Photo: Facebook screengrab / GanKimYong
GE2025: PAP’s Gan Kim Yong team set for battle against PSP in Chua Chu Kang GRC
SINGAPORE: Led by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Mr Gan Kim Yong, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has formally introduced its candidates for the Chua Chu Kang GRC. The list includes two new faces, Mr Jeffrey Siow and Ms Choo Pei Ling, and the incumbent member of parliament, Mr Zhulkharnain Abdul Rahman.
“I’ve been serving in Chua Chu Kang for almost 20 years now. First as Chua Chu Kang SMC, then as part of the GRC. I want to take this opportunity to thank all the voters and residents in Chua Chu Kang for giving me that support and partnership that has allowed my team and I to serve them over the years. Particularly over the last five years where we came together to make Chua Chu Kang a better home,” said DPM Gan during the media conference on Monday, Apr 14, to introduce the PAP’s slate of candidates for Chua Chu Kang GRC.
Mr Siow is a former senior civil servant who served as a principal private secretary to then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong from 2017 to 2021. His 24-year career in public service ended on Apr 2, and prior to that, he was the second permanent secretary at the Ministry of Manpower and Trade and Industry.
“Working in the public service holds special meaning for me. I did not come from a well-off family. My parents, like many in their generation, did not have much formal education,” said first-time candidate Mr Siow.
“I’m not sharing my life story to ask for sympathy. I’m doing so because this is my story. It is truly who I am and explains why I spent my career in the public service and why I am now joining politics.”
Meanwhile, Dr Choo is a neuroscientist and physiotherapist, as well as an assistant professor at the Singapore Institute of Technology. She was previously a party activist in the Marine Parade constituency helmed by Manpower Minister Dr Tan See Leng.
A day after the introduction of the PAP’s Chua Chu Kang candidates, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had advised President Tharman Shanmugaratnam to dissolve Parliament. A writ of election was also issued on the same day, with nomination day set for Ap 23. The cooling-off day will be on May 2, and Singaporeans will cast their vote a day later on Saturday, May 3.
“We are witnessing profound changes in the world. It is becoming more uncertain, unsettled, and even unstable. The global conditions that enabled Singapore’s success over the past decades may no longer hold,” posted PM Wong on his social media. “That is why I have called this General Election. At this critical juncture, Singaporeans should decide on the team to lead our nation and to chart our way forward together,” he added.
Chua Chu Kang GRC: PAP vs PSP
DPM Gan and his team are expected to face a strong challenge from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), which has announced its intention to contest Chua Chu Kang GRC once again. In the 2020 general election, the PAP won the constituency with 58.64% of the vote.
In the Electoral Boundary Committee Review report released in March, Chua Chu Kang GRC welcomed 11,621 and 193 residents from the new Tengah estate and a Holland -Bukit Timah polling district, respectively. It also saw the Bukit Gombak division, helmed by Minister of State Ms Low Yen Ling, carved out into an SMC.
During the unveiling of its election manifesto on April 6, PSP’s secretary-general, Mr Leong Mun Wai, confirmed that the party would contest in both West Coast—Jurong West and Chua Chu Kang GRCs. Subsequently, over the weekend, the party was seen walking the grounds of Pioneer, Kebun Baru, and Marymount SMCs.
Although PSP has yet to formally introduce its candidates for Chua Chu Kang GRC, several faces were spotted engaging with the residents in the constituency. Those spotted on the ground at Chua Chu Kang GRC include Ms Wendy Low and Mr S Nallakaruppan, both contested in the previous election in Tanjong Pagar and Nee Soon GRCs, respectively.
On Apr 1, The Straits Times interviewed several potential candidates who might represent the PSP in Chua Chu Kang GRC. Among those interviewed are Mr Lawrence Pek, former secretary-general of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, businessman Mr Phang Yew Huat, and former journalist Stella Stan Lee.
“I’ve my heart in Chua Chu Kang since 2020, and I look forward to the opportunity to be able to be in this ground,” said Mr Phang, who is the principal election agent for PSP’s former secretary-general Mr Francis Yuen at Chua Chu Kang GRC in 2020.
For Mr Nallakarupan, he feels that there’s a need to prioritise job opportunities for Singaporeans, as he elaborates, “We need to protect Singaporean jobs. Of course, we don’t want to be xenophobic. We should first offer jobs to fellow Singaporeans.”
