The overnight MP
By Teo Cheng Wee & Robin Chan
IT WAS as dramatic as political inductions come.
Dr Chia Shi-Lu, 39, went from not being on the People's Action Party's (PAP) General Election slate to an overnight MP when the constituency he stood in - Tanjong Pagar GRC - was won by a walkover yesterday.
An orthopaedic surgeon at the Singapore General Hospital, Dr Chia was in the operating theatre when PAP headquarters first tried to contact him on Tuesday about being a candidate.
He was finally reached that afternoon to deliver the news. 'Certainly, I was a bit surprised. But not that surprised. Among my friends, the grassroots leaders in Aljunied-Hougang, some of them were saying this could happen,' he said.
The boyish-looking bachelor, who has a girlfriend, had already been identified as a potential candidate. He said he had been shadowing Aljunied GRC MP Yeo Guat Kwang since 2009.
His hasty introduction has, however, raised questions about his suitability as an elected representative.
It was a concern that both Dr Chia and PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng took pains to assuage. Mr Lim pointed out that this was not the first time candidates had been switched last-minute. He said that he himself was moved to the Ulu Pandan single ward a few days before nomination in 1991.
Dr Chia acknowledged he was entering politics under unusual circumstances, and admitted he had much to learn because of this.
The President's Scholar, who studied medicine at the National University of Singapore and used to dabble in the arts, fended off questions about being a 'substitute' candidate.
He pointed out that the bottom line for a PAP candidate was a willingness to serve the people, and that substitutes - like those in a football match - are 'not necessarily less valued than those who come on from the start'. 'If someone were to say no (to becoming a candidate) because you are a substitute, then I think the person would be missing the point.'
Mr Lim said of him: 'The fact that he has been on the reserve list, willing to be on the reserve list and has continued to work on the ground with the constituency he has been in, demonstrates the commitment to serve.'
Dr Chia likened his upcoming role as an MP to that of his current role as a doctor, saying people will 'walk in to my office and tell me what their troubles are, sometimes I can solve them, sometimes I can't'. 'But at the end of the day when they leave my office, they should be satisfied to some extent,' he said.
By Teo Cheng Wee & Robin Chan
IT WAS as dramatic as political inductions come.
Dr Chia Shi-Lu, 39, went from not being on the People's Action Party's (PAP) General Election slate to an overnight MP when the constituency he stood in - Tanjong Pagar GRC - was won by a walkover yesterday.
An orthopaedic surgeon at the Singapore General Hospital, Dr Chia was in the operating theatre when PAP headquarters first tried to contact him on Tuesday about being a candidate.
He was finally reached that afternoon to deliver the news. 'Certainly, I was a bit surprised. But not that surprised. Among my friends, the grassroots leaders in Aljunied-Hougang, some of them were saying this could happen,' he said.
The boyish-looking bachelor, who has a girlfriend, had already been identified as a potential candidate. He said he had been shadowing Aljunied GRC MP Yeo Guat Kwang since 2009.
His hasty introduction has, however, raised questions about his suitability as an elected representative.
It was a concern that both Dr Chia and PAP chairman Lim Boon Heng took pains to assuage. Mr Lim pointed out that this was not the first time candidates had been switched last-minute. He said that he himself was moved to the Ulu Pandan single ward a few days before nomination in 1991.
Dr Chia acknowledged he was entering politics under unusual circumstances, and admitted he had much to learn because of this.
The President's Scholar, who studied medicine at the National University of Singapore and used to dabble in the arts, fended off questions about being a 'substitute' candidate.
He pointed out that the bottom line for a PAP candidate was a willingness to serve the people, and that substitutes - like those in a football match - are 'not necessarily less valued than those who come on from the start'. 'If someone were to say no (to becoming a candidate) because you are a substitute, then I think the person would be missing the point.'
Mr Lim said of him: 'The fact that he has been on the reserve list, willing to be on the reserve list and has continued to work on the ground with the constituency he has been in, demonstrates the commitment to serve.'
Dr Chia likened his upcoming role as an MP to that of his current role as a doctor, saying people will 'walk in to my office and tell me what their troubles are, sometimes I can solve them, sometimes I can't'. 'But at the end of the day when they leave my office, they should be satisfied to some extent,' he said.
