GE2025: PAP wins Ang Mo Kio GRC with 78.95% in 3-cornered fight against SUP, PPP

Straits Times

03-05-2025

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong (centre) greeting supporters at Yio Chu Kang Stadium on Polling Day. With him are his fellow Ang Mo Kio GRC candidates (from left) Darryl David, Nadia Ahmad Samdin, Jasmin Lau and Victor Lye. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
SINGAPORE - The PAP team led by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong has secured a resounding victory in Ang Mo Kio GRC, garnering 78.95 per cent of the votes against the Singapore United Party (SUP) and People's Power Party (PPP).
SUP and PPP received 10.84 and 10.21 per cent of votes respectively in the polls on May 3.
The PAP's result is a 7.04 percentage point increase from the last contest in 2020, when the party won with 71.91 per cent of the votes against the Reform Party's (RP) 28.09 per cent.
SM Lee said in a speech to supporters at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium on May 4: 'Thank you very much for supporting me and my team and giving us your mandate again, to represent you, to work for you, to do our best for you, for Ang Mo Kio and for Singapore.
'Many things are happening in the world. We have many worries. With the PAP, we can work with you, with your trust and your full support and cooperation, we will do the best for our families, for our country and for our future.
'And in Ang Mo Kio, the Ang Mo Kio GRC will also work with our friends in Kebun Baru, in Yio Chu Kang and in Jalan Kayu SMCs, because we are one big Ang Mo Kio town family,
'And together, we will make Ang Mo Kio an even better place to live, work and play, and Singapore an even better place to call home and to be proud of for many, many more years to come.
The largest of the 18 group representation constituencies with 161,499 electors, Ang Mo Kio GRC was contested by three parties for the first time since it was created in 1991.
The PAP team also comprises former civil servant Jasmin Lau, 42; financial technology firm chief executive Victor Lye, 63; as well as incumbent Ang Mo Kio GRC MPs Darryl David, 54, and Nadia Ahmad Samdin, 35.
SM Lee, 73, who stepped down in May 2024 after 20 years as prime minister, has represented the Teck Ghee ward in the GRC for 41 years, having been first elected to Parliament in 1984.
Ms Lau is a newcomer, while Mr Lye was part of the losing PAP teams in Aljunied GRC in the last two elections.
The SUP slate for Ang Mo Kio includes the party's secretary-general Andy Zhu, 42, and Ms Noraini Yunus, 56, who both contested in the GRC under the RP banner in the 2020 General Election.
The other members are party chairman Ridhuan Chandran, 53, flight attendant Nigel Ng, 39, and Dr Vincent Ng, 52, who was part of the National Solidarity Party team that stood in Tampines GRC in 2020.
The PPP team, which is contesting in Ang Mo Kio for the first time, is helmed by party treasurer William Lim, 47; retired civil servant Martinn Ho, 64; safety coordinator Thaddeus Thomas, 43; information technology engineer Samuel Lee, 33; and horticulturist Heng Zheng Dao, 24.
Ang Mo Kio GRC was uncontested until 2006, when the PAP defeated a Workers' Party team. In the last three general elections, the PAP won by comfortable margins against the RP.
Both SUP and PPP will lose their election deposits for not securing more than 12.5 per cent of the votes polled.
Speaking to the media after the sample vote count was confirmed, SUP's Mr Zhu said the party is not too concerned about losing its deposit and will continue to reach out to the voters in Ang Mo Kio for the next five years.
'This is a long term battle. It's not just for today, and it will not be over after tonight,' he said.
PAP WINS IN YIO CHU KANG
In Yio Chu Kang, PAP's Yip Hon Weng has retained his single seat.
The 48-year-old won 78.73 per cent of the votes against the People's Alliance for Reform's Dr Michael Fang, a 48-year-old health sciences lecturer at a private college.
In the last election in 2020, Mr Yip, then a newcomer, secured 60.82 per cent of the vote against the Progress Singapore Party's (PSP) Ms Kayla Low, when the SMC was carved out of Ang Mo Kio GRC that year.
Mr Yip, the former group chief of the Silver Generation Office under the Agency for Integrated Care, had said that if he is re-elected, he hopes to further improve the amenities and estate conditions in Yio Chu Kang, with projects like the upcoming neighbourhood renewal and home improvement programmes.
He also plans to enhance Yio Chu Kang's status as Singapore's first fully dementia-friendly neighbourhood by introducing more services for seniors.
Dr Fang contested as a Peoples Voice candidate in Jalan Besar GRC in 2020, along with PV founder Lim Tean, Mr Leong Sze Hian and Mr Nor Azlan Sulaiman. The PAP team led by the current Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo won with 65.36 per cent of the votes.
The single-member constituency has 25,410 electors, and most residents live in Housing Board blocks, with only 7.7 per cent in landed property. The majority of residents are above 46 years old.
Calling it a 'good result', Mr Yip said: 'It has shown that our hard work over the past five years has borne fruit, and I look forward to serving my residents for the next five years, improving the estate and speaking up more in Parliament on their behalf.'
Chin Soo Fang is senior correspondent at The Straits Times covering topics such as community, politics, social issues, consumer, culture and heritage.
Elisha Tushara is a correspondent at The Straits Times, specialising in Singapore's education landscape.
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