GE2025: Poh Li San edges out Chee Soon Juan in Sembawang West SMC with 53.19% of the vote
SINGAPORE – People's Action Party (PAP) candidate Poh Li San beat Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan to secure Sembawang West SMC for the ruling party, with 53.19 per cent of the vote.
Ms Poh, 49, who was elected in the 2020 General Election as part of a five-member team in Sembawang GRC, has looked after the Sembawang West ward for the past five years.
The senior vice-president at Changi Airport Group had said before the hustings that she was prepared for a tough fight. She eventually prevailed over Dr Chee, 62, one of Singapore's most recognisable opposition politicians.
Her pitch to voters included more support for seniors, strengthening mental wellness programmes and speaking up for them in Parliament on jobs and bread-and-butter issues.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung, who led the PAP team to win Sembawang GRC, had said he would continue to work closely with Ms Poh and pay close attention to Sembawang West SMC if they were both successful in the polls.
Meanwhile, Dr Chee campaigned on several alternative policy proposals, on issues such as healthcare and the economy.
These included removing the goods and services tax from basic necessities such as food, medication and education supplies, while raising it to 13 or 14 per cent for luxury goods to compensate for the loss in revenue.
He also talked about SDP's healthcare proposal of switching to a national health insurance 'single payer' system for hospital bills.
Dr Chee proposed organising town hall meetings to hear residents' issues as this would reduce waiting times at Meet-the-People Sessions. He also committed to being a full-time MP if elected.
Ms Poh countered by saying that although his suggestions made for good rally speeches, they demonstrated a lack of understanding of how Meet-the-People Sessions work – offering a safe, private space for residents to talk about their life challenges.
'It is not a town hall for public political theatre,' she said at an April 28 rally.
She acknowledged that Dr Chee is passionate and has walked a long political path, but has not served 'a community from within'.
She said: 'Passion alone does not build playgrounds, nor support seniors, nor comfort a struggling family.'
Sembawang West SMC, with 24,206 voters, was carved out from Sembawang GRC following the release of the report by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee on March 11.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Jules Witcover, Political Reporter and Columnist, Dies at 98
Jules Witcover, a storied shoe-leather political reporter and syndicated columnist who became a Washington institution covering presidential races and political affairs for more than 68 years in The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post and other newspapers and in a shelf of books, died on Saturday at his home in Washington. He was 98. The death was confirmed by his daughter Amy Witcover-Sandford. From the days of manual typewriters to the age of laptop computers, Mr. Witcover interpreted America's political scene as an analyst and eyewitness to history. He swapped tales with presidents; covered presidential campaigns, beginning in 1960; recorded the rise and fall of Richard M. Nixon; and was steps away when a gunman killed Senator Robert F. Kennedy in a Los Angeles hotel in 1968. Mr. Witcover's column, 'Politics Today,' written five days a week for years with Jack Germond, appeared in The Washington Star from 1977 to 1981, when The Star folded. It then ran in The Baltimore Sun and up to 140 other papers from 1981 to 2005, when it was terminated in a cutback, and was later syndicated three times a week by Tribune Media Services. Mr. Germond died in 2013, but Mr. Witcover continued writing it until he retired in 2022. Colleagues and critics called Mr. Witcover one of the nation's best political reporters — rivaling R.W. Apple Jr. of The New York Times and David Broder of The Washington Post — and an insider whose depth went beyond the current crop of public officials and candidates into the history and ethics of politics, and to speechwriters, publicists, lobbyists and others in behind-the-scenes supporting casts. He was featured in 'The Boys on the Bus,' Timothy Crouse's 1973 book about pack campaign journalism, the old road show of poker games, pounding typewriters and all-night boozing. He fit right in, but he was one of the heavyweights. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Intercept
3 hours ago
- The Intercept
ICE Held an NYC Child Incommunicado at Secret Hotels, Then Deported Him
The case of a 7-year-old detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sparked indignation across New York City. The child, however, is not the first New York youth caught up in President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant dragnet. The Intercept has confirmed the identity of a 15-year-old Manhattan high school student deported to Ecuador after a secretive detention that involved days trapped inside hotels hundreds of miles away, while unable to contact the outside world. The teen, Roger Iza, and his father, Edison Iza, were arrested by ICE at a check-in in New York on August 9 and, after being whisked to hotels in Louisiana then Texas, deported to Ecuador on August 14, the pair said by phone from Quito. 'We couldn't call or go on the web to ask for help,' Roger said. 'Without our phones, we didn't know any names or phone numbers.' 