Lim Boon Heng quit PAP to focus on PA, NTUC and reading
Lim Boon Heng stepping down as MP
MP Wee Siew Kim also leaving; total of 18 PAP lawmakers making way for others
By Cai Haoxiang
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PEOPLE'S Action Party (PAP) chairman and Jurong GRC anchor minister Lim Boon Heng yesterday announced his retirement from politics, but quashed rumours that he would be running for the presidency.
Also announcing his departure from politics yesterday was Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Wee Siew Kim.
The duo did so to grassroots leaders in their respective constituencies.
With their announcements, the full complement of 18 PAP MPs who are giving way to new blood this year is now known. Sixteen had been announced earlier.
The PAP has already unveiled 18 new faces to be fielded in the coming election, and is slated to unveil another six this week.
The additional six come about because two parliamentary seats have been left vacant since Dr Balaji Sadasivan and Dr Ong Chit Chung died, and three new wards have been created with the recent electoral boundary changes.
One new face, Mr Desmond Choo, is slated to take over from Mr Eric Low as the PAP's man in opposition-held Hougang.
Mr Lim, 63, entered politics in 1980. He disclosed yesterday that he offered to retire from politics at the 2006 General Election, but was asked by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to stay on for at least one more term.
Now that he has stepped down, the five-member team for Jurong GRC will comprise Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, veteran unionist Halimah Yacob, and new faces Desmond Lee, David Ong and Ang Wei Neng.
'Our three understudies have come for some time. They have been tested, evaluated, assessed and they have passed... So, after more than 30 years of public service, I can now retire, pleased that we have a new team in place that will serve the people in Jurong and Yuhua well,' he said.
Jurong GRC took in parts of Boon Lay following electoral boundary changes. Mr Lim said his Jurong Central ward and these parts of Boon Lay will be split into two wards: Jurong Central and Jurong Spring. Mr Ang and Mr Lee will stand in these wards respectively.
Mr Ong will stand in the Bukit Batok ward of the late Dr Ong.
Meanwhile, Mr Tharman will stay on in Taman Jurong ward, while Madam Halimah will handle her current Bukit Batok East ward as well as the Toh Guan area, now part of Jurong GRC after the boundary changes.
Senior Minister of State (Education and National Development) Grace Fu will stay on in Yuhua ward, which has been carved out as a single seat.
Mr Lim began his career with shipping giant Neptune Orient Lines before joining the National Trades Union Congress in 1981, a year after he was elected MP of Kebun Baru ward. He was also secretary-general of NTUC from 1993 to 2006.
He will step down as deputy chairman of the People's Association (PA), a post he assumed in 2007, 'because you need a minister to be deputy chairman'. He will, however, volunteer his services to help the PA further develop its grassroots organisations, he said.
Mr Lim is currently a Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, where he takes care of ageing issues. He is also chairman of NTUC's Social Enterprises Development Council, which oversees cooperatives such as FairPrice supermarkets, insurance and training services.
He said he will also continue to play a role in overseeing the cooperatives, and in particular, stay on as the chairman of NTUC ElderCare.
One thing he will not be doing, however, is to run as a candidate in the presidential election, which must be held by August this year.
'I do not wish to be President. My roles for the future are much more modest,' he said.
Other than his PA and NTUC commitments, Mr Lim said he wants to do some gardening, spend more time with his family and catch up on his reading.
'I think it is time for me to try to get back into the habit of reading good novels, and improving my English - I think it has deteriorated a bit,' he said.
Mr Lim's Jurong Central ward's grassroots leaders yesterday said his retirement came as a surprise as he was highly visible on the ground. He is also still the PAP chairman, a post which he has held since December 2004.
Citizens' Consultative Committee assistant secretary Patrick Goh said: 'I am surprised and very sad. I have been working with him since 2001. But he told us he will meet us often.'
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GRC MPs pay tribute
JURONG GRC MPs and a potential candidate fielded there pay tribute to Mr Lim Boon Heng's leadership of the GRC:
'He's been very important to me personally for the last 10 years, a quiet, very often an unseen guidance, giving me tips here and there, giving each of us the autonomy to run our wards well.'
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and MP for Taman Jurong ward
'I learnt from the way he conducts his Meet-the-People sessions and the tips he gives, for example, his practice of meeting every single resident.'
Madam Halimah Yacob, MP for Bukit Batok East ward
'When I had problems resolving differences on the ground, he's always been there to give me very measured and well-considered advice.'
Ms Grace Fu, Yuhua ward MP and Senior Minister of State (Education and National Development)
'He's very humble, mixes around with residents, so a lot of residents respect him. It's big shoes to fill, I'll learn to do that.'
SBS Transit vice-president Ang Wei Neng, understudying Mr Lim in his Jurong Central ward
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