GE2025: Ong Ye Kung unveils PAP's Sembawang GRC slate in video, including two new faces
(Clockwise from top left) The video featured anchor minister Ong Ye Kung, new candidates, Mr Ng Shi Xuan and Mr Gabriel Lam, incumbent MPs Mariam Jaafar and Vikram Nair. PHOTOS: AZMI ATHNI, GIN TAY, ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - Health Minister Ong Ye Kung took to social media on April 21 to unveil the PAP team in Sembawang GRC, including two new faces.
A video uploaded on his Facebook page, captioned '5 individuals, 1 team. A Sembawang for Everyone', featured the anchor minister with incumbent MPs Vikram Nair and Mariam Jaafar, along with two new candidates, Mr Gabriel Lam and Mr Ng Shi Xuan.
But Mr Ong did not say explicitly that this would be the team contesting the constituency.
In late March, Mr Lam, chief operating officer of moving company Shalom International Movers, and Mr Ng, director of battery company Powermark Battery and Hardware, were introduced by Mr Ong as likely candidates in the GRC at the launch of a community initiative to help seniors in Bukit Canberra.
Sembawang GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak was not present in the video. On April 13, Mr Ong paid tribute to Dr Lim at a constituency event, but stopped short of saying that the four-term MP would be retiring.
In a Facebook post earlier in April, Dr Lim had called on residents to support his potential replacement. He wrote, 'It is my honour to serve our residents along with members of Canberra zone 6 residents' network, and going forward I hope the members will extend support to second adviser, Mr Ng Shi Xuan.'
Mr Ng, 35, served as the vice-chairman of the MacPherson Youth Network, and has been a grassroots volunteer in MacPherson for 10 years.
He was previously a public servant and was last at trade agency Enterprise Singapore, helping Singapore companies to grow their business overseas.
'You don't know me, but I fight hard for the community,' said Mr Ng in the video, which showed him playing football and interacting with residents.
In the one-minute clip, Mr Lam, 42, said: 'I push hard to uplift the lives of others.'
Mr Lam's family moved to Sembawang in 1988, when the GRC was formed, and he attended primary school in the area.
In late March, Mr Ong introduced the new candidates as a 'dynamic duo' who are bosses of small and medium-sized enterprises that operate in competitive industries.
Both men were later spotted with the incumbent Sembawang GRC candidates at community events, including the constituency's health carnival on April 20, and on April 6, when Mr Ong announced new developments in the GRC.
Closing the video, Mr Ong said: 'It takes time to truly know someone, through their actions, not words. Let's do this together, shall we?'
Incumbent MP for the Sembawang West ward Poh Li San, who is expected to contest the newly carved out Sembawang West SMC, was not featured in the video. If she is fielded, Ms Poh will go up against Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) chief Chee Soon Juan at the polls.
A three-way fight is shaping up at Sembawang GRC with SDP and the National Solidarity Party (NSP) throwing their hats in the ring.
During the 2020 General Election, the PAP won Sembawang GRC against the NSP with 67.29 per cent of the vote.
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