The Progress Singapore Party (PSP) will be contesting in nine constituencies (five SMCs and four GRCs) at this year’s election on July 10 with a total of 24 candidates.
In a virtual press conference on Friday (June 26), party leader Dr Tan Cheng Bock announced the final slate of seven candidates, including a Singapore Airlines pilot, a former SAF female officer, and where he intends to field the candidates.
Dr Tan, 80, also confirmed that he will be contesting in West Coast GRC, alongside Jeffrey Khoo, Hazel Poa, Leong Mun Wai and Loganathan Nadarajah.
Khoo and Leong were among the new names unveiled at the press conference this morning.
The list of constituencies that PSP will be fielding its candidates:
There is no need for political party candidates to be tested for Covid-19, said the Ministry of Health’s director of medical services Kenneth Mak.
Associate Professor Mak was responding to a question at a virtual press conference yesterday on whether there should be testing for candidates out campaigning in the run-up to the upcoming election.
But he added: “Candidates or those who are in fact coming forward for the election, as well as their supporters, must obey safe distancing measures.
“These have been put forward already by the Elections Department, and they are designed to protect the health and safety of all members of the public, as well as those who are campaigning themselves.
“We urge all who are involved in the election to obey these rules and regulations, which are designed to protect them as well as the public.”
Various agencies are watching very closely to make sure safe distancing measures are not breached, said Prof Mak, irrespective of who commits the offence.
“It’s not an issue of whether or not these are political parties carrying out their walkabouts, or whether they are other individuals,” he said.
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SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party (PAP) on Friday (Jun 26) introduced the final four of 27 new prospective candidates for the upcoming General Election, including the founder of a social enterprise helping women and a former Air Force fighter pilot.
There are 93 seats up for grabs at the polls on Jul 10. The PAP introduced 24 new faces ahead of the 2015 election, which had 89 seats.
The four prospective candidates were introduced by Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, who is also the PAP’s second assistant secretary-general.
Mr Chan said the party hopes to bring people from different walks of life to speak up and represent the interests of all Singaporeans.
“What unites all of them is this passion to serve Singapore to not only help fellow Singaporeans overcome challenges today, but take Singapore forward to the next lap and distinguish ourselves from the rest of the competitors,” he told reporters at a press conference.
Mr Chan said the Workers’ Party has also planned for its succession, pointing to how it announced on Thursday that former chief Low Thia Khiang will not be running in the upcoming election.
“We thank Mr Low for his many years of service to the Workers’ Party and also to Singapore,” he added. “I hope all of us work together to take Singapore forward as a nation.”
Mr Chan said the PAP will introduce its manifesto on Saturday before it reveals its full constituency teams over the next few days before nomination day on Jun 30.
MARIAM JAAFAR
Ms Mariam Jaafar, 43, is partner and managing director (Singapore) of the Boston Consulting Group, and has been spotted walking in Sembawang GRC’s Woodlands ward with its former Member of Parliament (MP) Amrin Amin.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Mariam Jaafar. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
She believes that education is a great leveller, highlighting that the best investment of a country is in its people. This includes early childhood education, skills retraining and matching people with jobs.
“I’m here because I want to give back,” she said. “I’ve thought about it and concluded that politics is the unique platform where I can make a difference to the lives of many.”
HUANG WEI ZHONG SHAWN
Mr Shawn Huang, 38, is a director of the Enterprise Development Group at Temasek Holdings. He has been a community volunteer in the Taman Jurong constituency.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Huang Wei Zhong Shawn. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
The former fighter pilot with the Republic of Singapore Air Force mentors children from low-income homes and former prison inmates. As chairman of the community arts and culture club, he helped residents access arts and culture activities in the community.
CARRIE TAN HUIMIN
Ms Carrie Tan, 38, is the founder of Daughters of Tomorrow, a social enterprise supporting underprivileged women in Singapore. She has been spotted with Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and other former Nee Soon GRC MPs.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Carrie Tan Huimin. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
Her focus areas include the low-income, workers and the “sandwich generation” which bears the brunt of caregiving in Singapore’s rapidly aging society.
She feels wage levels in Singapore are unsustainable for those who work in blue-collar sectors, and would like to explore how to better support these families.
CHAN HUI YUH
Ms Chan Hui Yuh, 44, is marketing director of Jingslink Marketing. In 2015, she became adviser to the PAP’s Aljunied grassroots organisations and is branch secretary of Aljunied’s Serangoon division.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Chan Hui Yuh. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
She wants to focus on the elderly, and how seniors can age well while staying engaged in retirement. She also wishes to explore issues related to women, such as childcare, employment and caregiver issues.
