GE Top 5: Aug 27, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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GE Top 5: Aug 27

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1. PAP UNVEILS NEW FACE
FOR FENGSHAN

With an epic battle for the East against the Workers' Party (WP) on the cards, the People's Action Party (PAP) has unveiled their slate of candidates who will contest East Coast GRC and Fengshan SMC.

Mr Lim Swee Sway will lead an essentially unchanged team to contest the downsized GRC with the exception of Mr Raymond Lim, who announced his retirement from politics on Aug 15.

The former Transport Minister will step aside for new face Cheryl Chan, 38, to contest Fengshan, a ward which was carved out from East Coast prior to the upcoming elections.

Ms Chan, who heads the secondary industries section of gas and engineering firm The Linde Group, has been a PAP volunteer in Fengshan for 10 years and describes herself as coming from a humble family of four that emphasised character building rather than education.

According to Mr Raymond Lim, Ms Chan "knows the ground well", is "hardworking", has a "kind and caring heart"  and, if elected, "will be a very good MP" for his ward of 14 years.


PAP's East Coast GRC team. TNP PHOTO: PHYLLICIA WANG

PAP's remaining East Coast GRC members are (from lef) Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Mr Mohamad Maliki Osman and Ms Jessica Tan.

Fengshan has become a hotbed of discussion after WP chairman Sylvia made an Instagram post with a photo depicting her enjoying a serving of oyster omelette from the ward's famous Block 85 market and hawker centre.

2. REFORM PARTY GETS BUSY IN THE WEST

Moving from the East to the West, Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam's Reform Party (RP) has announced its intentions to contest West Coast GRC and Radin Mas SMC.

Mr Kumar Appavoo, who was part of RP's team that contested West Coast in 2011, is poised for a three-way tussle for Radin Mas with PAP incumbent Sam Tan and blogger Han Hui Hui, who announced her intent to stand for election as an independent candidate in the SMC on her blog on Wednesday (Aug 26).


RP's contingent of candidates contesting West Coast and Radin Mas. TNP PHOTO: NURUL NABILAH NORDIN

Mr Jeyaretnam will reprise his role as leader of RP's West Coast bid along with party chairman Andy Zhu, real estate firm manager Darren Soh and customer service executive Noraini Yunus.

Meanwhile, CPF blogger Roy Ngerng and lawyer M. Ravi, who are expected to contest Ang Mo Kio GRC under the RP banner, turned up at Prinsep Link to submit their forms to the Elections Department.

3. MORE NEW FACES FOR WP

Following up on their first reveal of four candidates on Wednesday (Aug 26), WP kept up their momentum by rolling out another four at their Syed Alwi Road headquarters on Thursday (Aug 27).

Introduced by WP chairman Sylvia Lim and Hougang MP Png Eng Huat, the four candidates to be unveiled were lawyer Terence Tan, chocolate factory owner Firuz Khan, sales consultant Cheryl Loh and Mr Luke Koh, a chief executive of a holding company.


WP's latest batch of candidates. TNP PHOTO: CHOO CHWEE HUA

The three man are believed to part of WP's Marine Parade team along with Mr Yee Jong Jenn, who contested Joo Chiat SMC in 2011, and yet-to-be unveiled new face He Ting Ru, a 32-year-old corporate lawyer.

While there are no indications as to where Ms Loh will be fielded, the 32-year-old former polytechnic student of Ms Lim described herself as coming from a disadvantaged background who brings "a genuine heart to serve the people" and the "ability to listen and understand them".

4. CHARLES CHONG TO PUNGGOL EAST

Even though he won't be fielded to contest Aljunied GRC, where his favourite oyster omelette is served (according to a recent Facebook post), Mr Charles Chong will be fielded by the PAP in Punggol East SMC.

The veteran politician, 62, who has contested six GEs since his political debut in 1988 has been tasked with reclaiming the WP-held constituency after his current ward Joo Chiat was assimilated into Marine Parade. Mr Chong had won the Joo Chiat seat in 2011 by the narrowest of margins - by just 388 votes over Mr Yee from WP.

In a 2013 by-election, WP's Lee Li Lian emerged victorious from a four-way fight to claim the seat vacated by Speaker of Parliament Michael Palmer, who resigned in 2012.

Just over a week ago, Mr Chong attempted to spoof Ms Sylvia Lim's oyster omelette Instagram post by posting a photo of himself eating the hawker treat in WP-held Aljunied, although he tripped up by initially referring to his dish as orh luak when he was having orh neng instead (the difference is in the starch, in case you didn't know).

5. SDP CONTINUES CANDIDATE ROLL-OUT

Rounding up the day's big reveals were the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), who rolled out their third batch of candidates to be introduced to the public.

Compliance auditor Sidek Mallek, 55, was the new face on show while psychologist John Tan is back for another GE after being part of SDP's failed bid for Sembawang GRC in 2011.

 

 

SDP introduced another two candidates:-Mr John Tan (left), Mr Sidek Mallek (right).

Posted by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) on Thursday, 27 August 2015

 

The two men were presented by fellow candidate, Dr Paul Tambyah, at SDP's headquarters in Ang Mo Kio.

No indication was given as to where either man might contest this GE.

Singapore ElectionspoliticsSingaporePeople's Action PartyPAPWorkers' PartyReform PartyFengshan SMCEast Coast GRCClementiBukit MerahUncategorisedLim Swee SayKenneth JeyaretnamSylvia Lim