SINGAPORE: The People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Sengkang East branch will have a new chairman from Nov 1, as Marcus Loh takes over from Ling Weihong. The ruling party announced this on Thursday (Oct 26), adding that Ling would be redeployed within the party.
Loh, a party activist since 2015 and currently a council member in the PAP Policy Forum, has been actively involved in the Sengkang GRC community with the rest of the PAP’s team for several months. He was present during their National Day walkabout with Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu to distribute the Singapore flag to Sengkang residents.
Outgoing Sengkang East branch chairman Ling praised Loh’s ability to connect with residents, saying he had demonstrated this during their community engagements in the neighbourhood.
“Marcus has been with the Party since 2015 and held various positions of responsibility. In his time with PAP Sengkang East, I have personally observed him to be humble and hardworking. Just as importantly, Marcus is always ready with a listening ear and a willing heart. He connects well with residents and takes good care of them. I’m proud to call Marcus my friend and hand over stewardship of the branch to him,” explained Ling in a social media posting.
Loh is a director and head of strategic communication, public affairs, and corporate marketing at Temus, a Singapore firm that drives digital transformation for companies. He recently created a Facebook page and posted about his work at Temus and his appointment as Sengkang East branch chairman.
“Today, I have been announced as the branch chairman of Sengkang East for the People’s Action Party from 1 November 2023. It is an honor to be a part of Team Sengkang, working with comrades associate professor Elmie Nekmat and Ms. Theodora Lai, under the lead of Dr. Lam Pin Min,” posted the incoming PAP Sengkang East branch chairman.
Loh said that the role of Sengkang East chairperson is a heavy responsibility and one that he is humbled to be shouldering.
“I am determined to roll up my sleeves and build on our Party’s record of service for Sengkang residents over many years through the sincere efforts of the chairpersons and activists before me,” added Loh, who was previously a party activist in the Braddell Heights division at the Marine Parade GRC.
As the PAP’s Sengkang East chairman, Loh will join the party’s other Sengkang branch chairpersons – former Senior Minister of State Dr Lam Pin Min (Sengkang West), Assoc Prof Elmie Nekmat (Sengkang Central), Theodora Lai Xi Yi (Sengkang North) – in a bid to challenge the incumbent Workers’ Party (WP) in the next general election.
In the previous election in 2020, the PAP (47.88%) lost the newly-created Sengkang GRC to the WP (52.12%) team of Assoc Prof Jamus Lim, He Ting Ru, Louis Chua, and Raeesah Khan. WP’s Khan resigned from the party at the end of November last year and vacated her parliamentary seat after she admitted to lying in Parliament, with the matter referred to the Committee of Privileges.