SINGAPORE: Prospective candidates introduced during a General Election will elicit responses “which are not surprising sometimes”, said vice-chairman of the People’s Action Party (PAP) Masagos Zulkifli on Friday (Jun 26).
Mr Masagos was responding to a question during a PAP press conference about comments that have emerged on social media about PAP’s prospective candidate Ivan Lim’s behaviour during his time in National Service.
“GE is a time … when people who have been introduced will also elicit responses, which are not surprising sometimes,” Mr Masagos said.
“I think it is important for the candidates who may have been alleged to be something, or other, to also prove themselves.
Keppel Offshore and Marine general manager Ivan Lim Shaw Chuan was formally introduced as a PAP candidate for the 2020 General Elections on Jun 24, 2020. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
“And I think it is not a moment in their career, or their time with people that define them, but as a person throughout their life, and also an opportunity for them if, they have done something in the past, to redeem themselves.
“Because we have seen qualities in all our candidates that make them, what we think, good leaders that will serve our people well.”
He joined Keppel Shipyard after finishing his GCE O-Levels and was awarded a scholarship by the company to pursue a diploma in marine engineering at Singapore Polytechnic. He went on to pursue a degree in marine engineering at Newcastle University.
Mr Lim has been volunteering at the Henderson-Dawson ward in Tanjong Pagar GRC over the past year – a “natural fit” for him as he grew up in the area, he said on Wednesday.
“I chose to serve with PAP because the PAP values and attributes are close to my heart. In particular, being compassionate, and also being self-reliant on the ground,” he added.
“I’m concerned about elderly residents and children who require social assistance, especially those with special needs.”
He made a name for himself flipping poker cards as his iconic character Yan Fei in the 1990s drama series The Unbeatables, but these days Ah Ge Li Nanxing has been flipping something totally different in recent years — woks and pans.
The 55-year-old is an accomplished home cook — a hobby he started about seven years ago — whipping up from memory dishes his late mother used to cook.
And like many Singaporeans stuck at home during the circuit breaker, Nanxing spent a lot of time in his kitchen, cooking two meals a day every day, for his helper and himself.
However, he’s gotten so sick of cooking that he now cannot bring himself to enter his kitchen anymore, he joked in a phone interview with AsiaOne.
So when Phase 2 rolled about, it’s no surprise that the first thing the foodie did was to go to Ghim Moh hawker centre, which is near where he stays, for a very hearty sit-down meal.
“I ordered char kway teow, laksa, fried carrot cake, and rojak. My helper ordered nasi lemak also, and both of us shared five dishes. I was very satisfied,” Nanxing said.
SINGAPORE – Singapore’s ruling party named Alvin Tan, a former Facebook executive who represented the company in arguing against the government’s controversial fake news law, as a candidate in the upcoming July 10 election.
Tan, 39, is currently head of public policy and economics at professional networking site LinkedIn, the People’s Action Party said in a statement on Thursday. It added he has been a volunteer since 2005.
Tan was previously head of public policy in Southeast Asia for Facebook, which has been at loggerheads with the Singapore government over the online fake news law enacted late last year.
He made a written submission for the company in early 2018 to a committee studying online falsehoods, saying it did “not believe that legislation is the best approach to addressing the issue”.
He also represented Facebook along with its Asia vice president for public policy Simon Milner during a heated public hearing about the law before it was enacted.
SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party (PAP) on Friday (Jun 26) introduced a further four prospective candidates ahead of the next General Election.
They are: Former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) general Gan Siow Huang, chief executive of ROHEI Rachel Ong Sin Yen, Sharael Taha, a vice president at Rolls Royce and former civil servant Alex Yeo Sheng Chye.
Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, who is also PAP’s vice-chairman, introduced the candidates at a press conference.
Ms Gan Siow Huang, 46, is the first female general in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), and was among the first four women to receive the SAF Merit Scholarship in 1993.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Gan Siow Huang. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
She started her career as an air traffic controller and eventually rose to command four air bases under the largest formation in the SAF.
Ms Gan, who is married with three daughters, is also the deputy chief executive officer of e2i, and has been engaged in grassroots volunteering in Bishan.
Having served in the military for more than 25 years, Ms Gan said that this “is not a common choice among women”, but it was one of the most fulfilling choices she had made.
“I would tell you that this is one of the best choices and (most) fulfilling choices that I made for myself, other than marrying my husband,” she said.
