WP's Andre Low and Eileen Chong declared elected NCMPs, Singapore News
Low, 33, contested the Jalan Kayu SMC against People's Action Party's (PAP) Ng Chee Meng and lost, but received the highest percentage of votes (48.53 per cent) amongst the unelected opposition candidates.
WP also contested the Tampines Group Representation Constituency (GRC) to receive the second highest percentage of votes (47.37 per cent) amongst the unelected opposition candidates. They had lost in the four-cornered fight against the PAP.
The team, consisting Eileen Chong, Faisal Manap, Dr Ong Lue Ping, Jimmy Tan and Michael Thng were contacted by the Returning Officer Han Kok Juan on May 9 and asked to determine among themselves the candidate to be declared elected as NCMP by May 19, according to ELD's media release.
The WP team informed the Returning Officer on Sunday (May 18) that they would nominate Chong, 33, as the candidate to be declared elected as NCMP.
According to the Parliamentary Elections Act, the number of NCMPs to be elected for GE2025 is 12 minus the number of Opposition MPs elected.
NCMPs are then determined from among contesting opposition candidates, with the candidate receiving the highest percentage of votes being placed first, followed by the other candidates in descending order based on the percentage of votes polled by them, ELD stated.
This year, 10 Opposition MPs were elected, all from the WP.
They are: Party secretary-general Pritam Singh, party chair Sylvia Lim, Gerald Giam, Kenneth Tiong and Fadli Fauzi for Aljunied GRC; He Ting Ru, Louis Chua, Jamus Lim and Abdul Muhaimin for Sengkang GRC and Dennis Tan for Hougang SMC.
[[nid:718162]]
khooyihang@asiaone.com
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As for Tengah, Dr Choo, who is in charge of the ward, noted that the number of dwelling units in Tengah will increase from the current 12,000 to 15,000 by the end of this year. Newly moved-in residents at Tengah had previously complained about the lack of connectivity and amenities. On Sunday, she went through the list of new facilities that had opened in the past 100 days, including four new preschools, bringing the total to seven. A new 24-hour coffee shop and a 24-hour supermarket have also opened. A new commercial cluster across the Tengah Garden Avenue will open within an upcoming BTO estate, and Tengah Forest Drive will also have a new mosque, which will be the fifth in the GRC. The mosque will be located near Brickland Road and will be accessible to residents from Keat Hong as well, said Mr Zhulkarnain. A new pickleball court will be built near The Bricks, a sports facility at Choa Chu Kang Avenue 7, in the first quarter of next year. LONGER-TERM CHALLENGES Speaking to reporters, Dr Tan said team was able to quickly implement infrastructural plans such as covered linkways, which he described as "low hanging fruit". But there are also longer-term plans to address the "last 50 metres" of one's commute home and cannot be easily fixed due to the presence of critical underground infrastructure. "We also have to be cognisant of the fact that below what you see, (in our) subterranean there's a lot of infrastructure. There are power cables, there are water pipes, and there are also multiple infrastructures (that have) been laid there for many, many decades before that," he said. These are the kinds of infrastructure that might not have available plans and drawings due to their age, but the team will continue to "explore" them, he said. Another issue was rapidly aging population in Chua Chu Kang GRC, particularly Teck Whye, in contrast with the younger families in Tengah, Dr Tan said. 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"And as a result of the undulating nature of the terrain, then all the more connectivity is actually going to be key to get the residents to move out of the house and to walk," he said. He noted how flats built on hilltops also made for good views and presented opportunities for the lived environment. "So the key thing is that, how do we therefore merge, how do we integrate the beauty here in terms of the nature, the greenery, and harmonising that undulating landscape with a very nice lived environment that can actually cater to a population, a resident population of all ages? "I think that's a challenge, and that's something that I'm trying to see how I can get creative architects, landscape architects, to help us in the next bound, to see whether we can come up with something that is cogent and, of course, that is affordable."
