GE2025: Strong support comes with huge responsibility in uncertain times, says Shanmugam
Mr Shanmugam led a five-member PAP team to secure 73.81 per cent of the vote against a team from Red Dot United. This represents a vote share increase of nearly 12 percentage points, and is the highest margin Nee Soon GRC has been won by since it was formed in 2011.
At the 2020 General Election, PAP garnered 61.9 per cent of the vote against a team from the Progress Singapore Party.
Speaking to the media during the walkabout, Mr Shanmugam said that as a cabinet minister, he would have a hand in steering Singapore out of looming economic headwinds.
'We are facing a potentially very difficult time and it looks quite certain that there will be a lot of trouble. There is a lot of uncertainty – investors are not investing, companies are not expanding. These are things we need to deal with,' he said.
Ms Goh Hanyan, a former director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information who is part of the Nee Soon GRC slate, said she felt 'extremely humbled' by the strong mandate that residents have given her team.
'The mandate that I'm grateful that we got... will help us steer Singapore through these times, given the global climate. We will stand united and firm throughout this next phase of our journey,' she said.
She added that the team will spend the coming weeks meeting more residents in the area.
'We'll spend the coming weeks getting to know them, listening to them, knowing what they want, so that we can better serve their needs,' she said.
All four of Mr Shanmugam's teammates had contested their first General Election and the veteran minister, who has been overseeing the Chong Pang ward within the GRC for 37 years, said he was confident his younger charges would excel.
The other three members of the team are Lee Hui Ying, 36, director of communications for Temasek Foundation; Jackson Lam, 40, head of a pest control and cleaning company; and former Nominated MP Syed Harun Alhabsyi, 40.
Mr Shanmugam had previously said that said the team brings a range of experiences to bear, and that it contains potential political office-holders.
He added on May 4 that Nee Soon residents would expect 'old-fashioned values' such as honesty, sincerity and hard work from the team.
Mr Shanmugam said: 'It is a covenant we make once every five years. Some have said – 'four new MPs, how are you going to handle (it)?' Having talked to them, having interviewed them, having seen them on the ground, I fully believe that they will discharge their duties in a way that Nee Soon residents expect and in a way that merits the tremendous support that has been given by people.
'So we will do our best. And then, at the end of five years, people will judge.'
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