allowed me to give to others, but also taught me life lessons that have made me an even better person today.”

Ms Chan thanked residents for the opportunity to serve them, and others who had helped her in her journey.

“Fengshan will always be home to me and have that special place in my heart,” she said.


East Coast GRC is set for another close battle in this election, with the WP expected to return for a rematch.

The slates on both sides have been unclear, even with two days left until Nomination Day on April 23.

On the PAP front, the only confirmation so far is that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman’s spot on the slate – he looks after the Siglap ward – will be taken by new face Hazlina Abdul Halim.

It also appears certain that Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong will move from Marine Parade GRC to East Coast GRC. Questions remain over whether DPM Heng will stay on or retire.

New face and former brigadier-general Goh Pei Ming has also been seen with PAP MPs.

The WP’s line-up for the constituency is also unconfirmed.

On April 18, Mr Kenneth Foo, deputy director of the Singapore Cancer Society, who was part of the WP’s team for East Coast in the 2020 General Election, was spotted with lawyer Ang Boon Yaw.

They visited the food centre at Block 16 Bedok South and a nearby coffee shop, where they took their time speaking with residents and exchanging views.

Another GE2020 candidate, Mr Abdul Shariff Aboo Kassim, has also been active on the ground.

The PAP is expected to see about 20 of its MPs retire ahead of the general election.

The biggest name so far to announce his retirement is Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Senior Minister of State for Transport and Sustainability and the Environment Amy Khor and backbenchers Chong Kee Hiong and Gan Thiam Poh have also done the same.

Two first-time MPs – Ms Ng Ling Ling and Mr Don Wee – will also not be seeking re-election.

 

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GE2025: Candidates advised to arrive early at nomination centres on Nomination Day​

Supporters and members of the public may show up at the nomination centres after 10am.PHOTO: ST FILE

Angelica Ang
Apr 22, 2025

SINGAPORE – Candidates for the May 3 general election are advised to arrive after 10am at their respective nomination centres on Nomination Day.

The nomination proceedings for the upcoming polls will take place on April 23, from 11am to 12pm, at nine nomination centres:

• Bendemeer Primary School
• Chongfu School
• Deyi Secondary School
• Jurong Pioneer Junior College
• Kong Hwa School
• Methodist Girls’ School
• Nan Hua High School
• Poi Ching School
• Yusof Ishak Secondary School

Supporters and members of the public may show up after 10am, said the police in a statement on April 21.

They are advised to take public transport to the nomination centres, be prepared for security checks and abstain from bringing along large bags. Dangerous items, including firearms, batons and knuckle dusters, are prohibited.

Members of the public should refrain from displaying placards, flags and banners in support of any candidate in the nomination centres before noon, when nominations close.

Additionally, a temporary restricted area will be established at the nomination centres from 9am to 3pm on Nomination Day.

This means that the flying of unmanned aircraft and other aerial activities such as kite-flying and hoisting of captive balloons are prohibited within the area, unless authorised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.

SOURCE: ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT