NSP's Kevryn Lim steals show at opposition gathering
NSP member Kevryn Lim holds court with media as opposition parties discuss election game plan at NSP headquarters
The opposition bigwigs had gathered to strategise their plans for the coming general election.
But while the 11 parties - from Workers' Party to Singapore Democratic Alliance to the newly-formed People's Power Party - were busy discussing their game plan and how to avoid three-cornered fights at the National Solidarity Party (NSP) headquarters in Jalan Besar last night, all attention was focused on NSP member Kevryn Lim.
For about five minutes, Ms Lim, who was in a tight-fitting white dress, held court downstairs as dozens of journalists with their cameras and notebooks waited eagerly for snapshots or soundbites.
"I'm actually here to help out," said the 26-year-old project director at events management and digital marketing firm EM.DM.
She came a little late after being held up by traffic, she said.
She was flanked by other NSP members when the media trained its attention on her.
Without being specific, she said her party had already "prepared a lot". What it does not want is a three-cornered fight with other opposition parties.
ISSUES
The former model said she would champion issues like transport and education if she were selected to contest.
"Transport is an everyday, day-to-day thing we're experiencing... I'm running an events company and we're really running around a lot. This transport issue is really affecting (me)," she said.
Ms Lim, who had joined NSP in late-March, cited examples like bus fares and train issues.
She hopes more bus services could be provided "to spread out the population trying to get on the trains at the same time".
Earlier on, Ms Lim admitted that former NSP candidate Nicole Seah was her inspiration for joining politics.
She said she hopes to learn from Ms Seah should she return to Singapore.
Said Ms Lim: "I'll be happy to meet her as I've never met her in person. She has already said she won't stand in the election, but hopefully, when she comes back we'll be able to be together and exchange some thoughts - she was quite successful in the (last) election."
Ms Seah left NSP in 2014. In the 2011 General Election, she was the youngest candidate at age 24.
While Ms Lim charmed reporters by answering most of their questions, a minder interrupted the proceedings and reminded the media of the importance of the opposition gathering.
After thanking the media, Ms Lim was whisked away, led by three NSP colleagues.
"I'll be happy to meet her (Nicole Seah) as I've never met her in person. She has already said she won't stand in the election, but hopefully, when she comes back we'll be able to be together and exchange some thoughts - she was quite successful in the (last) election."
- Ms Kevryn Lim on former NSP candidate Nicole Seah
Potential 3-cornered fights resolved
After close to three hours behind closed doors, Singapore's opposition parties announced they have resolved a number of potential three-cornered fights in the coming General Election (GE).
The parties will meet again on Thursday for a final decision, said Ms Hazel Poa, acting secretary-general of the National Solidarity Party (NSP).
Before the start of the meeting at about 8pm, NSP Chairman Sebastian Teo said that realistically speaking, it was "going to be tough".
Previously, the Worker's Party (WP) had revealed that it would be fielding candidates in Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency (GRC), MacPherson Single-Member Constituency (SMC) and Fengshan SMC.
But WP said it had already initiated talks with the NSP about the potential clash at Marine Parade GRC and MacPherson SMC, said a report in The Straits Times on Sunday.
Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) chairman Desmond Lim told reporters that his party was there "for opposition unity". He stated his party would not be contesting Punggol East SMC.
In the 2011 GE, People's Action Party's Michael Palmer faced two rivals - SDA's Lim and WP's Lee Li Lian - for the Punggol East single seat.
In the only three-cornered fight in GE 2011, Mr Palmer got 54.5 per cent of the votes while WP's Lee got 41 per cent.
Nevertheless, in 2013, WP's Lee won in a by-election.
Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam was confident that the night's meeting would be fruitful.
He said: "It's great that everybody's here together. I'm sure the atmosphere will be cordial. The process is about getting the best candidate in the right seat."
Halfway through the meeting at about 9pm, Socialist Front's secretary-general Chia Ti Lik left.
There did not appear to be any hard feelings when Mr Chia said he would not be contesting this GE. "We will come in the next round," he said.
He revealed that the discussions, which he had described as encouraging, involved "different parties contesting different wards", "who is the better candidate" and "who will give way to who".
Mr Chia said: "I think it's important to encourage the parties to look beyond themselves, look at the bigger picture and don't make it to be something so personal-interest based."
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