Singapore — A People’s Action Party candidate in the team that lost in the new Sengkang GRC in this year’s General Election, Dr Lam Pin Min, announced on Tuesday (Oct 27) that he is now on the board of car rental firm Lumens as a senior advisor.
Dr Lam, 51, wrote in a Facebook post: “I am pleased to join Lumens as their Senior Advisor. Since its founding in 2014, Lumens Auto has been providing driver-centric support and industry-leading innovative service offerings to its clients. I am glad to have met the motivated and professional team this morning to better understand their vision, aspiration and challenges in today’s increasingly complex environment. And I look forward to working with the Team to advance Lumens’ business development and growth in the sector.”
After the PAP team lost to a Workers’ Party (WP) team in the polls, Dr Lam, an ophthalmologist and former medical officer in the Singapore Armed Forces, joined Eagle Eye Centre as the chief executive officer and director of the Paediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus Service from Sept 1 this year.
The polls loss in Sengkang GRC was a considerable blow to the PAP because it involved three incumbent MPs and political office-holders — Dr Lam; National Trades Union Congress Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng and Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Home Affairs and Health) Amrin Amin. The WP team won with 52.12 per cent of the vote, while the PAP team got 47.88 per cent.
Dr Lam, however, continues to be active in Sengkang, even officiating at the opening of the Sengkang West Zone B Community Garden between Blocks 320B and 320C Anchorvale last month, a move that was criticised by some people online who asked why the Sengkang MPs were not present at the event.
Some Facebook users asked why the elected MPs were not accorded the required respect, while others called Dr Lam a “free rider” – a term Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has used to describe certain opposition voters.
In a Facebook post, Lumens welcomed Dr Lam, writing that he “will focus on helping Lumens build and expand its key business sectors and to strengthen our partnerships with key stakeholders”.
“Dr Lam brings with him a wealth of experience and deep understanding of Singapore’s transport sector and will work closely with senior management of Lumens to realise our vision of providing reliable solutions to enhance quality of life, improving productivity and efficiency of our society,” it added.
Dr Lam served as an MP for more than 14 years, first at Ang Mo Kio GRC from 2006 to 2011 and then at Sengkang West SMC from 2011 until this year.
From 2014 to 2017, he was Minister of State (Health), before being appointed Senior Minister of State (Health and Transport) from 2017 until this year. /TISG