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PAP's Tanjong Pagar team files election expenses
SINGAPORE: The five People's Action Party (PAP) members for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) have emerged as the first team to complete filing their election expenses.
Statements from their respective election agents and the principle election agent were received on May 25, said a notification from the Returning Officer Yam Ah Mee.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Ms Indranee Rajah, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Major-General Chan Chun Sing and Dr Lily Neo from Tanjong Pagar GRC were returned unopposed when a group of opposition candidates failed to file its papers on time on Nomination Day.
Expenses for the team, the only one who received a walkover, came in at roughly S$164,000, according to Mr Goh Eng Kiat, the PAP coordinator for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
While the amount worked out to be about S$1.20 per elector, or one-third below the maximum S$3.50 that a candidate can spend on each voter, Mr Goh, who is also the election agent for Ms Indranee, acknowledged that the amount was higher than what could be expected in a ward that experienced a walkover.
The PAP had expected a contest in that constituency and had, for example, printed sample polling cards for voter education and distribution, but did not use them in the end.
"We thought this time there would be a contest... so we prepared and printed those things," said Mr Goh, adding that money was also spent on posters, banners, party flags and GRC manifestos.
Having to reprint banners and posters was another reason for the higher-than-expected expenses.
This came about because of a last-minute switch between Mr Baey Yam Keng - a Tanjong Pagar MP since GE 2006 - and Dr Chia, with the former replacing PAP candidate Steve Tan, who stepped down from Tampines GRC on the eve of Nomination Day.
SINGAPORE: The five People's Action Party (PAP) members for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency (GRC) have emerged as the first team to complete filing their election expenses.
Statements from their respective election agents and the principle election agent were received on May 25, said a notification from the Returning Officer Yam Ah Mee.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Ms Indranee Rajah, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Major-General Chan Chun Sing and Dr Lily Neo from Tanjong Pagar GRC were returned unopposed when a group of opposition candidates failed to file its papers on time on Nomination Day.
Expenses for the team, the only one who received a walkover, came in at roughly S$164,000, according to Mr Goh Eng Kiat, the PAP coordinator for Tanjong Pagar GRC.
While the amount worked out to be about S$1.20 per elector, or one-third below the maximum S$3.50 that a candidate can spend on each voter, Mr Goh, who is also the election agent for Ms Indranee, acknowledged that the amount was higher than what could be expected in a ward that experienced a walkover.
The PAP had expected a contest in that constituency and had, for example, printed sample polling cards for voter education and distribution, but did not use them in the end.
"We thought this time there would be a contest... so we prepared and printed those things," said Mr Goh, adding that money was also spent on posters, banners, party flags and GRC manifestos.
Having to reprint banners and posters was another reason for the higher-than-expected expenses.
This came about because of a last-minute switch between Mr Baey Yam Keng - a Tanjong Pagar MP since GE 2006 - and Dr Chia, with the former replacing PAP candidate Steve Tan, who stepped down from Tampines GRC on the eve of Nomination Day.
