PAP introduces 2 new candidates for Tanjong Pagar
Former civil servant Joan Pereira and retired senior police officer Melvin Yong introduced yesterday SPOTLIGHT ON:
Labour chief Chan Chun Sing introduced two new faces to his five-member Tanjong Pagar Group Representative Constituency (GRC) team yesterday,
He also announced that Mr Sam Tan, 56, will defend his seat in Radin Mas Single Member Constituency (SMC).
The new faces are former civil servant Joan Pereira, 48, and retired senior police officer Melvin Yong, 43, who will join Senior Minister of State for Law and Education Indranee Rajah and backbencher Chia Shi-Lu in contesting the coming general election.
Ms Pereira, assistant general manager at Temasek Cares, fills the seat vacated by Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
Mr Yong, who stepped down from his role as Assistant Commissioner of Police on Aug 16, takes over the seat held by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew.
The bulk of Mr Lui's Moulmein ward, which falls under the soon-to-be-defunct Moulmein-Kallang GRC, will be absorbed by Tanjong Pagar GRC. Last week, Mr Lui announced his decision to leave politics.
Four-term MP Lily Neo had earlier announced her departure from the Tanjong Pagar team, as her Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng ward has been redrawn under Jalan Besar GRC.
Under Mr Lee's leadership, Tanjong Pagar had never been contested since its formation in 1991 and the team's baptism of fire will come via a challenge from the fledgling Singaporeans First party, led by 2011 presidential candidate Tan Jee Say.
Said Mr Chan: "There will never be a society where all views are the same. But the job of a good leadership team is that it must understand different perspectives from different parts of society. And to do that, we must keep our feet firmly on the ground.
"We hope we can get the strongest mandate possible in Tanjong Pagar and Radin Mas, so that our children can fulfil their dreams in this land of ours."
On July 26, Mr Chan, who is the NTUC secretary-general, and Ms Indranee both spoke of their readiness to defend the constituency from opposition parties.
"We have never taken our situation for granted, even when Mr Lee was around," stressed Ms Indranee.
- The Straits Times
We hope we can get the strongest mandate possible in Tanjong Pagar and Radin Mas, so that our children can fulfil their dreams in this land of ours.
- Labour chief Chan Chun Sing
SPOTLIGHT ON:
TANJONG PAGAR GRC
2015 GE
Voters: 130,601
PAP: Mr Chan Chun Sing, Ms Indranee Rajah, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, Ms Joan Pereira and Mr Melvin Yong
2011 GE
Voters: 139,771
PAP: Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Chan Chun Sing, Ms Indranee Rajah, Dr Lily Neo, Dr Chia Shi-Lu
Walkover
RADIN MAS SMC
2015 GE
Voters: 28,885
PAP: Mr Sam Tan
2011 GE
Voters: 31,014
Valid votes: 27,732
PAP: Mr Sam Tan
% of vote: 67.1
NSP: Mr Yip Yew Weng
% of vote: 32.9
GE SPOTLIGHT: TG PAGAR NEWBIES
Population still hot-button topic
NAME: Melvin Yong
AGE: 43
OCCUPATION: Former Assistant Commissioner of Police, Singapore Police Force
WARD CONTESTING: Moulmein
QUOTE: "I am honoured to be a member of the Tanjong Pagar team. Building on my years of service to the community, I will work even harder and do my best to serve my residents and our Nation."
NAME: Joan Pereira
AGE: 48
OCCUPATION: Assistant general manager, Temasek Cares
WARD CONTESTING: Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru
QUOTE: "I believe strongly in the people-private-public sector partnership and want to build on this to create meaningful social programmes in Tanjong Pagar."
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