'We couldn't call or go on the web to ask for help.' ICE's latest published data, from June and July, indicates that 48 minors were arrested in New York City, some counties north of the city, and parts of Long Island during those months, and 32 of them had been deported by last week. But who those children are is frequently shrouded in mystery. Roger Iza's is the first account from a minor deportee to emerge from the Trump administration's crackdown on New York City. Detention centers operated by ICE allow unlimited phone calls to anyone with the money to pay for them or make collect calls; they also allow for attorney calls. The case of the 7-year-old and her mother has been highly publicized and garnered efforts by immigration activists, political leaders, and school administrators to keep her in the U.S. Roger, however, was not in a detention center where it would have been relatively easy to communicate with the outside world. He was locked up with his father in a private hotel, with no ability to use the internet or phone to get attention to his case before it was too late. (ICE did not respond to questions for this story.) As the immigration detention system is becoming more overcrowded, authorities are turning to hotels to house detainees. Earlier this month, The Intercept and Injustice Watch reported on the case of a mother and her infant son, a U.S. citizen, being locked incommunicado inside a Chicago Sonesta hotel for five days by ICE contractors. Roger, an immigrant minor himself, is the latest child known to have been detained by ICE in private hotels. There may be many other such children. Roger Iza, 15. Courtesy of Iza's friend. Two years ago, Edison and Roger Iza traveled to the Mexican border and presented themselves to border agents in El Paso, Texas, to apply for asylum. They soon ended up in New York City, in a hotel near Times Square that was repurposed as a shelter for asylum seekers. The New York Department of Education enrolled Roger, who was 13 at the time, in a public middle school near Union Square, where he quickly made an impression. 'Most of the immigrant kids kept to themselves, but Roger wasn't insular,' said a native-born classmate who grew close to Roger there and requested anonymity for privacy because he is a minor. 'He was fascinated with America and really into being an American. For instance, if people pronounced his name like in Spanish, 'Ro-hair,' he would say 'No!' and demand that they pronounce it like in English.' Despite a language barrier, the two became good friends. They rented Citi Bikes and rode to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. While Roger's dad worked in construction, Roger spent time at his classmate's apartment after school. 'He was giggly, shy, and joyous,' the classmate's mother recalled. 'And so sweet and polite.' After Roger completed middle school, he enrolled in the Manhattan Academy for Arts and Language, near the Empire State Building. In October of last year, an immigration judge in Manhattan denied a joint petition for asylum submitted by the Izas. They had filed it without a lawyer's assistance because they could not afford counsel. Edison Iza said in an interview that he applied for asylum due to his inability to make a living in his home country because his business was constantly threatened by extortionists. Their attempt to appeal also failed. In July, the Izas said, they were ordered to report to ICE for a check-in — a monitoring program requiring in-person attendance. The first meeting concluded without incident. Meanwhile, Roger attended a summer class at his high school, to raise a poor grade he'd gotten in math during the regular academic year. According to a document examined by The Intercept, however, he and his father were ordered to appear at another check-in on August 9 — and this time they were arrested. Edison, by phone from Quito, said, 'It was so unexpected.' Edison said that he and his son were taken to a holding area in a federal building in Manhattan, where their phones were seized. Roger recalled that within hours they were driven to LaGuardia Airport and put on a plane bound for Louisiana. The Izas were taken to a Sheraton hotel in Alexandria, Louisiana, according to location information from Roger's phone shared with The Intercept. The hotel is near a major ICE holding facility that serves as a deportation hub for Central and South America. (Neither the hotel nor Marriott International, Sheraton's parent company, immediately responded to requests for comment.) The father and son were told by security officers that they could make one call a day that could last for at most two minutes. They were ordered to speak in loud voices when they made the call, and not to disclose their location. 'They monitored us,' Roger said. They made calls to Roger's grandmother in New York. She said that Roger's math teacher had called to ask why he wasn't in class. 'When my grandmother told her I was being deported,' Roger said, 'the teacher said that I could get a lawyer, but I would have to be in New York for that.' The teacher may have been talking about the possibility of an attorney filing a habeas motion in a New York federal district court to free Roger. But he was no longer in New York, and he couldn't contact his teacher. After four days in the hotel, the Izas said they were flown to McAllen, Texas, and put into another hotel under the same conditions of isolation. Roger said they had no privacy. 'The guards were with us day and night, and they wrote down everything we did, even when I went to the bathroom. We couldn't leave the room. We couldn't even look out the window.' The Izas were put on an ICE deportation flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador, on August 14. When the father and son landed in Guayaquil and were given back their phones, the first person Roger called was his American friend, who was shocked to hear what had happened. 'It's hard for me to comprehend that I might never see him again,' the friend said.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Staunton lifts boil water advisory for all residents
Water services have returned to normal in Staunton. On Aug. 18, around 10:30 a.m., the city sent out an alert advising that the three-day boil water advisory "has been lifted for all City of Staunton water customers." The main line water break occurred on Aug. 15 and effected Staunton and parts of parts of Augusta County. After the break was fixed and several rounds of testing for harmful bacteria, service has been restored. "Water samples have been tested for both residual chlorine and bacteria. All samples collected from Friday through Sunday were absent of both total coliform and E. coli bacteria," reads the Aug. 18 update. The city offered links to guidelines from the Virginia Department of Health for flushing the untested water from homes and guidelines for how to do the same for businesses. For more information, please contact Staunton Public Works at (540) 332-3892. More: Service awards, Summerfest, gallery exhibit and more: THE DIGEST More: Kaylee Turner sentenced after pleading guilty in Seth Wallace murder case Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It's welcome through email to lbordelon@ Subscribe to us at This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton lifts boil water advisory for all residents Solve the daily Crossword