“It’s a place where men and women of different races, religions, backgrounds all come together, serving a common goal to protect Singapore. And I would say it is natural for people in the SAF to want to continue to serve, even when they leave the military.”
Ms Gan has been tipped to be fielded in the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC for the upcoming elections.
RACHEL ONG SIN YEN
Ms Rachel Ong, 47, is the chief executive of local enterprise ROHEI corporation. She was also briefly introduced at the PAP65 convention in November last year.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Rachel Ong Sin Yen. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
In 2001, Ms Ong founded Trybe, a charity that runs the Singapore Boys Hostel, the Community Rehabilitation Centre for first-time drug abusers and Trybe Aftercare.
She currently serves as vice-chair of the Telok Blangah Citizens’ Consultative Committee.
Ms Ong undertook her post-secondary education at Columbia College in Canada, before moving on to Southern Illinois University. She also holds a master’s degree in business administration from INSEAD and Tsinghua University.
“I am energised by two things. The first is to see every youth succeed in life, and the second is to see adults flourish in all that they do,” said Ms Ong.
“In order for us to help youths succeed, we first must learn to listen, to see, to hear, to understand and to care for the needs of the youth,” she said. “Then we are empowered to continue to challenge them and support them – we have earned the right and the trust (of) them.”
SHARAEL TAHA
Mr Sharael Taha, 39, is the vice president of the strategy and project management office at Rolls Royce, currently on secondment to Singapore Aero Engine Services.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Sharael Taha. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
Married with three children, Mr Sharael holds a master of business administration degree from the University of Oxford.
He was previously based in Britain, where he oversaw global projects across Rolls-Royce’s engine assembly and test facilities in Britain, Scotland, Germany, Canada and Singapore.
Mr Sharael has also been an active volunteer in Bukit Batok East, sharing his experiences with young people on science, technology, engineering and mathematics through engagement sessions.
In recent weeks Mr Sharael has been spotted with Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.
“My parents gave their best to provide a good future for the family. So now, with a young family of my own, I look at these huge shoes to fill in, for these are truly challenging times,” said Mr Sharael.
Noting how COVID-19 has affected all Singaporeans in the past months, he added that “the Singaporean spirit of resilience” will tide the community over this period.
“I would like to work with you to develop new skills and share my experience from high-tech industries, so that we can create great jobs, good jobs for the future of our families,” he said.
“But transformation cannot be at the expense of others. For the seniors, for the low-wage workers and for the less abled, we have to make sure that they are part of this journey.”
ALEX YEO SHENG CHYE
Lawyer Alex Yeo, 41, is the director of law firm Niru & Co, having previously served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a foreign service officer.
PAP candidate for GE2020 Alex Yeo Sheng Chye. (Photo: People’s Action Party)
Married with two children, Mr Yeo holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the National University of Singapore, as well as a bachelor of laws from the University of Sydney.
He also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Mr Yeo has been an active grassroots volunteer in Potong Pasir since 2014. In 2017, he became the branch chairperson for the PAP in Paya Lebar. He also spoke at the PAP65 convention in November last year.
Referencing the time he helped launch the lasting power of attorney programme in Paya Lebar, Mr Yeo said: “All these experiences taught me that the way we do our work on the ground is extremely important.
“We must listen carefully, go the extra mile and try our very best. I want to do more, and I hope to be given an opportunity to do so.”
SINGAPORE – After almost 40 years in politics, 29 of them as an MP, former Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang, 63, says he is stepping down from electoral politics with no regrets.
The man who helmed the WP for 17 years said on Thursday (June 25) that he decided not to stand in the coming election as he felt his work was done.
As party chief, he had achieved the twin goals he had set for himself after taking over from the party’s firebrand leader J. B. Jeyaretnam in 2001.
The first was to secure a group representation constituency for the WP, which he did in 2011.
That year, he famously left his long-time Hougang constituency to lead a team to victory in Aljunied GRC, the first and only time an opposition party had won in a GRC.
SINGAPORE – After almost 40 years in politics, 29 of them as an MP, former Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang, 63, says he is stepping down from electoral politics with no regrets.
The man who helmed the WP for 17 years said on Thursday (June 25) that he decided not to stand in the coming election as he felt his work was done.
As party chief, he had achieved the twin goals he had set for himself after taking over from the party’s firebrand leader J. B. Jeyaretnam in 2001.
The first was to secure a group representation constituency for the WP, which he did in 2011.
That year, he famously left his long-time Hougang constituency to lead a team to victory in Aljunied GRC, the first and only time an opposition party had won in a GRC.
